'17 MS RB Cam Akers (FSU commit 12/27)

#1,651
#1,651
CrunchingTheVolz said:
It's kind of like the Gibbs article a while back. To see it you need to be able to take the Orange shades off for a moment. A lot of folks struggle with that. It's something I'm able to do. Yes, I put them back on quickly, but it helps me be able to see things more clearly rather than everything tinted one color.
Click to expand...

Yep, It's easy to see the ones who struggle with that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#1,652
#1,652
CWGvol said:
Is that why the staff and Butch make it such a big deal to keep elite talent in state? He gives speeches about it, talks about it at practice, puts up billboards, and tweets group pics of all the instate guys that are making a difference. It's a huge advantage to have more instate talent and we need to lock it up so that we CAN focus more on those out of state guys, because it's usually harder. You admitted that's true so I don't see the problem. I'm sure the staff is just as disappointed as we are about not doing as well instate as we would like to this year. Imagine if there was no Smith(?), Gray, Fant, Chandler etc., saying that playing instate made a difference, and we didn't have them committed. Look at our class then. We need to lock up elite instate talent AND get the best out of state that we can, that's all there is too it. Having consistent instate talent is a huge advantage overall in recruiting. You admitted that's true as well, so yes it is a HUGE deal to lose the elite instate guys.

You also said you wouldn't "Bruin" this, but I see it in every thread.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is saying it's not a hit when we lose the elite in-state guys. It's more so that some people think we should not bother recruiting elite out-of-state players because they think we have just as good in-state guys, which is not true. And even if it was, why would you put all your eggs in one basket like that? Recruiting is national for a national program like UT; as we continue to stay in the media spotlight, we will have interested elite out-of-state players that want to come to Knoxville.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#1,653
#1,653
The successful recruiter at UT will get who he wants instate. There are some loyalty issues with Memphis and some of the kids from Nashville who aren't from TN... but you still have to build those HS coach relationships and build a wall as much as possible. The state only has one top tier football program... UT should get almost everyone they want.

BUT... there isn't always enough talent in TN to support a top tier program and certainly not in the eastern 2/3's of the state. Until there is, a successful coach at UT has no choice but to develop a pipeline into other states. Atlanta and GA are vital. VA and NC are helpful. UT needs to routinely pick off a few players from FL.

Lastly and because of the above, UT always has to have a coach who finds 2* and 3* players that no one else recognizes that have 4/5* talent. Jones has shown that with numerous guys like Vereen, Dobbs, Sutton, et al. I personally think we'll see the same from Brandon Gaddy and Lewis... and possible others in the current class.

There are always things you can pick at.... and I'm apt to do it sometimes. But when you take a step back, overall it looks like a very good system in production.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 6 people
#1,654
#1,654
sjt18 said:
The successful recruiter at UT will get who he wants instate. There are some loyalty issues with Memphis and some of the kids from Nashville who aren't from TN... but you still have to build those HS coach relationships and build a wall as much as possible. The state only has one top tier football program... UT should get almost everyone they want.

BUT... there isn't always enough talent in TN to support a top tier program and certainly not in the eastern 2/3's of the state. Until there is, a successful coach at UT has no choice but to develop a pipeline into other states. Atlanta and GA are vital. VA and NC are helpful. UT needs to routinely pick off a few players from FL.

Lastly and because of the above, UT always has to have a coach who finds 2* and 3* players that no one else recognizes that have 4/5* talent. Jones has shown that with numerous guys like Vereen, Dobbs, Sutton, et al. I personally think we'll see the same from Brandon Gaddy and Lewis... and possible others in the current class.

There are always things you can pick at.... and I'm apt to do it sometimes. But when you take a step back, overall it looks like a very good system in production.
Click to expand...

Well said.

Thomas
Wiesman
Robertson
Wolf
Sutton
Vickers
Vereen
Foreman

Are all 3 stars that have really been at the center of our turnaround. They are developing talent well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 people
#1,655
#1,655
sjt18 said:
The successful recruiter at UT will get who he wants instate.
Click to expand...

That's really not true. Everybody harps on the the instate thing like it is some magic talisman that a coach can use to get the best players, but it's simply not true. Residency in the state is like being a legacy; it is simply one more consideration for the recruit. That consideration may be a 10 out of 10 to him, or it may be a 1 out of 10. Varies by recruit.

I do agree that the successful recruiter will use residency as an advantage and will exploit that to the fullest extent possible. It is a true statement that the successful recruiter will increase his hit rate considerably due to in state residency, and I think Butch has done that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#1,656
#1,656
SSVol said:
That's really not true. Everybody harps on the the instate thing like it is some magic talisman that a coach can use to get the best players, but it's simply not true. Residency in the state is like being a legacy; it is simply one more consideration for the recruit. That consideration may be a 10 out of 10 to him, or it may be a 1 out of 10. Varies by recruit.

I do agree that the successful recruiter will use residency as an advantage and will exploit that to the fullest extent possible. It is a true statement that the successful recruiter will increase his hit rate considerably due to in state residency, and I think Butch has done that.
Click to expand...

Don't disagree with you completely but Jones really hasn't done it this year or last.

BTW, getting who he wants may not necessarily be equivalent to getting who the recruiting sites think he should want. I'm pretty sure Higgins was a big miss. Not as sure about the others but I doubt they would have been turned away had they wanted to play for UT.

Hopefully Jones doesn't do what Dooley and to a great extent Fulmer did.... decide it isn't worth the effort when there's so much more talent out of state.
 
#1,657
#1,657
sjt18 said:
Don't disagree with you completely but Jones really hasn't done it this year or last.

BTW, getting who he wants may not necessarily be equivalent to getting who the recruiting sites think he should want. I'm pretty sure Higgins was a big miss. Not as sure about the others but I doubt they would have been turned away had they wanted to play for UT.

Hopefully Jones doesn't do what Dooley and to a great extent Fulmer did.... decide it isn't worth the effort when there's so much more talent out of state.
Click to expand...

While Tennessee is a relatively small state, it covers a large geographical area. To compound issues, the important part of UT (for football) is located at one end. East Tennessee has far more in common with north Georgia than west Tennessee. That's always going to reduce the effectiveness of residency as a draw. Winning 10+ games and having a good group drafted will go a long way towards fixing this, because it answers the looming coaching questions. With that resolved, residency will be a much stronger card because everything else will be at parity with the other SEC schools. I really don't think Butch has failed at in state recruiting as much as he left too many unanswered questions last season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#1,658
#1,658
sjt18 said:
Don't disagree with you completely but Jones really hasn't done it this year or last.

BTW, getting who he wants may not necessarily be equivalent to getting who the recruiting sites think he should want. I'm pretty sure Higgins was a big miss. Not as sure about the others but I doubt they would have been turned away had they wanted to play for UT.

Hopefully Jones doesn't do what Dooley and to a great extent Fulmer did.... decide it isn't worth the effort when there's so much more talent out of state.
Click to expand...


Yeah its no question that Higgins might end up as a colossal miss. Unless he ends up a Vol.

Tennessee has really started to build piplines in the Mid- State.
Especially Hillsbiro High School.
They're recruiting about 5 kids from that school right now.

I honestly think Butch gives points to the instate kids.

Remember Malik Foremans recruitment? They made Swafford a grey shirt to help land little ole 2 star malik foreman.

Kentucky
Georgia
North Carolina
Arkansas
Missouri
Alabama
Mississippi
Virginia

all border TN.
And all of the state schools from those states listed above recruit our state.
Saban would not completely lock down TN. Nor Urban Meyer.
 
#1,662
#1,662
UTChicagoV said:
I don't think anyone is saying it's not a hit when we lose the elite in-state guys. It's more so that some people think we should not bother recruiting elite out-of-state players because they think we have just as good in-state guys, which is not true. And even if it was, why would you put all your eggs in one basket like that? Recruiting is national for a national program like UT; as we continue to stay in the media spotlight, we will have interested elite out-of-state players that want to come to Knoxville.
Click to expand...

bignewt says it not a big hit and doesn't know why people care if we miss instate top talent. Also, there is only one person (Leb) who says take less talented TN boys over out of state talent, just because they are instate. A lot gets lost in these back and forths on here. But....We finally have instate talent and need to lock up what we want and need, just like any other school wants to with instate talent. It helps your out of state recruiting too. We need to do both, it's just that simple. Anyone who thinks instate elite talent doesn't matter is wrong, it's always been a disadvantage for us and is constantly mentioned as an advantage at other top programs. We want that advantage too. Likewise, anyone who thinks we should take all, or any instate kid over out of state kids, just because they are instate is also wrong. It's really not that hard, I don't know why it seems to be for some.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#1,663
#1,663
CWGvol said:
bignewt says it not a big hit and doesn't know why people care if we miss instate top talent. Also, there is only one person (Leb) who says take less talented TN boys over out of state talent, just because they are instate. A lot gets lost in these back and forths on here. But....We finally have instate talent and need to lock up what we want and need, just like any other school wants to with instate talent. It helps your out of state recruiting too. We need to do both, it's just that simple. Anyone who thinks instate elite talent doesn't matter is wrong, it's always been a disadvantage for us and is constantly mentioned as an advantage at other top programs. We want that advantage too. Likewise, anyone who thinks we should take all, or any instate kid over out of state kids, just because they are instate is also wrong. It's really not that hard, I don't know why it seems to be for some.
Click to expand...

Im just tryin' to yin the yang brother man.
 
#1,664
#1,664
The thing is .... there is NO way to lock down anything with recruiting.. especially a 16 or 17 y/o kid. You can promise him anything.. show him all the love in the world.. and he still may go somewhere else.

Why? Maybe because TN hasn't been relevant for a decade and he grew up a fan of another team. Maybe Dooley or Kiffen pissed off his coach and this kid has been slowly urged over his career to go anywhere but to UT.. maybe he wants to get out of state... there could be literally hundreds of reasons a kid goes somewhere else.

I think Butch is doing the best he can.. I think he is relentless and has proven he can find talent that fits his system. If he has to go out of state to do it then do it.. we already have the budget in place for it.

But we can't project why we would go to UT on these kids.. home state pride.. any reason at all.

With today's society the way it it. Instant gratification and all.. winning is the only thing that will swing these on the fence kids to us.

Win.. everything else will fall in place. .
 
#1,665
#1,665
SSVol said:
While Tennessee is a relatively small state, it covers a large geographical area. To compound issues, the important part of UT (for football) is located at one end. East Tennessee has far more in common with north Georgia than west Tennessee. That's always going to reduce the effectiveness of residency as a draw. Winning 10+ games and having a good group drafted will go a long way towards fixing this, because it answers the looming coaching questions. With that resolved, residency will be a much stronger card because everything else will be at parity with the other SEC schools. I really don't think Butch has failed at in state recruiting as much as he left too many unanswered questions last season.
Click to expand...

Good post. I'm from the same place as Heath Shuler. In football, there's a lot of loyalty to UT from about Hickory and west as compared to the instate schools. Kind of hillbilly homerism.....

I don't know that it is all that unwise to treat the Memphis area almost as if you are recruiting out of state.

Winning will help. Better relationships with key HS programs will help more.
 
#1,672
#1,672
butchna said:
I like it that he keeps saying "I could've". Ultimate armchair. :lol: Above the petty and trivial and proud purveyor of "JMO" wanted to be a HC but ultimately wasn't any better than the others on this board. Remember Leb? If he had his way, we wouldn't have had Dobbs, because it was a "shady move" recruiting any other QB than Riley Ferguson. Also would have stopped recruiting Richmond and Kyle Phillips because Dylan Jackson could play either position. He had a lot more pizzaz than this new guy...too bad he wasted it on human trafficking and math distribution before they found the bodies under the flipped hotels. :sad:
Click to expand...

Yep. I get he has an opinion but one would figure if he has actually kept up with recruiting as long as he claims, that he would understand it much better.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top