Recruiting Football Talk VII

#67,302
#67,302
LA Vol said:
You're right-- we're not a "win at all cost" program and that's top-down. Our rivals are. You're also spot-on that UT is having to recruit around the perception that UT football is a next-tier down program-- not elite. They're having to chip away at this-- and proving it on the field is the path. The losses to UGA and Bama aren't as detrimental as losses to programs like UF and Mizzou. If UT had beaten UF this year, it would be a different narrative.

That said, I think recruiting reflects this staff's philosophy more than anything else. They prioritize keeping the players they have and bringing in guys who fit their profile and can be developed up the depth chart-- along with select plug-and-play portalers who fit very specific needs.


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After firing Bruce Pearl over a BBQ and recently our own administration getting the football program in trouble for recruiting violations, it's pretty clear we're not a win at any cost program.
 
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#67,305
#67,305
Smyrna ATL Vol said:
Offenses weren’t nearly as good and we had the worst passing defense in the nation last year so it should be an improvement. And we were playing walk ons against Bama last year, we had a ton of injuries last year too.

They did improve though. But I think that is because the defensive line was dominant. When it wasn’t, the defense struggled. DL carried the defense. And it will next year too.
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Yeah had we gotten the LB play we had last season with this year's DL we would have also gone undefeated.

But the secondary has been a consistent sore spot in performance for fans... well next year will be basically an entirely new secondary from top to bottom. Tank, Hadden, McDonald, Slaughter, Turnage we know are all gone. I think Walker and Gabe Jeudy-Lally will also be gone.

So if the best talent/speed is the younger secondary guys then shouldn't we see improvement next year?

I'm optimistic, because I personally think secondary is one area on the field where you can plug in guys with little experience and if they got the talent they'll play well regardless.
 
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#67,306
#67,306
MoCo_Vol said:
2022 we scored 46.1 ppg

If we had hit that average this season instead of going 8-4 we would have went undefeated... No team scored 40 on us.

31.5 ppg and the inability of our offense to score and make drives is why we took the step back this year...not the defense.

Defense gave up less 54.6 less passing yards, 2 less rushing yards, 56.6 less total yards and 0.8 less points per game. All that while having to deal with far more major injuries, best CB went down and missed last 5 games. Arguably our best ILB went down and missed 11 games.
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The defense really missed Hadden out there. I got sick of the soft zone coverage that they almost exclusively used after Hadden went down because the defense kept giving up 3rd down conversions to wide open guys. After having some time to consider the personnel they had in the secondary...I get why they ran that soft zone. The only guys capable of playing man were Hadden and the young guys (who they didn't trust). McCullough, Walker, McDonald, Juedy-Lally, and Slaughter (who was hurt all year) are all guys who are honestly a step too slow for the position they're playing and would've given up more big plays. Burrell is fast enough to keep up in man but doesn't know how to make a play when the ball gets there. Turnage has the speed to do it but just isn't reliable at all. The defense badly needs an infusion of speed in the secondary and it looks like it's going to happen. With older guys hitting the portal, it's obvious that the staff is ready to play the young guys to get more speed on the field...even if it means suffering through the growing pains. I expect there to be a lot more press man coverage which will also help the pass rush. I like the direction the defense is going. They just need to stay healthy in the secondary. Hopefully they have a good showing in the bowl game to give them a lot of confidence heading into the offseason.
 
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#67,310
#67,310
OrangeBlood4life said:
I posted a while back about a 2 door yukon I got that needed some work. Well here it is now. New front end, hood and paint.
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That's my favorite model of yukon. Would love to have one like that. A guy who does sheetrock for us had one he was trying to sell for $6,500, but he had like 300k on it and it needed probably $6k work done. . . but the body and interior looked great.

I think those look better than the new stuff they're building now, at least the exterior.

You could take that to the rod runs and get a small fortune for it, probably.
 
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#67,312
#67,312
Depth Chart for Bowl Game & next season projection (bold are players that won't be back)

LT: John Campbell
LG: Andrej Karic
C: Cooper Mays (as of now he's not opt'd out, not sure he's back next season...but hasn't said yet either way to my knowledge)
RG: Javontez Spraggins (see above)
RT: Gerald Mincey

QB: Milton or Nico
RB: Sampson, Seldon, Keith
WRs: White, Keyton (hasn't opt'd out), Webb/Nimrod
TE: Warren/Castles

DE: Bailey or West
DT: Omario Thomas
DT: Omarr Norman-Lott/Eason
DE: Roman/Pearce

LBs: Beasley, Herring, Perry, Telander
CBs: Gibson, Gabe Jeudy-Lally (hasn't opt'd out)
STAR: Jourdan Thomas
Safety: Jaylen McCollough, Wesley Walker, Will Brooks, Andre Turrentine

Will be interesting to see who else they play at CB in the bowl game... that's the position with the most attrition.
 
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#67,317
#67,317
Vols410 said:
Browsing around some stats on PFF for our DBs:

View attachment 601812

So sad we didn't get to see more of Hadden this year. His reputation was never going to go away but his production was borderline All-American before he went down, shutting down some quality receivers (Legette comes to mind) along the way.
Jeudy-Lally was ok. Better in run support, not all that in coverage.
Slaughter was really bad this year - QBs had a 153.2 NFL rating when throwing his way.
RGIII flashed in limited snaps. Excited to see him more going forward.

The STAR position struggled. McDonald was ok but not great. I forget if Thomas played there or at S, because his numbers are definitely a bit better (though again, small sample size).

Safety is harder to read in terms of Yards / Target, but McCollough's numbers actually look pretty solid across the board.
Walker's weren't as nice, but they were better last year.

The LBs hurt us pretty bad in the passing game, especially Herring and Carter.
Herring was 3rd on the team in passing yards allowed. He was targeted as much as Beasley (41 times) but gave up 369 yards compared to Beasley's 202).
Carter's coverage grade was 34, worst on the team.
Fwiw, Pili had a 71 coverage grade (in only 14 coverage snaps), was targeted only once with no receptions. Maybe he helps us there next year.
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iirc, Pili started his career at BYU as a safety and played DB in high school. Could be wrong.
 
#67,318
#67,318
InVOLuntary said:
@SoilVol

I picked up an odd occurrence on my game cam here behind my house. I've not seen anything like this. I think it's a flying squirrel but I didn't know they were around here. It literally flew about 30'. It was about half the size of a regular squirrel. I get squirrels all the time but only from dusk to dark. This was 1:30AM. Would it be a flying squirrel?
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Yep. Southern flying squirrel!
 
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#67,320
#67,320
SSVol said:
Hey @SoilVol got any idea how to dissuade bears from dining in my dumpster? We've got a sow and two adolescent cubs who are becoming a menace. I like bears, but I would prefer that they not make a mess.
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Wrap a can a barbasol with bacon. Bear bites into it, shaving cream gets into its sinuses. Never again will it show up. At least I've been told
 
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#67,323
#67,323
Enki_Amenra said:
That's my favorite model of yukon. Would love to have one like that. A guy who does sheetrock for us had one he was trying to sell for $6,500, but he had like 300k on it and it needed probably $6k work done. . . but the body and interior looked great.

I think those look better than the new stuff they're building now, at least the exterior.

You could take that to the rod runs and get a small fortune for it, probably.
Click to expand...

I've turned down a 15k offer for it already.

I've got 6k into the hood and paint. it's mechanically sound , doesn't leak a drop. Has 270k on it now. Motor and trans were replaced in 2016. It's a 1994 .

Can get a complete new motor for 3k. I'll gladly replace anything that breaks going forward.

I refuse to pay 60k for the new plastic trucks.
 
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