Averaged 13th in Recruiting

#26
#26
wmcovol said:
Why can’t people understand the recruiting has improved significantly since the NCAA issue went away? It’s tough selling a 4 or 5 star kid Nick Saban, Kirby Smart & Dabo are wrong when they’re saying “Tennessee will have a post season ban most of your career if you go there”.
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And why cant other people understand that both things can be true? Recruiting is improving, yes but we arent there yet. And I still think we arent nearly aggressive enough in the portal.
 
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#28
#28
wmcovol said:
Why can’t people understand the recruiting has improved significantly since the NCAA issue went away? It’s tough selling a 4 or 5 star kid Nick Saban, Kirby Smart & Dabo are wrong when they’re saying “Tennessee will have a post season ban most of your career if you go there”.
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Correct. This entire roster was constructed under NCAA sanctions and/or an NCAA cloud. And the restrictions aren’t just limited to scholarship reductions. The visit restrictions are big. Cost us Lagonza Hayward last cycle.

But the recruiting under Heupel has improved each year.
 
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#29
#29
Brave Volunteer said:
And why cant other people understand that both things can be true? Recruiting is improving, yes but we arent there yet. And I still think we arent nearly aggressive enough in the portal.
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FSU went heavy in the portal. So did LSU this year. How is that working out?

Saban says “you can buy them but they better be the right guys”.
 
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#30
#30
wmcovol said:
FSU went heavy in the portal. So did LSU this year. How is that working out?

Saban says “you can buy them but they better be the right guys”.
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Tennessee’s hit rate in the portal has been phenomenal. And they haven’t always been the highly rated portal guys. Heard was. But guys like Kitselman, Norman-Lott, Hood, Castles, Aguilar, and others were great evals. Even guys like Brazzell and McCoy were somewhat highly rated portal guys, but outperformed their portal “ranking.” This staff has really evaluated portal transfers well. Many hits and very few misses.

That said, part of that success is because they don’t go heavy in the portal. They evaluate well and are choosy about the guys they want.
 
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#31
#31
KKruzVFL said:
Tennessee has averaged 13th in recruiting since Heupel has been here. There is more than enough talent to win championships. Players aren’t being developed and schemes aren’t utilizing our talent.
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We are tied for 8th/9th in SEC on Top 100 recruits.
SEC teams with most top 100 recruits; we go off sanctions for 2026
Bama = 33
UGA = 30
Texas = 27
A & M =17
LSU =15
Auburn = 13
Florida = 13
Oklahom= 12
Tennesse=12
USC jr =9
Ole Miss =7
Mizzou =6
Arkansas = 5
Miss State =4
Vanderbilt =2
Kentucky =1
 
#33
#33
KKruzVFL said:
Tennessee has averaged 13th in recruiting since Heupel has been here. There is more than enough talent to win championships. Players aren’t being developed and schemes aren’t utilizing our talent.
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2023
Alabama (1st)
Tennessee ( 10th)

2024
Alabama (2)
Tennessee (15)

2025
Alabama (3)
Tennessee (11)

2026 (subject to change)
Alabama (3)
Tennessee (8)

We are 2-2 Against Bama on the field in that recruiting time span.

Underdevelopment??
 
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#35
#35
KKruzVFL said:
Tennessee has averaged 13th in recruiting since Heupel has been here. There is more than enough talent to win championships. Players aren’t being developed and schemes aren’t utilizing our talent.
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Your evidence for this is that we lost to two teams that probably average top 5?

Seems like a poorly thought out thesis
 
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#36
#36
OmahaOmaha said:
He left UT for his "Dream Job" Most of us would do the same. He realized his mistake, and hates it. Cut him some slack.
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Some of us don't hold him leaving for USC against him. I got tired of him constantly running his mouth talking chit and not backing it up.

Contacting recruits before he left was a douche move, but whatever. He was immature, reckless and annoying.

None of that is reason to hate him in my opinion, and I don't. Im glad hes grown up and seems to be doing good in general.

All that said, what's so special about him? What has he done that has people falling all over themselves to defend him?

No. I won't cut him any slack. You Kiffin worshippers cut enough for everyone. Truth be told I dislike him more now than ever because of you guys feelings towards him.

Lol.
 
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#37
#37
Behr said:
Some of us don't hold him leaving for USC against him. I got tired of him constantly running his mouth talking chit and not backing it up.

Contacting recruits before he left was a douche move, but whatever. He was immature, reckless and annoying.

None of that is reason to hate him in my opinion, and I don't. Im glad hes grown up and seems to be doing good in general.

All that said, what's so special about him? What has he done that has people falling all over themselves to defend him?

No. I won't cut him any slack. You Kiffin worshippers cut enough for everyone. Truth be told I dislike him more now than ever because of you guys feelings towards him.

Lol.
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People gotta let the recruit stuff go. Players commit to the coach not the school.

The coaches are the job, not the school.

I would hold no ill will if most of the baseball players transfer with Vitello leaving and Elander doesn’t get the job.
 
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#38
#38
RandomUTfan said:
I've seen him dessert plenty of teams. One time he was nearly mustarded.

My prediction is Ole Miss makes him the 2nd highest-paid coach in the country and his son Knox can focus on starting for his Oxford HS football team and not having to worry about finding a place to play in the armpit of the South Gainesville, Florida. Man, all those Gators talk all the time about how Tom Petty is from Gainesville, but he could not wait to get out. He did not stay long.
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Funny enough, Oxford HS played against my cousin’s kids high school last night. They said Knox threw a nice dime in the comeback win.
 
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#39
#39
Brave Volunteer said:
And why cant other people understand that both things can be true? Recruiting is improving, yes but we arent there yet. And I still think we arent nearly aggressive enough in the portal.
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the junior & senior classes were recruited at the height of the NCAA issues. Of course”we aren’t there yet”.
 
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#40
#40
JMSqb11 said:
People gotta let the recruit stuff go. Players commit to the coach not the school.

The coaches are the job, not the school.

I would hold no ill will if most of the baseball players transfer with Vitello leaving and Elander doesn’t get the job.
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Yeah man thats a mixed bag.

I agree the players commit to the coach and not necessarily the school. Although I believe there are some players that have dreamed of playing any sport for Tennessee but especially football. And they'd commit no matter who the coach was. They don't dream of going to the next level, they dream of running through the T and giving there all for Tennessee.

But its funny how we talk about how important the coach is but have people in the FF posting letters to Heupel and others calling it creepy. And others calling it coach worship accusing them of caring more about the coach than the school.

Then some of those same posters are in the baseball forum crying over CTV. Posting what they would say to him, which is no different than a letter to him. Im sure their excuse is "but he won a National Championship you hater". Lol. Is what it is.
 
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#41
#41
Behr said:
Yeah man thats a mixed bag.

I agree the players commit to the coach and not necessarily the school. Although I believe there are some players that have dreamed of playing any sport for Tennessee but especially football. And they'd commit no matter who the coach was. They don't dream of going to the next level, they dream of running through the T and giving there all for Tennessee.

But its funny how we talk about how important the coach is but have people in the FF posting letters to Heupel and others calling it creepy. And others calling it coach worship accusing them of caring more about the coach than the school.

Then some of those same posters are in the baseball forum crying over CTV. Posting what they would say to him, which is no different than a letter to him. Im sure their excuse is "but he won a National Championship you hater". Lol. Is what it is.
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Lmao letters to Heupel? What in tarnation?
 
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#45
#45
RandomUTfan said:
There is such a negligible difference between #1 and #15 the past couple of classes. It matters much more how you portal to fill holes, because everyone is going to miss on a few guys. You're going to have busts.

Look at Ole Miss.

Florida fans are trying to point to how they finished higher than Ole Miss in the last few cycles, but the last 4 cycles Lane has had a top 5 portal class including #1 and #3 classes.

You telling me you'd take Florida's roster over Ole Miss'? Ole Miss plays physical in the trenches. Florida had one dude who did on the DL but he's out injured. Florida has lost good players to the portal every cycle and not replaced them with like talent! Ole Miss usually brings in more talent than they lose in the portal. They have steadily improved that roster.

It's why you really can't strictly look at recruiting rankings to inform much of anything. Look at Texas Tech. Immediately winning by spending big in the portal. Look at how they've recruited.
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What your post point out is exactly what I have been saying over the past few week. "We need better evaluating what portal players that we need provide. Lane has someone(or ones) helping him find these ready to produce guy for his system. I think we need to do a much better job of finding guys ready to produce in our system.
 
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#47
#47
OmahaOmaha said:
He left UT for his "Dream Job" Most of us would do the same. He realized his mistake, and hates it. Cut him some slack.
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It happens all the time. It's not deserting anyone. It's called career path to better things. We have just seen this happen to our baseball program. Tony did not want to leave (we think) but how often does a career get the chance he has just taken to move to the "big time". AND yes, the major leagues is moving up from the miner leagues. Swampfoxfan used the term "desert" as in team, fanbase, school, etc.
 
#48
#48
Brave Volunteer said:
And why cant other people understand that both things can be true? Recruiting is improving, yes but we arent there yet. And I still think we arent nearly aggressive enough in the portal.
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We’ve been very selective in the portal and we’ve had very few misses. I think we probably should’ve added an extra wide receiver and safety this past cycle, both otherwise I think our formula has been very good .
 
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#49
#49
Jimmyandjoes said:
What is Vandys ranking? How can they be ranked top 10 in the country while not being ranked top 10 in recruiting? Indiana?
Sure it helps having more blue chips but it's not the only answer. Gotta develop. Gotta have buy in.
And you must learn how to tackle
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Vandy has the oldest roster in the SEC while Tennessee has the youngest. Age and experience also make a difference

1761399039472.jpeg
 
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#50
#50
KKruzVFL said:
Kiffin would have this program winning championships. He’s doing more with less at Ole Miss they never recruit well.
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Kiffin is in his 6th season at Ole Miss and still hasn’t won a true road game against a ranked opponent. Let that sink in.

P.S. Unless you want to count his 2023 win at #24 Tulane (yes, Tulane) in front of a crowd of 30,000. But I’d be embarrassed to claim that as my only road win against a ranked opponent in 6 seasons. I’d be even more embarrassed to be an SEC team playing AT Tulane.
 
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