ChattaTNVol
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- Sep 13, 2011
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You know what? I can't argue with that honestly. You very well could be right. We have sucked for so long it seems, I think it's given a lot of Vol fans a bit of an inferiority complex and it's like we're sittin' around here thinking that we don't deserve to be in this position! We ARE a top 10 program damnit! Thanks for reminding me of that!
Brave, I don't want to offend you or anyone else in any way because yeah this is, at the moment, the best class we've had in a while - BUT - it's early in the process so it's likely a few teams on our six are probably going to sail right by us in the class rankings before NSD. I say probably because at present we are limited by the current ratings of our talent. Some of our talent may well get a bump after their upcoming seasons; some may actually drop. In any event our No. 1 spot is partly due to numbers and partly due to the talent mix.
The #1 class for the last 5 years has averaged (3) 6.1's, (3.2) 6.0's, (4.6) 5.9's, (6.2) 5.8's, (4.8) 5.7's, (2.6) 5.6's, and 1 less than 3-star. That class has been Alabama for 4 of the past 5 years. Our class this year is increasingly competitive with that but we still have a ways to go and our roster needs that year in and year out. People who have long followed this program (decades) expect that and demand that. It is largely the reason we've had so many recent coaching changes. There's a lot of optimism now that we may have someone who will get the job done. The evidence so far is very very encouraging. As others have projected and many are missing its most likely that absent some major changes in our class composition and/or the individual ratings on each player the end result is going to show that we perhaps have a solid top 10 class. Hell that's not surprising at all.
Kiffen had the #10 class. Dooley's first class was #9, the second fell to #13, followed by a drop to #17 and last year's class was #21. What's worse about all of that is that out of 54 players ranked 5.8 or above by rivals from those classes, only 28 are on the roster today. By going early and getting who you want and those who want you, you don't wait to take a chance on the ones no one else really wanted. I like the way this is going and the "vibe" is a much welcomed change.
