Recruiting Forum Football Talk XXXIII

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- 247 (Callahan)
 
I think defensive end still is the Vols’ most glaring need.

For everything Tennessee has done right in compiling its nine current commitments in the 2018 class, the Vols still have plenty of work to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And defensive end in particular remains a major need for Tennessee, which already is a bit short on proven options at the position going into the 2017 season and should have early playing time to sell to talented edge rushers.

The Vols have done a good job of casting a wide net at defensive end in the 2018 class, particularly over the past couple of months. The spring evaluation period has helped them identify a number of new targets, and they now have extended more than 40 offers to defensive ends in the 2018 class. Their challenge now is to get more of those players on campus and continue making progress with some of the defensive ends who appear to be giving them legitimate consideration, including Top247 prospect Azeez Ojulari, three-star Caleb Tannor, junior-college prospects Azur Kamara and Dorian Gerald, and even Stanford commitment Tobe Umerah.

- 247 (Callahan)
 
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I think Tennessee has a good chance of signing a top-10 class.

The Vols fell back outside the top 10, to No. 14 nationally, in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the 2018 class with Corbin’s decommitment on Tuesday. But they previously had climbed to No. 8 with the addition of Martinez on Friday, and it’s entirely possible that they could end up with a top-10 class on signing day.

Tennessee’s on-field performance could play a major role in determining where the Vols will finish in February. For starters, they have to avoid the type of season that might result in major staff changes. But if they can do that, there’s no reason they shouldn’t remain at least within striking distance of the top 10 as they continue to fill their class. They already have one five-star prospect — offensive lineman Cade Mays — and three four-stars in their class, and they’re still strong contenders for several other four-stars. And some of their current three-star targets still could become four-stars in the coming months. They still have to land those players, but based on where they stand right now, Tennessee has a real chance of signing its highest-ranked class since 2015.

- 247 (Callahan)

I think this is a pretty big statement coming from Callahan since he is typically a very reserved/conservative guy with his predictions.
 
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He also wrote an article that was in the Memphis CA a couple of days ago about coaching in ACC v. SEC. His point was to shine a light on the mediocre coaching below Saban in the SEC and that the ACC has great coaches in Dabo, Fisher, Petrino, and even Cutcliffe.

While the coaching in the SEC is not fantastic, there are also reasons why those ACC coaches have gaudy records in the last 5 years. Dabo, Petrino, and Fisher are in a division with Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Boston College.

In the last 5 years, the bottom 4 SEC schools have been UK (21-40), Arkansas (29-34), Vandy (31-32), and UT (35-28). The bottom 4 ACC schools are UVA (17-43), Syracuse (18-31- only been in conference for 4 years), WF (22-39), and BC (26-37). The ACC would have the 3 worst teams in the last 5 years if you combined the two conferences.

So, moral of the story is that the SEC is still deeper than the ACC and does get some competition from the entire conference. You can also see that the SEC fluctuates from year to year as Mizzou and Auburn have both been first one year and dead last in others.
 
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John Adams has already written an article about Tennessee's toxic culture for the inevitable day that Dave Serrano fields a decent team at a mid-major school somewhere. Just needs to do a quick find and replace in about 10 months to get the right program name in the piece.
 
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