Interesting Graphic I Stumbled Across

[Matt2496]

Based on this graphic, we have the youngest roster in the SEC with the lowest percentage of seniors and highest percentage of freshman. I'm not going to excuse some of the poor coaching decisions in big games, but all things considered, we are actually a pretty good team. These stats explain why the team has looked so sloppy at times and then brilliant at others. If our current players stay, we'll have a real shot at going deep into the playoffs in a year or two.

I would even say the job Heupel has done getting these green players ready for the season is actually really impressive. Just a couple of plays/decisions away from 8-1...with a roster consisting of 50% freshman. Just food for thought.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Remember before the season started, during SEC Media Days, Coach said, "Now, our young guys, and this has been something we’ve talked about a lot inside of our program. Our young guys don’t have time to be young. ... Our young guys have got to grow early,”"

This is precisely what he was describing. I think you nailed it, Matt.

But the trolls and harbingers of gloom will arrive quickly to explain just how wrong you are.

Go Vols!

 

[UTFranklinVol]

not arguing the point that Tennessee is young, but Tennessee is IMO neck and neck with Georgia. they are only 1-2 players away from having us beat for the youngest team.

I agree with heupel that young can't be an excuse.

this should mean that each season going forward we have higher and higher expectations for winning the SEC. If Georgia can do it there's no reason Tennessee can't do it

 

[bigorangepoppa]

Remember before the season started, during SEC Media Days, Coach said, "Now, our young guys, and this has been something we’ve talked about a lot inside of our program. Our young guys don’t have time to be young. ... Our young guys have got to grow early,”"

This is precisely what he was describing. I think you nailed it, Matt.

But the trolls and harbingers of gloom will arrive quickly to explain just how wrong you are.

Go Vols!

Hopefully, this will quieten some of the nega vols, but probably not. We're supposed to put a team on the field and beat everyone we play, even with the youngest roster in the conference. There are some very good players in the youngest pool, but only game experience will teach them what to do.

Another thing folks who want Heupel gone need to take into consideration; Heupel is putting another very good recruiting class together for 2026, and some very good prospects in the 2027 class. Yep, go ahead and fire him and watch the de-commits start. Then we can start all over again.

 

[IndianaVol]

Few things I find interesting:
1) We aren't far off in percentages from UGA - that tells me it's just a matter of getting more talent in the second string guys...keep recruiting Coach.
2) Vandy with 1/4 of the roster already graduated...next couple of years could be rough for them.
3) Arky with the 'most seasoned' roster in the league...maybe this metric isn't everything ???

 

[UTFranklinVol]

Few things I find interesting:
1) We aren't far off in percentages from UGA - that tells me it's just a matter of getting more talent in the second string guys...keep recruiting Coach.
2) Vandy with 1/4 of the roster already graduated...next couple of years could be rough for them.
3) Arky with the 'most seasoned' roster in the league...maybe this metric isn't everything ???

it's not everything. people bash star gazers but this is what I know, Tennessee consistently finishes behind bama and Georgia for recruiting and consistently loses to them.

these teams plug and play young players all day long and they know how to coach young players to get the best performance.

the age of the roster is never an excuse for them. heupel knows this too. he knows with NIL and the NFL that there's no such thing as players growing up and getting older. you have to win with what you have.

 

[DonDiego]

A reason we have a low percentage of seniors and grad students, and a high percentage of freshmen might be related to CJH's propensity to depend on HS recruiting as opposed to working the portal. Whether or not that is a good thing, I guess time will tell.

 

[Peradox1K]

He's a great HS recruiter, and so that doesn't surprise me (very much)

 

[Hacksaw]

This has been obvious all season long. A lot of people just hate losing so much that they can't accept the reality of our situation. We are young overall and missing some of our best and most experienced players at key positions. Despite this fact, we still have a chance at a 10-win season and will miss the CFP only as the result of a handful of plays that didn't go our way, including the missed FG against UGA in a loss that should have been a win.

Heupel deserves credit, not criticism, for the season we've had so far. Most of the teams in CFB would trade their coach for ours in a heartbeat.

 

[casual-observer]

Few things I find interesting:
1) We aren't far off in percentages from UGA - that tells me it's just a matter of getting more talent in the second string guys...keep recruiting Coach.
2) Vandy with 1/4 of the roster already graduated...next couple of years could be rough for them.
3) Arky with the 'most seasoned' roster in the league...maybe this metric isn't everything ???

#3 = true.

A roster full of 2-3 start seniors is still not going to compare to a roster three deep with 5-stars (I'm talking to you georgia).

 

[cooterbob]

Why are sophomores so low on all sec rosters. Do that many Freshmen transfer.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Why are sophomores so low on all sec rosters. Do that many Freshmen transfer.

This is an interesting question. I tried briefly to search for it but failed: What percentage of SEC starters for each team are transfers?

I seem to recall this being a topic but I couldn't find hard data. If someone else can, it would be interesting to put that data up next to this graphic.

Are we becoming the "first stop" for recruits because we pay well for undeveloped freshmen who then look for a better deal elsewhere as upperclassmen?

 

[IndianaVol]

This is an interesting question. I tried briefly to search for it but failed: What percentage of SEC starters for each team are transfers?

I seem to recall this being a topic but I couldn't find hard data. If someone else can, it would be interesting to put that data up next to this graphic.

Are we becoming the "first stop" for recruits because we pay well for undeveloped freshmen who then look for a better deal elsewhere as upperclassmen?

Interesting question.
I bet our ratio is higher than most.

I would like to see number of starters by class broken down this way too.
That would be a good comparison as I bet more of our 49% of Freshmen are starters or 2nd string than UGAs 46%.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Interesting question.
I bet our ratio is higher than most.

I would like to see number of starters by class broken down this way too.
That would be a good comparison as I bet more of our 49% of Freshmen are starters or 2nd string than UGAs 46%.

The question of roster retention SUCKS in the NIL era for everyone compared to the old days but I wonder about us compared to our rivals and peers in the SEC.

For instance, if we're losing a lot of recruits from certain positions, maybe we've got a position coach issue?

 

[MemphisVol77]

Does anybody know how many scholarships we reduced by year to meet our NCAA penalty? Wasn't it like 28 schollies over 5 years?

2021 - ?
2022 - ?
2023 - ?
2024 - ?

I can't quantify how many of those lost 2021-2023 schollies would have significantly contributed in our 2 deep this year, but it's certainly greater than zero.

Contrary to tons of people posting that NIL & the transfer portal negate the sanctions, I think our present roster is still affected.

 

[Vols410]

Posted this in the recruiting forum, but it's relevant.

Georgia has 4 starting underclassmen. We have 6.
Georgia has 17 underclassmen in their two-deep. We have 21.
Georgia has 2 true freshmen in their two-deep. We have 8.

Not quite the same.

 

[TheDirector]

Why are sophomores so low on all sec rosters. Do that many Freshmen transfer.

The freshmen number may be deceptively high if it includes both redshirt and true freshmen. Maybe that throws off the sophomore numbers somehow? Not sure how just a thought. Also the Senior and Graduate numbers are still inflated after the covid years with extra eligibility. How are we classifying Joey Aguilar in his seventh year of college football? Graduate?

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Does anybody know how many scholarships we reduced by year to meet our NCAA penalty? Wasn't it like 28 schollies over 5 years?

2021 - ?
2022 - ?
2023 - ?
2024 - ?

I can't quantify how many of those lost 2021-2023 schollies would have significantly contributed in our 2 deep this year, but it's certainly greater than zero.

Contrary to tons of people posting that NIL & the transfer portal negate the sanctions, I think our present roster is still affected.

We're down 2 scholarships a year at this point until 2028, I believe. Josh hasn't had a full scholarship year since he got here and was down 4 or 6 in his first couple of years as I recall. We're also dinged on evaluations, visit weeks, etc until 2028.

After the success with Hooker and a CFP appearance last year, nobody wants to talk about the sanctions anymore as though they no longer exist or they should have no bearing on recruiting.

If that's true let's just offer 2 less scholarships than our peers every year since it "shouldn't matter." Of course it still matters.

 

[Volnanza]

10 years ago this would have been exciting news. It was great to watch them come in and develop into great players. Now with the portal, you don't have any idea who will be playing next year. You get a stud freshman and POOF! At the end of the year, he runs off to another team. How can you get excited for the future when you have no idea who is going to be playing for you.

 

[molsen81]

Ok, so now I should shut up?........

 

[a vol n tears]

You can make numbers say what you want them to say. Especially adding in what a poster above said. How many Freshman are redshirt, and other classes as well.
Based on that I could say that where you are rated in recruiting means nothing. Apparently the class from 2 years ago is mostly gone and the class from 4 years ago is gone. If they have a 100 man roster, they only have 9 sr but 50 Fr?

 

[livefaith]

View attachment 787969

Based on this graphic, we have the youngest roster in the SEC with the lowest percentage of seniors and highest percentage of freshman. I'm not going to excuse some of the poor coaching decisions in big games, but all things considered, we are actually a pretty good team. These stats explain why the team has looked so sloppy at times and then brilliant at others. If our current players stay, we'll have a real shot at going deep into the playoffs in a year or two.

I would even say the job Heupel has done getting these green players ready for the season is actually really impressive. Just a couple of plays/decisions away from 8-1...with a roster consisting of 50% freshman. Just food for thought.

Fhar Heupel. Nobody wants to stay around and play for him.

 

[Rocky Top T]

not arguing the point that Tennessee is young, but Tennessee is IMO neck and neck with Georgia. they are only 1-2 players away from having us beat for the youngest team.

I agree with heupel that young can't be an excuse.

this should mean that each season going forward we have higher and higher expectations for winning the SEC. If Georgia can do it there's no reason Tennessee can't do it

You are correct. Georgia is just as young as we are and they beat us at home. I know we should have won, but we didn't

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

I'm a lawyer, so math isn't my strong suit but it looks to me like Florida and LSU are both younger (more underclassmen). Georgia, Texas and Auburn are all within 2 percent of us underclassmen-wise too. It's not like we are playing a bunch of young pups and no one else is.

 

[Hank Bukowski]

it's not everything. people bash star gazers but this is what I know, Tennessee consistently finishes behind bama and Georgia for recruiting and consistently loses to them.

these teams plug and play young players all day long and they know how to coach young players to get the best performance.

the age of the roster is never an excuse for them. heupel knows this too. he knows with NIL and the NFL that there's no such thing as players growing up and getting older. you have to win with what you have.

Brother, I do believe you have spoken for me with this:

“these teams plug and play young players all day long and they know how to coach young players to get the best performance”

Totally agree. This is how you build depth. Let these younger guys get baptized by fire as soon as possible. Don’t be afraid to put them in and stay in as long as they know their jobs and they’re doing their jobs. Play as many of them as possible and let them build their scar tissue. Expect a lot and you will get more and more. Push them to find their ceilings and they just might blow right through them.