The lowest number of commitments from the state of Tennessee

[orangeblood]

Looks like only 1 recruit from in state. Is this because the talent is so bad, or our recruiting is so good?

[Frazer]

Both.

[MDBJJC]

We be recruiting the best. They ain't in Tennessee

[alwaysorange81]

And that 1 is the number 1 recruit in the state. If your only gonna take 1 that would be a good 1 to take. 1.

[VOL61]

We may not be done. Stone could end up here. There is also a chance we take an instate RB....

[orangeblur]

Originally Posted by orangeblood

Looks like only 1 recruit from in state. Is this because the talent is so bad, or our recruiting is so good?

I look at it like this....if you look at the players instate.....alot of them have other offers...so I don't think it is an indication that the state has bad talent....Tennessee is just going after other players who they feel are better........

Just because UT only takes one player instate doesnt mean the talent is bad......

[MikeHamiltonFan]

Originally Posted by orangeblood

Looks like only 1 recruit from in state. Is this because the talent is so bad, or our recruiting is so good?

It is because of the latter. If we had stud 4 star OL up and down the line that were young, the coaches would probably be out of it for some of the Chaz Green, JaWuan James, John Cullen group and would be taking James Stone and hoping to get him back to the promise he showed junior year.

This year the staff is amazing (we will be lucky to get another full year of them all together) and more than that we have a lack of talent so there is lots of slots where there is no one great around who will be there for a while.

Exceptions are almost all Kiffin takes. Bryce Brown and Oku, (although pre injury I loved Toney Williams also) Janzen Jackson...not many guys you can look at and point to who would scare away a hot shot senior.

In the near future that will not be the case and we will be in the same boat as UF and Alabama and USC which is where we want to be, attracting stud talent to join stud talent...

[JamesBenUT]

Do you guys think this staff would have recruited Aaron Douglas?

[Proud2BaVol]

Originally Posted by Frazer

Both.

Kiffin also hasn't had time to mend the bridges burnt by the prevous staff.

[zjcvols]

Originally Posted by JamesBenUT

Do you guys think this staff would have recruited Aaron Douglas?

yes. We needed a TE and he was one of the best in the country. He was ours anyway from the beginning. He had a lot of upside as a TE, but the staff realized he even had MORE potential as tackle. The guy is a future first round pick (if he keeps the weight up).

[First&Tenn]

Originally Posted by orangeblur

I look at it like this....if you look at the players instate.....alot of them have other offers...so I don't think it is an indication that the state has bad talent....Tennessee is just going after other players who they feel are better........

Just because UT only takes one player instate doesnt mean the talent is bad......

When you look at the recruits this coaching staff is after, they are nearly all ranked at the top of their respective positions. This isn't so much a case of TN not having talent as it is a case of the coaching staff pursuing (and in good position to get) some of the most elite prospects all over the country. I think you'll see more TN players recruited by the staff next year...

When you give a recruiting staff as good at UT has the budget they have to recruit, they won't let location stop them from going after the best of the best.

[chavisut]

Next year will be different.

[colvol]

Originally Posted by zjcvols

yes. We needed a TE and he was one of the best in the country. He was ours anyway from the beginning. He had a lot of upside as a TE, but the staff realized he even had MORE potential as tackle. The guy is a future first round pick (if he keeps the weight up).

He was a stud in highschool i watched him all the time since i live in Maryville.

[MrBamSeydu]

I'd rather get good players from out of state than decent players from instate. I think everyone would agree with that sentiment.

When Kiffin said he was building a fence around TN, he didn't mean we'd sign Oak Ridge's offense and Dandridge's defense. He meant he'd make the top players in the state that a) fit his system and b) have shown they're good enough to be possible stars in a difficult league like the SEC.

I'm sure we will miss out on a few TN players over the next few years, but I don't think anyone should question how this staff recruits. Period.

[MDBJJC]

TN has not the talent. We go elsewhere for the best