2021 Recruit Class Rating Plummets Dangerously

#1
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GoodlettsvilleVol

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#1
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
 
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#2
#2
A 10 step program to get to this point

1. Hire an athletic director that is in over his head
2. Hire a coach that literally no-one else wants
3. Hire a coach that was run off from 2 prior jobs due to personality issues
4. Hire a coach whose mentor is Rush Probst
5. Extend a coach that no one wants although coach lost to GA State
6. Coach leads team that quits against home curbstomping by UK
7. Coach leads team to double digit loss against team that had come into season without SEC win since 2017
8. Start an investigation to nuke football program to avoid paying the buyout
9. Keep coach on staff in December although it was clear he was in over head
10. Fire coach weeks after season is over.
 
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#3
#3
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.
Click to expand...

Yes dont forget 9-10 transfers coming in count towards that 25 and all will help immediately. Sadly Salter will still count towards that 25.
#36 is not ideal but Oklahoma State and many other programs win 8-9 games regularly with 40 in rankings. Heupel needs to show he can win before he can rake in big recruits due to the mess we are in.
Dabo built his program initially on left over recruits form SEC so good coach can do it.
 
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#5
#5
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.
Click to expand...
Its all on Beldar Cornbread
 
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#6
#6
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.
Click to expand...
This one isn’t HIS class.
 
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#8
#8
BigOrangeMojo said:
A 10 step program to get to this point

1. Hire an athletic director that is in over his head
2. Hire a coach that literally no-one else wants
3. Hire a coach that was run off from 2 prior jobs due to personality issues
4. Hire a coach whose mentor is Rush Probst
5. Extend a coach that no one wants although coach lost to GA State
6. Coach leads team that quits against home curbstomping by UK
7. Coach leads team to double digit loss against team that had come into season without SEC win since 2017
8. Start an investigation to nuke football program to avoid paying the buyout
9. Keep coach on staff in December although it was clear he was in over head
10. Fire coach weeks after season is over.
Click to expand...
Sad part is there are about 25 other terrible missteps we could throw in that list
 
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#11
#11
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
Click to expand...
Vandy was 49th, bowling green was 105th. So technically you are right, either would love to have our class. Just like they would aspire to our 22nd rated class.

It's the type of class Kentucky uses to put more guys in a single year into the NFL than we do in 3/4/5 classes combined.
 
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#13
#13
BigOrangeAl 1979 said:
If Heupel can’t recruit at a big time level he won’t make it at Tennessee or we just take the upper decks off Neyland and say we are East Vandy and fully accept mediocrity forever with our football program and 5-7 and 7-5 seasons at best.
Click to expand...
I hate to say this but we no longer are consider a top program by the recruits, and thats where it is.
 
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#15
#15
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
Click to expand...
No. We need a class of 22-25 guys that fit this system and play 4 years. Another top 5 class with off the chart attrition gets us nowhere.

I support every one of the coaching changes because the current guy wasn’t the answer. The problem was that each change brought 20-30 defections, decommits or dismissals. We never have a full 85 man roster of guys buying in and that’s a major part of the problem.
 
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#17
#17
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
Click to expand...

You don’t need top 10 classes to compete with USC, UK, Vandy, and Mizzou. Build it right, start beating them consistently and build off that to start to compete with UF, UGA, and Bama. Anyone who is judging success in the next 3-4 years by records against those latter three is just asking for disappointment.
 
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#18
#18
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
Click to expand...
We aren't going to get a Top 5-10 class this year. The days where we could pull that kind of class on the rebound from a fired coach are over. A top 25 class would be great this year, show some promise on the field and maybe get a Top 15 next year. That's the ceiling. If we sunk no lower than 20-25 in recruiting each of the next 4 years I'd take it right now, then when we have some stability and the investigations/sanctions are over we can aspire to regularly cracking the top 10 in recruiting. Right now it is time to simply survive.
 
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#19
#19
BigOrangeMojo said:
2021 isn't on Heupel and honestly, given the uncertainty he inherited, he will get a partial pass for 2022. With that being said, he will get some blame if the 2022 class falls outside of the Top 25-30.
Click to expand...

This. It sucks, but it's where we are.

I'd compare the situation to Matt Luke at Ole Miss in 2017. Ole Miss's 2016 class was ranked #5. Their 2017 class was #31. And it wouldn't have mattered if Matt Luke were the greatest recruiter of all-time, he wasn't doing much better than that at the time.

If Heupel lands a top 20 / top 25 class, he deserves props. It's not our long-term goal, but we're not getting a top 5 class this year with all the chaos.
 
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#21
#21
DiderotsGhost said:
This. It sucks, but it's where we are.

I'd compare the situation to Matt Luke at Ole Miss in 2017. Ole Miss's 2016 class was ranked #5. Their 2017 class was #31. And it wouldn't have mattered if Matt Luke were the greatest recruiter of all-time, he wasn't doing much better than that at the time.

If Heupel lands a top 20 / top 25 class, he deserves props. It's not our long-term goal, but we're not getting a top 5 class this year with all the chaos.
Click to expand...

If we get a class in thr teens, I'll be impressed. If we end up in the 20s, it'll be an OK result. Anything in the 30s or lower and I'll have concerns about the recruiting.
 
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#22
#22
LouderVol said:
Vandy was 49th, bowling green was 105th. So technically you are right, either would love to have our class. Just like they would aspire to our 22nd rated class.

It's the type of class Kentucky uses to put more guys in a single year into the NFL than we do in 3/4/5 classes combined.
Click to expand...
That is what happens when you recruit thugs as players. Reminds me of some of the players Kiffin signed when he destroyer our program in just one year as head coach.
 
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#24
#24
K-town Vol Fan said:
Exactly. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if we don't have a top 20 class for 2 or 3 years.
Click to expand...

Totally agree.

I don't think recruiting is a strong point for Heupel and there isn't much to sell in Knoxville right now except immediate playing time and some nice facilities.
 
#25
#25
GoodlettsvilleVol said:
At one time, if I remember correctly, this recruit class was ranked 2, 3.

Now, on 247, after removing the rating points from Kaidon Salter and Isaiah Washington it has fallen all the way to #36.

There are now only 15 recruits left in that defection strapped class.

This is the kind of class a Bowling Green or Vanderbilt would aspire to.

Huge pressure on Heupel to bring in a top class this year. You CANNOT have two weak classes in a row. That will destroy you 3, 4, 5 years down the road.

IMHO we need a loaded top 5-10 class to overcome the 2021 debacle.
Click to expand...

With sanction speculation running rampant... A top recruiting class won't happen until penalties are announced
 
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