'22 AL S Jourdan Thomas (Tennessee signee)

#51
#51
First-year Vols coach Josh Heupel’s staff extended an offer to him in May and hosted him on an unofficial visit in late June, and he said he still plans to return to Tennessee on an official visit.

“Actually, I was supposed to go on December 11th,” Thomas said. “But I got picked for the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game, and that’s on the same day, so I think we’re going to try to make it work, like, the week before.”
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“I wouldn’t say I was surprised, because I know this year they had some really good weapons and some really good coaching, so I know it’s not going to be the same Tennessee it was years ago,” he said. “I really wasn’t surprised when they started scoring on ‘Bama and were in the lead and stuff. Actually, I was excited. …

“I just know that they’re heading in the right direction with Heupel, and I think they found their guy. He’s the guy to lead that program, and I just believe they’re going to be a good football team in the years to come.”
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“Coach Chop, he’s, like, the main guy,” Thomas said. “But I talk to all the coaches all the time. Coach Heupel always texts me.”
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callahan
 
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#53
#53
BigOrangeTrain said:
We are ranked 31 according to 247. Our avg per recruit right now is 88.01. Which puts us at 10th in the SEC. that’s struggling my friend.
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It’s not science. It’s opinion. But I can say it til I’m blue in the face and many still think ratings created by dweebs like Brent Hubbs are a balls on accurate determination of how good the players Tennessee is signing are.
 
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#54
#54
VOLINVONORE said:
We do some help from the portal, but need to build our base from recruiting the best high school players. It appears that CJH will have a good, not great class this Fall. It could become better as HS players see the grit and effort our players are giving. I expect a better class each year and we will become competitive for the SEC title. I can see our in the same position we were in the late 1990s and early 2000s within the next 4-5 years. With the portal it could be the next 3-4 years. We have a lot of holes to fill and depth to build, but it will happen.
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Don’t think you can build the base from HS players right now. Because of our lack of depth, Heupel is likely going to have to go more heavy with JUCOs and portal guys.
 
#55
#55
BigOrangeTrain said:
We are ranked 31 according to 247. Our avg per recruit right now is 88.01. Which puts us at 10th in the SEC. that’s struggling my friend.
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14 commits. and it's still October. not sure what you were expecting, and not sure why anyone would care about the recruiting rankings, this year in particular.
 
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#57
#57
GregAmsler said:
It’s not science. It’s opinion. But I can say it til I’m blue in the face and many still think ratings created by dweebs like Brent Hubbs are a balls on accurate determination of how good the players Tennessee is signing are.
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While I do understand what you are saying there is a strong correlation between class ratings and success. That’s especially true in the SEC. while there are outliers like Missouri in 13 and 14, typically the teams with the highest recruiting classes have the most success.
 
#58
#58
BigOrangeTrain said:
While I do understand what you are saying there is a strong correlation between class ratings and success. That’s especially true in the SEC. while there are outliers like Missouri in 13 and 14, typically the teams with the highest recruiting classes have the most success.
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#59
#59
jakez4ut said:
14 commits. and it's still October. not sure what you were expecting, and not sure why anyone would care about the recruiting rankings, this year in particular.
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I understand. I am just saying this years class is not going to be very good. I am not really worried about it because Heupel cannot help it.
 
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#63
#63
I've always thought it was better to have a coach that can do more with less. At Tennessee, recruiting will take care of itself if progress on the field is displayed. Our last few coaches had decent talent and underachieved for the most part. That's why recruits are taking a wait and see mode to see if Heupel changes that trajectory.
 
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#64
#64
BigOrangeTrain said:
Dude that’s over the last 20 years. There is no debate that the teams with the highest recruiting classes have the most success. How about try the SEC from 2009 until now.
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The last ten years, our average is 14.4.
 
#65
#65
BigOrangeTrain said:
We are ranked 31 according to 247. Our avg per recruit right now is 88.01. Which puts us at 10th in the SEC. that’s struggling my friend.
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My thing is the last 2 guys who were here as HC came in guns blazing recruiting, how’d that work out for them? Maybe this staff is actually trying to build a team so that you don’t wind up with some players accusing other players of just being here to put on a uniform and run through the T & that be enough for them….

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#66
#66
BigOrangeTrain said:
While I do understand what you are saying there is a strong correlation between class ratings and success. That’s especially true in the SEC. while there are outliers like Missouri in 13 and 14, typically the teams with the highest recruiting classes have the most success.
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Kentucky and Arkansas are doing pretty well with classes ranked lower than the one UT is about to sign. Iowa, Pitt, Michigan State, and others are too. Clemson is worse than all those teams right now with classes ranked higher than everyone except Alabama. And yet, they won two NCs before they were signing top 3 classes every year.

UT pays Heupel to evaluate and get guys who fit his system and his culture. Given that he’s not being paid $9.99/month, I’d hope he can evaluate what he needs to win better than the recruiting dorks.
 
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#67
#67
Also keep in mind recruiting site evals are still off on a lot of kids with pandemic. Going to be a lot of diamonds in the rough for a few years until they get caught back up in seeing kids in person more. I’ve seen a lot of TN targets make jumps as season went along. We also run schemes that do allow for you to have success with the non elite but you want to eventually get those kids to take the big step
 
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#68
#68
GregAmsler said:
Kentucky and Arkansas are doing pretty well with classes ranked lower than the one UT is about to sign. Iowa, Pitt, Michigan State, and others are too. Clemson is worse than all those teams right now with classes ranked higher than everyone except Alabama. And yet, they won two NCs before they were signing top 3 classes every year.

UT pays Heupel to evaluate and get guys who fit his system and his culture. Given that he’s not being paid $9.99/month, I’d hope he can evaluate what he needs to win better than the recruiting dorks.
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I suppose the difference here is the type of success being discussed. Sure, we could pull mediocre recruiting classes and still easily get to where Kentucky/Arky are now as long as we have good coaching. But while Kentucky and Arky are good, they aren't serious national title threats, and likely never will be. So if the goal is to simply get to a level where we are a consistent 7-9 win team, with the occasional 10 win season mixed in, then recruiting rankings shouldn't matter too much. But no team has won the title in the last like 20 years of recruiting rankings that didn't have consistent top 10ish classes.

As far as teams like Iowa, Pitt, TCU, etc, you can regularly compete for a conference title and even be in the playoff picture with mediocre talent in other conferences. In the Big 10, the only teams pulling consistent top 10-15 classes are Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, and all 3 are in the same division. Iowa and Wisconsin are in the West. Odds are, the Big 10 West will produce at least one regular season 10 win team every season. Then all they have to do is have an upset in the conference title game in order to get into the playoffs. Same for the Big 12. Texas and OU are the only schools pulling elite classes, so if you have a good team, you only need to upset 2 schools that are clearly more talented than you.

For Tennessee to be in the national title hunt with recruiting classes in the 20s-30s range, they'd have to upset at least 3 schools (probably 4) who have a clear talent advantage. They'd also have to beat at least 2-3 other schools that are on the same level recruiting wise. This is why Kentucky and Arky will likely never be serious National title threats, unless their recruiting improved dramatically.
 
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#69
#69
Carp said:
I suppose the difference here is the type of success being discussed. Sure, we could pull mediocre recruiting classes and still easily get to where Kentucky/Arky are now. But while Kentucky and Arky are good, they aren't serious national title threats, and likely never will be. So if the goal is to simply get to a level where we are a consistent 7-9 win team, with the occasional 10 win season mixed in, then recruiting rankings wouldn't matter too much. But no team has won the title in the last like 20 years of recruiting rankings that didn't have consistent top 10ish classes.

As far as teams like Iowa, Pitt, TCU, etc, you can regularly compete for a conference title and even be in the playoff picture with mediocre talent in other conferences. In the Big 10, the only teams pulling consistent top 10-15 classes are Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, and they all 3 are in the same division. Iowa and Wisconsin are in the West. Odds are, the Big 10 West will produce at least one regular season 10 win team every season. Then all they have to do is have an upset in the conference title game in order to get into the playoffs. Same for the Big 12. Texas and OU are the only schools pulling elite classes, so if you have a good team, you only need to upset 2 schools that are clearly more talented than you.

For Tennessee to be in the national title hunt with recruiting classes in the 20s-30s range, they'd have to upset at least 3 schools (probably 4) who have a clear talent advantage. They'd also have to beat at least 2-3 other schools that are on the same level recruiting wise. This is why Kentucky and Arky will likely never be serious National title threats, unless their recruiting improved dramatically.
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I agree. We Have to start somewhere though to get out of this little pond we are swimming in.
 
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#70
#70
Nashvegas31 said:
Also keep in mind recruiting site evals are still off on a lot of kids with pandemic. Going to be a lot of diamonds in the rough for a few years until they get caught back up in seeing kids in person more. I’ve seen a lot of TN targets make jumps as season went along. We also run schemes that do allow for you to have success with the non elite but you want to eventually get those kids to take the big step
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Yeah and it’s interesting the different rankings of players between the sites. 247 who I have always considered the best has Squirrel and Nimrod as mid 80s three stars. The new On3 has them as four stars.

They align similarly with most of our other commits.

On3 has Joshua Joseph’s as a high 4 star while 247 is much lower on him. Etc.
 
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#71
#71
HoleInTheRoof said:
Yeah and it’s interesting the different rankings of players between the sites. 247 who I have always considered the best has Squirrel and Nimrod as mid 80s three stars. The new On3 has them as four stars.

They align similarly with most of our other commits.

On3 has Joshua Joseph’s as a high 4 star while 247 is much lower on him. Etc.
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It's Science.
 
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#72
#72
Carp said:
I suppose the difference here is the type of success being discussed. Sure, we could pull mediocre recruiting classes and still easily get to where Kentucky/Arky are now as long as we have good coaching. But while Kentucky and Arky are good, they aren't serious national title threats, and likely never will be. So if the goal is to simply get to a level where we are a consistent 7-9 win team, with the occasional 10 win season mixed in, then recruiting rankings shouldn't matter too much. But no team has won the title in the last like 20 years of recruiting rankings that didn't have consistent top 10ish classes.

As far as teams like Iowa, Pitt, TCU, etc, you can regularly compete for a conference title and even be in the playoff picture with mediocre talent in other conferences. In the Big 10, the only teams pulling consistent top 10-15 classes are Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, and all 3 are in the same division. Iowa and Wisconsin are in the West. Odds are, the Big 10 West will produce at least one regular season 10 win team every season. Then all they have to do is have an upset in the conference title game in order to get into the playoffs. Same for the Big 12. Texas and OU are the only schools pulling elite classes, so if you have a good team, you only need to upset 2 schools that are clearly more talented than you.

For Tennessee to be in the national title hunt with recruiting classes in the 20s-30s range, they'd have to upset at least 3 schools (probably 4) who have a clear talent advantage. They'd also have to beat at least 2-3 other schools that are on the same level recruiting wise. This is why Kentucky and Arky will likely never be serious National title threats, unless their recruiting improved dramatically.
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Some don’t want to hear this but national titles aren’t a part of the realistic short-term goals of this program. We are just trying to survive an investigation with some degree of respectability for now.
 
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#74
#74
SGMVols said:
Some don’t want to hear this but national titles aren’t a part of the realistic short-term goals of this program. We are just trying to survive an investigation with some degree of respectability for now.
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Agreed. I think we'll upset some teams in the short term. Maybe make some noise in the SEC East. But I do find it unlikely we're in playoff contention within the next 3-4 years.
 
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