SEC East Recruiting Trends over Last Decade

[VOLywood]

Found this on ESPN and haven't seen it anywhere on here yet, so thought I'd share. Nothing real groundbreaking but reinforces with some good statistics what we all know -- how easy Florida and Georgia have it when it comes to recruiting homegrown talent.

ESPN Decade in Review - SEC East Recruiting Trends


For the lazy:

Both Tennessee (26.4 percent) and Vanderbilt (17.5) rank among the SEC programs with the fewest in-state signees, thanks in part to their home state producing less top-tier talent than many of the surrounding Southern states. Out-of-state SEC programs don’t hit Tennessee particularly hard, either. Ole Miss, which is located only an hour away from the Tennessee state line, has the most signees, with 26 since 2006. Meanwhile, the Vols frequently looked to nearby states such as Georgia (48 signees, including the Berry brothers, offensive lineman Ja’Wuan James and quarterback Joshua Dobbs) and Florida (32) to fill in their recruiting classes.

Signees: 250 (66 in-state)

Percentage of signees from in state: 26.4

Top in-state high school and key player: Three players – Montgomery Bell Academy (Jashon Robertson)

Next-best state: Georgia (48 players)

Top out-of-state high school and key player: Four players – Creekside, Georgia (Eric Berry)

 

[fade route]

Tennessee is the only consistent top 15 recruiting school with terrible in state talent. The only other one that I can think of is possibly ND

 

[cncchris33]

Tennessee is the only consistent top 15 recruiting school with terrible in state talent. The only other one that I can think of is possibly ND

Oklahoma probably falls in that category too.

 

[fade route]

Oklahoma probably falls in that category too.

Agree. They recruit Texas like we do Georgia.

 

[orangeluvr]

The more populous states have the most talent. :yes: Obliviously !

 

[Tumbleweedvol]

The life blood of recruiting is in-state. It shows your power base. Tennessee being a three state; state, they have disadvantages! Personally if the people work in the big Orange country and believe in UT, they'll breed'em and send up! Go Big Orange!!:clapping:

 

[Shades]

Georgia is almost everyone's top or second-top recruiting state.

Richt should have won 52 national championships by now.

Love this pic:

 

[HoptownVol]

Tennessee is the only consistent top 15 recruiting school with terrible in state talent. The only other one that I can think of is possibly ND

Terrible instate talent? LOL

 

[85SugarVol]

To be fair, we have a Tri-State territory:

Tennessee
North Carolina
Virginia

Are essentially ours for the taking.

 

[Catbone]

Tennessee is the only consistent top 15 recruiting school with terrible in state talent. The only other one that I can think of is possibly ND

Yeah but it's getting better. We will never be FL, GA, Texas, or Cali but if we can lock Tennessee down and take Virginia and North Carolina talent we should be okay. It is unfortunate how easy it is for those certain teams to recruit though.

 

[HoptownVol]

To be fair, we have a Tri-State territory:

Tennessee
North Carolina
Virginia

Are essentially ours for the taking.

Wait a minute, we've never had much of a presence in Virginia. We've signed 3 guys in the last 5 years,
now all of a sudden its all there "for the taking?" :loco:

 

[85SugarVol]

Wait a minute, we've never had much of a presence in Virginia. We've signed 3 guys in the last 5 years,
now all of a sudden its all there "for the taking?" :loco:

Yes!!!

But seriously, if we put in the time and effort to lay the groundwork there, we can / should own that state.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Agree. They recruit Texas like we do Georgia.

Historically, Oklahoma has been far more reliant on Texas as a recruiting ground than we have been with respect to Georgia. Indeed, Oklahoma has relied so heavily on Lone Star State talent that you could justifiably call them the Texahoma Sooners. Looking at their current roster, Oklahoma has 28 players from Texas and only 11 from Oklahoma (Oklahoma 2015 Football Roster). The next best represented states would appear to be California (9) and Florida (3). Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Ohio each have 2 players on the roster. Seven other states, including Tennessee, each have one player on their roster.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Tennessee is the only consistent top 15 recruiting school with terrible in state talent. The only other one that I can think of is possibly ND

I don't know where they have been ranked lately in recruiting, but Nebraska is the other traditional power that has an even worse instate talent pool than Tennessee or Oklahoma. And it goes without saying that some of the most dominant college football teams of all-time have been Cornhusker squads.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Yeah but it's getting better. We will never be FL, GA, Texas, or Cali but if we can lock Tennessee down and take Virginia and North Carolina talent we should be okay. It is unfortunate how easy it is for those certain teams to recruit though.

I would also predict that we will begin to extend our footprint back into South Carolina as our onfield fortunes continue to improve and Spurrier finally steps down.