5 stars

[voldawgforever]

We need to stop the comparisons to Alabama. Alabama is head and shoulders above everyone else in the country and will be as long as Saban is there.

Sorry to hear you're wimping out like the rest of the country. I want to beat their asses. Every year. And I aint scared. You scared? Sounds like you're scared?

 

[majic73]

Presently Alabama has on their roster 19 five star players and Tennessee has six and that is going back to 2013. Coming up For 2017 class Alabama has five and Tennessee has none. How is that catching up? I remember CBJ said they know the type athletic they look for. I remember he took E. Mosley and he only weighted only 145# but he said we will get him in the weight room and build him up. Well Butch how did that work out? He cannot recruit on the level with Sabin but many other coaches have the same problem. If his assistance could do a little better. Just think the year was suppose to be a rebuilding year for Alabama. Of course cutcliff at Duke does very well with two star players and so does Louisville. There just a few coaches around the country that can take less talent and complete with big time programs. It also seems coaches that has a snare on their face , do a better job. Sabin hardly ever smiles, Belick, Ditta, Myers, many many other big time coaches. What happened to "Power of Positive Thinking" I guess in football it doesn't work.

10 of those are from the state of Alabama ...there is a handful from the border state of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Alabama has always been a recruiting power house.

We have always been a National recruiter due to our lack of instate recruits. Dooley completely abandoned the high schools in TN actually damaging some relationships. It will take a while to rebuild those pipelines in our home state . We also need to rebuild our relationships in GA

Despite Sabans dominance in recruiting for 10 years ...he is only working on his second undefeated team in that time span. He is not a perfect coach despite his reputation , although he is unparalleled as a recruiter .

 

[BP4Prez]

Sorry to hear you're wimping out like the rest of the country. I want to beat their asses. Every year. And I aint scared. You scared? Sounds like you're scared?

I'm realistic. Do I hope we beat their ass? Yeah. Do I expect to? No. they have the best talent and the best coach in the country. And I don't see that changing until Saban retires. He is possibly the greatest coach in college football history.

 

[voldawgforever]

I'm realistic. Do I hope we beat their ass? Yeah. Do I expect to? No. they have the best talent and the best coach in the country. And I don't see that changing until Saban retires. He is possibly the greatest coach in college football history.

True. Makes me sick too.

 

[rickyyrs]

Bama wins championships on a consistent basis and spits talent in the NFL. Makes it WAYYY Easier to recruit 5* players. Currently it seems TN is recruiting 3* talent that has NFL potential. Hasn't panned out yet except for Cam Sutton.

I always think most of the 5 star players are going to college where they run a pro style offense. k:

 

[Carl Pickens]

Presently Alabama has on their roster 19 five star players and Tennessee has six and that is going back to 2013. Coming up For 2017 class Alabama has five and Tennessee has none. How is that catching up? I remember CBJ said they know the type athletic they look for. I remember he took E. Mosley and he only weighted only 145# but he said we will get him in the weight room and build him up. Well Butch how did that work out? He cannot recruit on the level with Sabin but many other coaches have the same problem. If his assistance could do a little better. Just think the year was suppose to be a rebuilding year for Alabama. Of course cutcliff at Duke does very well with two star players and so does Louisville. There just a few coaches around the country that can take less talent and complete with big time programs. It also seems coaches that has a snare on their face , do a better job. Sabin hardly ever smiles, Belick, Ditta, Myers, many many other big time coaches. What happened to "Power of Positive Thinking" I guess in football it doesn't work.

This kind of snare?

 

[RollerVol]

You can only play 11 at a time. We should be able to compete with anyone. Right now Bama talent allows them to play very conservative football and win. We have to rely more on the a scheme that creates mismatches until we can stand toe to toe with elite teams again.

so, Bama plays conservative...it's not just Bama's first eleven...it's their next eleven and their next eleven...

GO VOLS!

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

CURRENT FIVE-STAR PLAYERS BY TEAM AS OF 2015

1. Alabama: 18
T2. Georgia 8
T2. Texas A&M 8
4. Florida 6
T5. Auburn 5
T5 LSU 5
T5. Ole Miss 5
T8. Mississippi State 1
T8. Missouri 1
T8. Tennessee 1

???

K-Mac, Shy Tuttle, Drew Richmond, Josh Malone, Kyle Phillips, Jonathan Kongbo, Alvin Karma... all rated 5 star by either 247 or Rivals.

 

[UTwick]

I know you meant "snear on their face", but what does that have to do with anything?

Snarl?

 

[AM64]

Presently Alabama has on their roster 19 five star players and Tennessee has six and that is going back to 2013. Coming up For 2017 class Alabama has five and Tennessee has none. How is that catching up? I remember CBJ said they know the type athletic they look for. I remember he took E. Mosley and he only weighted only 145# but he said we will get him in the weight room and build him up. Well Butch how did that work out? He cannot recruit on the level with Sabin but many other coaches have the same problem. If his assistance could do a little better. Just think the year was suppose to be a rebuilding year for Alabama. Of course cutcliff at Duke does very well with two star players and so does Louisville. There just a few coaches around the country that can take less talent and complete with big time programs. It also seems coaches that has a snare on their face , do a better job. Sabin hardly ever smiles, Belick, Ditta, Myers, many many other big time coaches. What happened to "Power of Positive Thinking" I guess in football it doesn't work.

One list shows AL with 5 5*, OH St with 6, and Clemson with 2 - nobody else has more than one and most have none. Another shows AL with 4, OH St with 6, a handful with 1, and most with 0. I'd say UT is keeping up with AL just about as well as anybody else in the country except OSU.

A little comparison. If your house was damaged in a storm, your first priority (for the house) would be to prevent further damage and make it at least habitable. First priority if you take over a depleted football team is find enough players to start and minimize losses - critical for a coach wanting to keep a job. The second thing would be to keep ahead of things - keep the patches working as you make more permanent fixes - like better starters in the next year or so. Next you start trying to do something about keeping a decent first team because of known attrition - graduation, injuries, players who leave - NFL, personal reasons, etc. Finally you try for depth while keeping up with attrition. A coach who knew he didn't have to win immediately to keep his job, might prioritize differently and build a stronger team more efficiently - but with a poorer initial record - if he kept his job.

AL is there on depth - it's a strength, and some teams probably keep up but could never match AL if they have to dig deep - 3rd - 4th level. Fixer upper teams many times starting with coaching turnover will struggle with depth even at a secondary level. With recruiting restrictions a fixer upper coach can only do so much about depth while filling immediate needs. A coach in Butch's position can only hope starters stay healthy because there's not much depth yet to work with.

Imagine trying to run a company when employees could leave any time; but you could only fill positions once a year; and regardless of how many left, you could only add so many people at that one hiring period. Oh yeah, everybody else is trying to add top quality people at the same time, and they are poaching new hires you have lined up. Then once you hire them you can only train them at certain times and on a limited schedule. Easy, huh?

 

[08Vol]

Sorry to hear you're wimping out like the rest of the country. I want to beat their asses. Every year. And I aint scared. You scared? Sounds like you're scared?

Funny that a guy who doesn't have to step foot on the field against Bama "isn't scared". Being scared or confident doesn't change the fact that Bama has more talent in their 2nd strings than our starters do.

 

[08Vol]

???

K-Mac, Shy Tuttle, Drew Richmond, Josh Malone, Kyle Phillips, Jonathan Kongbo, Alvin Karma... all rated 5 star by either 247 or Rivals.

Rivals lost a lot of credibility in 07 when their founders sold it to Yahoo and started 247. 247 limits the # of 5 stars every year which keeps them special. Rivals wants as many as possible so more fans visit their site

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

Rivals lost a lot of credibility in 07 when their founders sold it to Yahoo and started 247. 247 limits the # of 5 stars every year which keeps them special. Rivals wants as many as possible so more fans visit their site

You say they lost a "ton of a credibility" but in reality they aren't that far behind 247 in terms of evaluation. 247 is the better of the two but you're fooling yourself if you think 247 has some major unseen advantage. Most of these talent scouts/recruiting journalists are all visiting the same camps/circuits/events, talking to the same coaches/prospects at these events, seeing the same game film, etc so they are seeing the same body of work. 247 gets an edge when it comes to TV contracts and end of year prospect combines & events (like the Army All American game), but Rivals/247 both still have a core group of talent scouts that are pretty good at what they do - both sides have their people who are a bit too outspoken in one way or another (hello, Mike Farrell) but their opinions still carry some respect in this industry. There are literally only a handful of guys who are doing this nationally and there is a reason there are not all at 247. Rivals is still kickin'.