Clemson replaced TN

#26
#26
Yup. Kiffin also told Bryce Drew to look elsewhere as well as Cam Newton. In favor of Matt Simms
Cam’s dad was asking for lots of money up front for Cam. UT passed because of how bad it was. Auburn paid him a boatload and didn’t get in trouble, which is ridiculous.
 
#27
#27
In my opinion there are enough elite players to sustain us and Clemson ( not that I care anything for them). To me it's about finding players with fight and a proper work ethic rather than pure talent

You are correct. Regardless of their star rating, we need to find the true gamers. They will be the ones to turn our program around.
 
#28
#28
A lot of our fanbase fails to realize the changed dynamics of recruiting this generation. Kids these days do not want early playing time and the chance to be part of a rebuild. These kids were raised in the era of "The Decision" and pro-bowlers taking pay cuts to go to NE Patriots. It's about building super teams and winning rings. The only way to break the cycle is to overachieve right out of the gate to make prospects believe that you can win championships with a few more pieces in place or to be a rock star that recruits will flock to based on past successes as a hfc. We are now in a position where we are going to try to beat the Bamas and UGAs by playing the same kind of football that they play only they have a huge head start and they get first pick of the best recruits for the system. Using this strategy, the only way we get where we want is if Kirby and Nick get lazy or start f-ing up a bunch.

I will disagree with you. I still think most high school athletes that are 4* or higher go where they think a coach or coaching staff can get them into the NFL. They are not that loyal to a school, which is why coaching changes bring a lot of turmoil within the locker room. Most of the roster was bought in to the former staff.
 
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#30
#30
You are correctx they didn't. But they hit the jack point in a program manager, realized that and gave him the cash to surround himself with a top level staff. Have to give then props for that.

They hit the jackpot with Chad Morris, then paid up making him the highest paid assistant in college football.

Keep in mind Clemson was ready to run Dabo out of town not too many years back. He was accused of micro-managing both sides of the ball. Then he went out and hired new assistants and gave them full control of their side of the ball. His first several years weren’t a bed of roses.
 
#31
#31
Tennessee has to recruit nationally. If you hire a coach with no recruiting chops then you get what you paid for
It seems Pruitt can recruit, and certainly realizes where our deficit is at on the OL/DL. 12 of our 20 commits are OL/DL commits. IF you go by rivals, our OL has one 5*, two 4*, one 3*, and two 3* TE, which seems pretty good. On DL, we've got 6 commits. However, on DL, we've got one 4*, three 3* @ DT and two 3* at DE. So, the numbers are there. My novice opinion is that getting guys like Smith and Wanda Morris on OL are no brainers, but solid OL can be developed with not over the top ratings. On other side of line, however, I don't think you can be an elite D without some consensus future NFL DL players. Am sure Pruitt knows this, and hope we've got a few more spots for more highly touted OL/DL additions, along with, of course, the RB/LB from NC.
 
#32
#32
I will disagree with you. I still think most high school athletes that are 4* or higher go where they think a coach or coaching staff can get them into the NFL. They are not that loyal to a school, which is why coaching changes bring a lot of turmoil within the locker room. Most of the roster was bought in to the former staff.
I take pathway to the league as a given for all elite prospects. It's become a matter of getting there with some championships under your belt, or not. I also think it's easy to scare guys who are looking at us by telling them that they will be more exposed to injuries here because of our depth issues and the surrounding talent. Hopefully, CJP can hang onto his top 10 class thi cycle. If not, his odds go way down.
 
#33
#33
They come in here every year and cherry pick a few that should be Vols. They get the ones from their state that would have went here also. You got Musclecramp doing pretty well at SC too so we just don't get them away from that state like we used too.
I think if Pruitt was on the docket early, Mays would be at UT, and think the younger Mays will probably end up at UT. I don't know where we're going to find a win, but Pruitt definitely needs to figure out how to pull an SEC win or two this year to show progress and get off the SEC win-less streak since 2016 (I can't believe I just wrote that!)
 
#34
#34
You must listen to Basilio. True in away because Clemson stole a bunch of our recruits and have gotten some good players in East Tennessee and shut down a lot of our recruiting in SC. I used to pull for Clemson most of the time since my Mom’s family is from there and they use to be small potatoes... not anymore.
 
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#35
#35
Face it, we are a s#!*storm thanks to selfish boosters and puppet administrators who hire coaches on the cheap instead of pay top dollar to get a quality staff. Clemson figured it out by hiring Dabo Swinney and him hiring a five star staff. Would you really pick us over Clemson right now if you were a five star recruit? I honestly wouldn't.

Um you do realize that Dabo was a coordinator under Bowden right? He wasn't a proven coach. He got promoted.
 
#38
#38
You must listen to Basilio. True in away because Clemson stole a bunch of our recruits and have gotten some good players in East Tennessee and shut down a lot of our recruiting in SC. I used to pull for Clemson most of the time since my Mom’s family is from there and they use to be small potatoes... not anymore.

I don't listen Basilio or much sports talk anymore. But if he is saying that I completely agree.
 
#39
#39
It seems Pruitt can recruit, and certainly realizes where our deficit is at on the OL/DL. 12 of our 20 commits are OL/DL commits. IF you go by rivals, our OL has one 5*, two 4*, one 3*, and two 3* TE, which seems pretty good. On DL, we've got 6 commits. However, on DL, we've got one 4*, three 3* @ DT and two 3* at DE. So, the numbers are there. My novice opinion is that getting guys like Smith and Wanda Morris on OL are no brainers, but solid OL can be developed with not over the top ratings. On other side of line, however, I don't think you can be an elite D without some consensus future NFL DL players. Am sure Pruitt knows this, and hope we've got a few more spots for more highly touted OL/DL additions, along with, of course, the RB/LB from NC.

Reality is he is gonna have to get 4 and 5yr guys and develop them. Maybe add one or 2 elite prospects along the lines when we can. That's the reality of this rebuild. The line is a developmental position and we are not going to get as many elite prospects there as others will in the short term. This rebuild isnt going to be winning sec titles in year 3. If Pruitt is winning 8 games by year 3-4, recruiting is improving/strong, and we can see the development of our lines then Pruitt is having success and we need to stick with him.

Somebody has to go down for us to come up. Who is it going to be?
 
#41
#41
You are correctx they didn't. But they hit the jack point in a program manager, realized that and gave him the cash to surround himself with a top level staff. Have to give then props for that.

They hit the jackpot with Chad Morris, then paid up making him the highest paid assistant in college football.
"Hit the jackpot" is kind of a stretch and not exactly what happened. It wasn't that easy.

Dabo was *this* close to being fired during/after that 2010 season. They were even worse that year than they were during Bowden's last few years. He was basically told that he needed to hire some big time coordinators. Not sure he would have done it on his own. Dabo himself is kind of a clown/hype man and not the greatest tactical coach.

His first hire was Morris and it worked well, but he initially held on to Kevin Steele. Then after giving up 70 to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl he was forced to give up Steele and he went out and got Venables. Then there was some more "Clemsoning" after that before they finally got to, then won, a title. What's funny is that Steele eventually ended up over at Auburn and his defenses are really good there, much better than they were at Clemson.

Dabo has made some great assistant coach hires, to be sure, but only after he almost lost his job over it.
 
#43
#43
"Hit the jackpot" is kind of a stretch and not exactly what happened. It wasn't that easy.

Dabo was *this* close to being fired during/after that 2010 season. They were even worse that year than they were during Bowden's last few years. He was basically told that he needed to hire some big time coordinators. Not sure he would have done it on his own. Dabo himself is kind of a clown/hype man and not the greatest tactical coach.

His first hire was Morris and it worked well, but he initially held on to Kevin Steele. Then after giving up 70 to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl he was forced to give up Steele and he went out and got Venables. Then there was some more "Clemsoning" after that before they finally got to, then won, a title. What's funny is that Steele eventually ended up over at Auburn and his defenses are really good there, much better than they were at Clemson.

Dabo has made some great assistant coach hires, to be sure, but only after he almost lost his job over it.

It's where you end up that is most important thought, right. Dabo has done a good job since then of keeping the train moving and having good assistants. The hardest part is getting the ball rolling, but now he is riding that wave of momentum well.
 
#44
#44
Face it, we are a s#!*storm thanks to selfish boosters and puppet administrators who hire coaches on the cheap instead of pay top dollar to get a quality staff. Clemson figured it out by hiring Dabo Swinney and him hiring a five star staff. Would you really pick us over Clemson right now if you were a five star recruit? I honestly wouldn't.
Was Dabo ever a head coach anywhere before he got the Clemson job? He didn't start out by winning like he is now. If you want to use him as a comparison, be willing to give Pruitt the same opportunity.
 
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#45
#45
Tennessee self destructed and Clemson filled the void. With GA and Ala getting practically everyone they want, Auburn and Clemson both strong, its going to be tough for Pruitt & Co to put Tennessee back in there.
 
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#47
#47
Face it, we are a s#!*storm thanks to selfish boosters and puppet administrators who hire coaches on the cheap instead of pay top dollar to get a quality staff. Clemson figured it out by hiring Dabo Swinney and him hiring a five star staff. Would you really pick us over Clemson right now if you were a five star recruit? I honestly wouldn't.
I wouldn’t pick us if I was a 1 star recruit:)
 
#48
#48
Keep in mind Clemson was ready to run Dabo out of town not too many years back. He was accused of micro-managing both sides of the ball. Then he went out and hired new assistants and gave them full control of their side of the ball. His first several years weren’t a bed of roses.
Wasnt one of his Defensive Coordinators torched for an insane amount of yards in a bowl game (or maybe prime time game) years ago?
 
#49
#49
A lot of our fanbase fails to realize the changed dynamics of recruiting this generation. Kids these days do not want early playing time and the chance to be part of a rebuild. These kids were raised in the era of "The Decision" and pro-bowlers taking pay cuts to go to NE Patriots. It's about building super teams and winning rings. The only way to break the cycle is to overachieve right out of the gate to make prospects believe that you can win championships with a few more pieces in place or to be a rock star that recruits will flock to based on past successes as a hfc. We are now in a position where we are going to try to beat the Bamas and UGAs by playing the same kind of football that they play only they have a huge head start and they get first pick of the best recruits for the system. Using this strategy, the only way we get where we want is if Kirby and Nick get lazy or start f-ing up a bunch.

Who are these “pro bowlers” that you speak of other than guys who were past their prime like Randy Moss, Ocho, and Junior Seau? The only real stars they have ever had were drafted in Brady, and Gronk. They generally do no pay big and players are let go. They improve through the draft and that is the Bilichek way
 
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