Only six other teams in the country...

#26
#26
Remy said:
... were young ... we may be the most experienced team in the SEC in 2016.
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The majority of guys on our team are 15 years old and don't even have a driver's license. These kids are going up against 28-31 year old men when they play Alabama.

It's a process.
 
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#27
#27
Matt Johnson is 5'10", so I'm not surprised he wasn't drafted. That being said, he had an incredible season last year.
 
#28
#28
djohnnyg said:
It doesn't help recruiting for sure. You go into a kids living room and sell the program to a 5 star...then Saban or Urban Meyer come in afterwords and tell the kid he doesn't have a prayer of being drafted if he goes to UT..."just look here. No UT kids were drafted. We had 7".
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I don't think kids are that stupid.
 
#30
#30
KBVol said:
Bodes well for the program IMO. We either won 9 games with no draftable NFL caliber players, or, we have a whole bunch of NFL players returning to a team that won 9 games last year and we should win more games this year. It's obviously the latter.
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Ding ding ding, we have a winner.
 
#31
#31
Butch has won 16 games in the last two seasons with zero players drafted after both seasons...

I really think that speaks both to where Dooley left the program and how far Jones has brought it back.
 
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#32
#32
I don't think it means a whole lot. The NFL is such a different game now that depends heavily on players' measurables, not necessarily production or competition. I mean the 2nd pick came from North Dakota St if I recall?
 
#33
#33
Freak said:
...won nine games and didn't have a player drafted, according to Jimmy Hyans.

Tennessee, UNC, Arkansas State, Boling Green, Toledo, San Dieigo State and Marshall.

What does that mean?
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Man, such a good question. What does it mean?

Don't think a single answer covers all seven teams. Each squad is going to include a mix of some of these factors:

  1. Young(ish) team, all the talent in the lower classes. But not TOO young, or they wouldn't have the experience to get to 9.
  2. Weak schedule, making getting to 9 easier.
  3. Great coaching, great team synergy, or both. Sometimes, in human dynamics, 2+2=9. Tends to happen with great leaders and/or selfless, driven team members. Even less-talented teams can make a lot of noise with leadership and teamwork, and teams with talent play for championships this way.
  4. Draft-worthy players who didn't declare for the draft.
The second factor might have been true for some of the seven teams...but it wasn't for the Vols. Bama, FL, UGa, and Arky alone made our schedule one of the more challenging in the country; add OK and a surprisingly good BGSU to the mix, and yeah, (2) wasn't us.

But I think we had elements of (1), (3) and (4). Probably in roughly equal measure.

Here's hoping we have a BOATload of (3) in Team 120. If we have that, we're in the national playoffs.
 
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#35
#35
djohnnyg said:
It doesn't help recruiting for sure. You go into a kids living room and sell the program to a 5 star...then Saban or Urban Meyer come in afterwords and tell the kid he doesn't have a prayer of being drafted if he goes to UT..."just look here. No UT kids were drafted. We had 7".
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We are in the top 10 ALL TIME for most players drafted. I dont think its going to hurt recruiting all that much.
 
#37
#37
volswitten1 said:
It means our talent was young and we're going to dominant this year.
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I think this is about right. Butch Jones led this team to 9 wins, the last 5 more or less in a dominating fashion. The year prior 7 wins with a hodge-podge team with hardly any leadership. Goes to show you how a) little talent we had in the upperclass ranks, b) how good of a job Jones has done, and c) how bright the future looks with most all the talent still on the roster.
 
#38
#38
It means Kiffin screwed us and Dooley sucked. That's it. Oh, and it means we're about to start a new streak next year and we shouldn't have to deal with the Kiffin/Dooley results anymore.
 
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#39
#39
Freak said:
...won nine games and didn't have a player drafted, according to Jimmy Hyans.

Tennessee, UNC, Arkansas State, Boling Green, Toledo, San Dieigo State and Marshall.

What does that mean?
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Dooley recruited to their level.
 
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#40
#40
Teeman said:
Dooley was, among other things, a terrible recruiter. Vonn Bell thinks so anyway. And yes, I will take the bait. CBJ just may be a much better coach than a lot of people give him credit for.
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Dooley failed.... but how was Dooley responsible for North or CP.

Maggitt had talent but stayed hurt after Jones took over.

This isn't as much a defense of Dooley as an objection to you throwing a blanket over it and absolving Jones of any potential blame.
 
#41
#41
Freak said:
...won nine games and didn't have a player drafted, according to Jimmy Hyans.

Tennessee, UNC, Arkansas State, Boling Green, Toledo, San Dieigo State and Marshall.

What does that mean?
Click to expand...

...and obviously of these teams, Tennessee played by far and away the toughest schedule. Careful now Freak, with threads like this some people might just have to admit that we actually are a very well coached team.
 
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#42
#42
Freak said:
...won nine games and didn't have a player drafted, according to Jimmy Hyams.

Tennessee, UNC, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Toledo, San Diego State and Marshall.

What does that mean?
Click to expand...

It is some sort of a conspiracy by the NFL against these seven programs. I nominate D4H to investigate it.
 
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#43
#43
BowlBrother85 said:
...and obviously of these teams, Tennessee played by far and away the toughest schedule. Careful now Freak, with threads like this some people might just have to admit that we actually are a very well coached team.
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Exactly! And with a defense he can trust, and excellent special teams, Jones will go for 2, as well as turn Dobbs loose, our coaching is consistent with our talent and depth.
 
#46
#46
iu
 
#47
#47
Freak said:
...won nine games and didn't have a player drafted, according to Jimmy Hyans.

Tennessee, UNC, Arkansas State, Boling Green, Toledo, San Dieigo State and Marshall.

What does that mean?
Click to expand...

It just shows the lows that Dooley and Hamilton brought the program down to.
 
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#48
#48
sjt18 said:
Dooley failed.... but how was Dooley responsible for North or CP.

Maggitt had talent but stayed hurt after Jones took over.

This isn't as much a defense of Dooley as an objection to you throwing a blanket over it and absolving Jones of any potential blame.
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Absolving Jones of what potential balme? Two years, no NFL draft picks. All Dooley recruited. The three that could have been drafted this year but chose to stay, were Jones' recruits.

As you said...the only Dooley recruits that were good enough to be drafted were hurt too much of their career here... Or got into trouble and lost their chance.

We had lesser talent. You can't blame Jones for not being able to coach that lesser talent up to become NFL draftees.

If this happens next year, to make it three years straight, then there is an argument to blame Butch Jones, because then we're talking mostly Jones' players.

JMO of course.
 
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#50
#50
Kerbyson and Randolf were surprising to me. Both seemed like later round picks cod compared to others.

Kerbyson held his own against SEC dlines while playing out of position. Better than most guards in the draft.

Randolf very similar, saw others drafted with less stats against lesser competition
 
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