Recruiting Football Talk VII

#137,402
#137,402
ChattaTNVol said:
Line of scrimmage –

Jim Harbaugh, a few days ago speaking to the NFL Owner’s Association, argued that the offensive line was the most important group on the field because the offensive line can make everyone else better but it doesn’t really get any help from anyone else for itself. He said not only does the offensive line help out the offensive skill players but it also helps out the defense by stringing together 12-play drives and giving the defense time to rest up.

Last year we lost four games and those four games were the worst performances on the year for our rushing attack. If you didn’t know better you might say that’s the reason we lost those games. Well, maybe last year, since we relied so heavily on our run game, that could be the reason we lost those games. The point is in general the evidence is not as conclusive for 2021 and 2022, i.e., our rushing attack faltering leading to a loss.

Most of our losses in 2021 were because we didn’t have much of a defense. In 2021 we had 10 games where our defense allowed 20 or more points. In 2022 we reduced that to 7 games and in 2023 we pushed it down to 5 games. In 2021 we had 7 games where we gave up 30 or more points. In 2022 and 2023 we reduced that to 3 games each year. In 2021 we had 5 games where we gave up 40 or more points. In 2022 we reduced that to 2 and in 2023 we dropped it to 0.

I’ve argued it takes a couple years for a new staff to heat up on the recruiting trail. The reason is in person relationship building including email, texts. phone contacts, etc. can’t really begin until the prospect is in his junior year for the most part. So recruiting really starts in earnest for rising juniors in high school. Well, that’s your 2 years. Our staff got here in 2021 so they were behind by a year working on the 2022 class because for the most part the kids they had been recruiting to UCF were not the same level of talent they would need to be recruiting to play in the SEC. Their first shot at being in the game and having mostly the same window as everyone else would be for the 2023 class and moving forward. I think that’s the way things played out. If our staff had been coming from another major P5 program maybe they would have already been building relationships with prospects at the required talent level. jmo.

In recruiting we had other challenges, primarily our issues with the NCAA. The roster implosion of 2021 was a huge hurdle. Even this year that hurdle remains. We have at least 18 offensive line recruits on scholarship this year and at least 20 defensive line recruits on scholarship. Want to know how many of those kids are from the 2021 high school class? None, nada, not a single one, on either side of the ball. 2021 high school kids should be redshirt juniors or true seniors this year and on the line of scrimmage this year we have none. We’ve been creatively backfilling our roster on the LOS with 2018 (Campbell), 2019, and 2020 guys to keep us in the game until we can bridge that 2021 gap. Almost all of those guys are gone after this year. The 2022 class was built with one hand tied behind our back but on the defensive line we’re good. On the offensive line Nichols was supposed to be a win in ‘22 but it didn’t work out so the 2023 class with Umarov and now Lance Heard is the foundation for our future offensive line. The 2024 class is bringing the cavalry. In 2026 at long last the 2021 hurdle should pretty much be finally behind us. The redshirt seniors that year will have finished high school in 2022.

So what’s the point? It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not but our staff has been jumping through hoops to keep us somewhat in the game against adverse odds, especially on the line of scrimmage. I think we’ve probably done better on the defensive line but we’ve had to work there too. I just think if we continue to recruit going forward as we have in ’23 and ’24, life may very well become perhaps a bit easier for our staff within the next couple of years. jmo.

Adam Friedman is the national recruiting analyst for Rivals and in mid-February after NSD he published his rankings for the top 5 offensive line hauls (not including transfers) in the 2024 cycle. He had Tennessee at #1, Michigan at #2, Ohio State at #3, Georgia at #4, and Notre Dame at #5. If as claimed the offensive line group is the most important unit on the field I’d say that was pretty good. jmo.
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This is spot on. Many, many fans do not understand the inside baseball of building an offensive or defensive line and want it to happen overnight. It is totally unlike say running back where raw talent alone can get a player on the field as a freshman. It is totally a developmental process. Even a veteran player from the portal needs time to gel and learn to play with new teammates, linemen need to mesh and work together more than any other position group. We are miles ahead of where we were a few years ago.
I remember watching pregame when Butch was coaching and we were playing I think MTSU. I thought our lineman looked smaller than MTSU's and against Alabama we looked like dwarves. I think we now have SEC level trenches now.
 
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#137,404
#137,404
knoxvol52 said:
NCAA games tonight

UNC over Alabama
Clemson over Arizona
UCONN over SDSU
Illinois over Iowa State.
Click to expand...
I am probably in the minority but I think the SS is the best week of the tournament. If you've won two games your legit and the games are usually even matches. The madness is fun but I like this week best.
 
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#137,408
#137,408
ChattaTNVol said:
Line of scrimmage –

Jim Harbaugh, a few days ago speaking to the NFL Owner’s Association, argued that the offensive line was the most important group on the field because the offensive line can make everyone else better but it doesn’t really get any help from anyone else for itself. He said not only does the offensive line help out the offensive skill players but it also helps out the defense by stringing together 12-play drives and giving the defense time to rest up.

Last year we lost four games and those four games were the worst performances on the year for our rushing attack. If you didn’t know better you might say that’s the reason we lost those games. Well, maybe last year, since we relied so heavily on our run game, that could be the reason we lost those games. The point is in general the evidence is not as conclusive for 2021 and 2022, i.e., our rushing attack faltering leading to a loss.

Most of our losses in 2021 were because we didn’t have much of a defense. In 2021 we had 10 games where our defense allowed 20 or more points. In 2022 we reduced that to 7 games and in 2023 we pushed it down to 5 games. In 2021 we had 7 games where we gave up 30 or more points. In 2022 and 2023 we reduced that to 3 games each year. In 2021 we had 5 games where we gave up 40 or more points. In 2022 we reduced that to 2 and in 2023 we dropped it to 0.

I’ve argued it takes a couple years for a new staff to heat up on the recruiting trail. The reason is in person relationship building including email, texts. phone contacts, etc. can’t really begin until the prospect is in his junior year for the most part. So recruiting really starts in earnest for rising juniors in high school. Well, that’s your 2 years. Our staff got here in 2021 so they were behind by a year working on the 2022 class because for the most part the kids they had been recruiting to UCF were not the same level of talent they would need to be recruiting to play in the SEC. Their first shot at being in the game and having mostly the same window as everyone else would be for the 2023 class and moving forward. I think that’s the way things played out. If our staff had been coming from another major P5 program maybe they would have already been building relationships with prospects at the required talent level. jmo.

In recruiting we had other challenges, primarily our issues with the NCAA. The roster implosion of 2021 was a huge hurdle. Even this year that hurdle remains. We have at least 18 offensive line recruits on scholarship this year and at least 20 defensive line recruits on scholarship. Want to know how many of those kids are from the 2021 high school class? None, nada, not a single one, on either side of the ball. 2021 high school kids should be redshirt juniors or true seniors this year and on the line of scrimmage this year we have none. We’ve been creatively backfilling our roster on the LOS with 2018 (Campbell), 2019, and 2020 guys to keep us in the game until we can bridge that 2021 gap. Almost all of those guys are gone after this year. The 2022 class was built with one hand tied behind our back but on the defensive line we’re good. On the offensive line Nichols was supposed to be a win in ‘22 but it didn’t work out so the 2023 class with Umarov and now Lance Heard is the foundation for our future offensive line. The 2024 class is bringing the cavalry. In 2026 at long last the 2021 hurdle should pretty much be finally behind us. The redshirt seniors that year will have finished high school in 2022.

So what’s the point? It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not but our staff has been jumping through hoops to keep us somewhat in the game against adverse odds, especially on the line of scrimmage. I think we’ve probably done better on the defensive line but we’ve had to work there too. I just think if we continue to recruit going forward as we have in ’23 and ’24, life may very well become perhaps a bit easier for our staff within the next couple of years. jmo.

Adam Friedman is the national recruiting analyst for Rivals and in mid-February after NSD he published his rankings for the top 5 offensive line hauls (not including transfers) in the 2024 cycle. He had Tennessee at #1, Michigan at #2, Ohio State at #3, Georgia at #4, and Notre Dame at #5. If as claimed the offensive line group is the most important unit on the field I’d say that was pretty good. jmo.
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🧡🧡🧡 Wow!!!! That is so helpful! Really explains what an excellent job our staff has done in adverse circumstances! ( All those moaning about what the staff has got to do really look like _____. Fill in the blank!)
 
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#137,409
#137,409
knoxvol52 said:
Happens everyday..
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Crazy thing at this point of the tournament. . . you could be absolutely correct, 100% wrong or anything in between and it wouldn't be a surprise. I'm more surprised that all the 1s & 2s made this far.

I read a stat that over the last 7 or 10yrs at least 1 double digit seed has made it this far. We should've known it would be NC State with how they finished the season, but I really thought it would be someone else. I wouldn't be surprised if they won another game or 2. . . or lost their next game by 40.
 
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#137,414
#137,414
Vols4us said:
Great post.

I do not always agree with Jim Harbaugh, but in this case I absolutely agree. Fulmer used dominating O-lines to win 9+ games a season often even when he lacked elite talent in other groups. So have other top coaches through the years. It has also been very apparent to me that Heup understands this as well as a former top QB and innovative OC/HC.

I agree, the mess and the cobbling together period is behind us. Add in the great performance of the university leaders and state. We should begin seeing the benefits going forward. Great time to be a Vol fan.
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I said it’s great to be a Tennessee Volunteer!!!
 
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#137,419
#137,419
rikberry31 said:
This is spot on. Many, many fans do not understand the inside baseball of building an offensive or defensive line and want it to happen overnight. It is totally unlike say running back where raw talent alone can get a player on the field as a freshman. It is totally a developmental process. Even a veteran player from the portal needs time to gel and learn to play with new teammates, linemen need to mesh and work together more than any other position group. We are miles ahead of where we were a few years ago.
I remember watching pregame when Butch was coaching and we were playing I think MTSU. I thought our lineman looked smaller than MTSU's and against Alabama we looked like dwarves. I think we now have SEC level trenches now.
Click to expand...
Big Uglies (especially on the offensive side) are HERDS. They slowly move towards where it’s safe and the grass is greener. No OL coach no matter their rep outrecruits their pasture. Pittman a straight up god at UGA…an Argonaut at Arkansas.
 
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