The Necessity of In-State Recruiting

#26
#26
I think Catholic has three highly rated linemen this year. Would like to get those guys at UT
 
#27
#27
So far 4 players come to mind that went off and made a big impact on those other schools. I can live with that stat. Let the coaches make the evaluations on players. I think sometimes, and this is not Tennessee only thing, these kids get full of themselves with these star ratings. UT has pulled 4 and 5* players from other states....and they found out, the SEC is different. They come to play us, we come to be us! Go Vols!!!
 
#28
#28
Type Orange+ said:
This is an interesting article in that it makes the case that due to our recent growth in population, Tennessee is becoming a factory for blue chip football recruits and why it will remain so for sometime to come.
I'll post a few brief excerpts:
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I think the idea that Tennessee is "loaded with Talent"is a very subjective statement. I think the only reason that in state recruiting is a necessity is for relationship building purposes
 
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#29
#29
Pepe said:
I think the idea that Tennessee is "loaded with Talent"is a very subjective statement. I think the only reason that in state recruiting is a necessity is for relationship building purposes
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There absolutely is a HUGE rise in talent In-State.

But people need to understand you still only 25 kids per year.

Maybin
Bituli
Hurd
Gaulden
Foreman and many more recent in-state guys did very well here,

But so did
Dobbs
Kamara
Sutton
Randolph etc. All GA kids.
All from the area about 3 hours away from Knoxville.

I consider Atlanta "in-state" recruiting.

Get the best players you can! Period....

We'll get our fair share of in-state.
Richmond
A Taylor
Bituli
Chandler
Jennings
Banks will all be in-state starters/contributors this year...
 
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#30
#30
Plus "in state" does not mean east Tennessee. Too many years has UT IMO let instate kids from the middle and western part of the state dangle or even be ignored so some kid that doesn't pan out in East Tennessee gets a scholly. I'm still raw and ill over Patrick Willis at Bruceton who loved and would have crawled on his belly tp play at UT get the cold shoulder by UT and went on to become an All SEC and All Pro player defensively in the NFL. Patrick Willis was Daniel Bituli before there was a Daniel Bituli. See the post above suggesting Knox Catholic has 3 linemen SEC capable as an example. Really? Really? Really?
 
#31
#31
Weezer said:
Why limit yourself to the state? We've always thrived when recruiting nationally. Where they live doesn't matter. If they're talented and fit the system, Pruitt will pursue them. That's all that matters. Too much emphasis is put on in-state recruiting..
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If that was our best/only choice, it would be different. Now, all else being equal, I would take the in-state prespect, but otherwise, we have to get the best talent available. Nashville and Atlanta are about the same distance. So be it.
 
#35
#35
Jack Burton said:
Most of the talent seems to be mid-state. Those kids don’t care about Vols Football, and won’t care until we can start winning. Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU are just as likely to land them as we are. So get the bag men.
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They don't care about Stanford clemson ga ala etc either
 
#36
#36
Something else, Pruitt is the head coach. At some point you have to trust his player evaluations over those of sites like 247 and Rivals. His job depends on him finding talented players that fit his system. Recruiting sites don't face the same pressure. Not to mention they often rank players at positions they won't play in college. At his camps, Pruitt had several players play at positions other than what the sites list them at. He knows what skill sets he wants. If he wants a TN kid, he'll recruit him, and he's a relentless recruiter. He doesn't seem too upset that some kids have chosen to leave the state. You're not really "missing" on a kid you didn't want, and it's silly to want a kid just because he's from TN. It'll all work out in the end.
 
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#37
#37
Don't ge me started on Donte Hightower out of Marshall County. How the $#@! did that kid end up starring at Bama???? There's too many kids in middle and west Tennessee that get and got ignored so a kid from east Tennessee could say he ran through the T as a Volunteer. Note I did note say played. Go back before the first kid from Carlton Flatt's nationally ranked Brentwood Academy teams FINALLY ended up at UT to which before that school was a pipeline into UGA and Auburn. Jimmy Hockaday anyone? Starting WR at UGA former Brentwood Academy youngster and couldn't get a look on The Hill.
 
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#38
#38
Weezer said:
Why limit yourself to the state?
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I don't think that was the point of the article. I believe it was pointing out that Tennessee has become a fertile, talent rich recruiting ground and will become even more so over time and this is to our advantage. We should lock down our own state and raid other states for their best players.
 
#39
#39
Type Orange+ said:
I don't think that was the point of the article. I believe it was pointing out that Tennessee has become a fertile, talent rich recruiting ground and will become even more so over time and this is to our advantage. We should lock down our own state and raid other states for their best players.
Click to expand...

Winning will take care of this.

I admit that I too share an affinity for the in-state prospects.

Really excited about Elijah Simmons.
 
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#40
#40
swampfoxfan said:
Don't know what you could base that on
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Primarily the overall talent level. Take the top division in GA and TN and put those teams against each other and I think GA teams eat TN teams lunch. More talent playing on the field makes everyone better. TN has a handful of top kids, GA has a ton of them, all playing against each other and increasing the talent level over time. TN may get there, but it will take some time. Again, just my opinion, which is essentially what I based it on.
 
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#41
#41
99bubble said:
Primarily the overall talent level. Take the top division in GA and TN and put those teams against each other and I think GA teams eat TN teams lunch. More talent playing on the field makes everyone better. TN has a handful of top kids, GA has a ton of them, all playing against each other and increasing the talent level over time. TN may get there, but it will take some time. Again, just my opinion, which is essentially what I based it on.
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Then you have to love what is going on with Brentwood Academy, MBA, and Ensworth all within a couple miles of each other has been producing. Those three schools can go to Georgia and compete with any of the top teams there year in and year out.
 
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#42
#42
99bubble said:
I don't know. I do think the talent has improved immensely in TN, but I'm still of the opinion that a 3 star from GA or FL is often times better than a 4 star from TN. JMO
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This does seem to be true most of the time.
 
#45
#45
99bubble said:
Primarily the overall talent level. Take the top division in GA and TN and put those teams against each other and I think GA teams eat TN teams lunch. More talent playing on the field makes everyone better. TN has a handful of top kids, GA has a ton of them, all playing against each other and increasing the talent level over time. TN may get there, but it will take some time. Again, just my opinion, which is essentially what I based it on.
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We have much more than a handful.
But comparing them to Georgia is simply not fair.

Georgia has now surpassed California in High School football talent...

Which is insane!
 
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#46
#46
LittleVol said:
We have much more than a handful.
But comparing them to Georgia is simply not fair.

Georgia has now surpassed California in High School football talent...

Which is insane!
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I like how Coach Pruitt is recruiting in Georgia it reminds me of how Coach Fulmer did recruiting there in the 1990s.
 
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#47
#47
LittleVol said:
How so?

Examples??
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Well 99bubble answered satisfactorily I think.

Besides the wording of my post kind of shows that I wasn't exactly the best person to answer that question.

When you agree with someone by saying, "that does seem to be true most of the time", you are basically allowing that a phenomenon may exist, while at the same time admitting that you yourself don't HAVE any answers to explain it.

So not sure why you expected any elaboration from me...lol.
 
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#49
#49
We have always heard the words " build a wall around the state "
Well folks i'm here to tell you that winning cures everything. Saban could slap a old woman on court square, on video, unprovoked, and he would still not get fired. My point being that if you win you are WAY more likely to keep the kids in your state. We have a talent pool to pull from in Memphis that is awesome. Memphis is a hard place to recruit especially in K town because there are 6 D1 schools closer to home than K town. We have to compete with the university of Memphis, Ole Miss, Miss. St. Arkansas, Bama, and Vandy. ( do not forget UTM, Ark. State, or Austin Peay, MTSU, or even a SEMO ) I know we probably are not recruiting the same kids but its really hard to leave home for a 18 year old kid. I absolutely loved seeing Jeremy Banks becoming a vol. I think this was one of the biggest recruiting wins in CJP early time here.
I think we have a coach that is going to win. Time will tell but think we have a winner.
Also You can not forget about the Nashville area. The talent and level of ball being played there is certainly on the rise. The top recruit in the state this year is from Franklin if my memory serves me correctly.
Being the head coach at this university means you MUST recruit better than anyone. I think we have a head coach and assistants that can do that.
 
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