Excellent Articles on the Midstate Portion of the 2014 Recruiting Class

[Volosaurus rex]

There is an excellent two-part, two-page article in the Tennessean, written by Maurice Patton, pertaining to the midstate portion of the 2014 recruiting class. Links to these two segments are Vols football benefits from possibly Midstate's best class of recruits | The Tennessean | tennessean.com and Getting to know Vols' seven Midstate football commitments | The Tennessean | tennessean.com. Some of the more interesting excerpts include the following comments on the strength of this class segment:

“even Midstate football players who will be freshmen at Tennessee this fall [are] part of a larger group that forms arguably the greatest collection of college football prospects to come out of this area.”

“I think the state of Tennessee has had some outstanding classes, but when you narrow it down to Middle Tennessee, this group has a really good case for being as good as any group we’ve had,” said Nashville’s Barton Simmons, a national recruiting analyst for 247sports.com. “The more I think about it, the more confident I get in it. You’ve got star power, you’ve got a lot of depth. It’s probably as good a group as there’s ever been.”

“I think there have been times where (the Midstate talent) has been as top heavy, where you’ve had guys in your Top 10 that were highly rated and going to BCS schools, but the overall depth wasn’t there,” said Jesse Johnson of Rivals.com. “We do a Top 25 prospects list and there are some guys that could go FBS that are left off the list. I’m not saying all of them will go FBS because opportunities dry up as time goes on. But there are legitimately about 30 guys in this class in Middle Tennessee that could go FBS.”

According to Mike Farrell, national recruiting director for rivals.com, “We’re seeing more talent in (Middle) Tennessee and the Nashville area over the last few years than we have in a long time. Butch needed to take care of the city. It used to be kids grew up wanting to play for Tennessee, they’d never heard of James Franklin and Vanderbilt was an afterthought. That wasn’t the case when Butch got hired. He’d had more of a challenge than any other coach coming into Tennessee in a long time, and he’s done a great job of keeping the kids in-state.”

“Middle Tennessee was really talent-rich this year, and I think (the UT staff) has done a great job of making their presence felt with a new attitude, a new way of doing things,” said Independence coach Scott Blade, who arrived from Oak Ridge and inherited Volunteer commitments RaShaan Gaulden and Vic Wharton for their senior seasons. “They’ve made a great effort to reach out and be accessible and approachable. They’ve done a good job of recognizing you’ve got to get those in-state guys first, and that excitement builds with the fan base. They’ve attacked it in a really good way.”

 

[Spartacavolus]

First thing Butch did was put a large focus on this area and put, I believe, Elder and Thig here as a tag team. I think we had one recruiter for this area prior, and little focus while losing, which is why kids weren't fans growing up. Nothing but negative from everywhere until Butch came in here.
It won't be as hard to keep fans soon. I have 3 boys that I keep saying "just wait till next year" to. My 7 yr old is giving UT one more year, then he's switching to either FSU or Oregon, or whomever is #1 each week. I told him we need 2 more. He said we get 1.

 

[screenthis]

There is an excellent two-part, two-page article in the Tennessean, written by Maurice Patton, pertaining to the midstate portion of the 2014 recruiting class. Links to these two segments are Vols football benefits from possibly Midstate's best class of recruits | The Tennessean | tennessean.com and Getting to know Vols' seven Midstate football commitments | The Tennessean | tennessean.com. Some of the more interesting excerpts include the following comments on the strength of this class segment:

“even Midstate football players who will be freshmen at Tennessee this fall [are] part of a larger group that forms arguably the greatest collection of college football prospects to come out of this area.”

“I think the state of Tennessee has had some outstanding classes, but when you narrow it down to Middle Tennessee, this group has a really good case for being as good as any group we’ve had,” said Nashville’s Barton Simmons, a national recruiting analyst for 247sports.com. “The more I think about it, the more confident I get in it. You’ve got star power, you’ve got a lot of depth. It’s probably as good a group as there’s ever been.”

“I think there have been times where (the Midstate talent) has been as top heavy, where you’ve had guys in your Top 10 that were highly rated and going to BCS schools, but the overall depth wasn’t there,” said Jesse Johnson of Rivals.com. “We do a Top 25 prospects list and there are some guys that could go FBS that are left off the list. I’m not saying all of them will go FBS because opportunities dry up as time goes on. But there are legitimately about 30 guys in this class in Middle Tennessee that could go FBS.”

According to Mike Farrell, national recruiting director for rivals.com, “We’re seeing more talent in (Middle) Tennessee and the Nashville area over the last few years than we have in a long time. Butch needed to take care of the city. It used to be kids grew up wanting to play for Tennessee, they’d never heard of James Franklin and Vanderbilt was an afterthought. That wasn’t the case when Butch got hired. He’d had more of a challenge than any other coach coming into Tennessee in a long time, and he’s done a great job of keeping the kids in-state.”

“Middle Tennessee was really talent-rich this year, and I think (the UT staff) has done a great job of making their presence felt with a new attitude, a new way of doing things,” said Independence coach Scott Blade, who arrived from Oak Ridge and inherited Volunteer commitments RaShaan Gaulden and Vic Wharton for their senior seasons. “They’ve made a great effort to reach out and be accessible and approachable. They’ve done a good job of recognizing you’ve got to get those in-state guys first, and that excitement builds with the fan base. They’ve attacked it in a really good way.”

Going forward, is there an expectation that middle Tennessee will continue to produce this depth of talent? I'd so like to stop hearing how Tennessee is not an ideal location to coach because of poor instate talent.

 

[NashVOL93]

Going forward, is there an expectation that middle Tennessee will continue to produce this depth of talent? I'd so like to stop hearing how Tennessee is not an ideal location to coach because of poor instate talent.

Yes. As the midstate grows in population, the talent depth will continue to increase. The VQ guys are already talking about how much in-state talent is in the '15 and '16 classes.

 

[orangeluvr]

Going forward, is there an expectation that middle Tennessee will continue to produce this depth of talent? I'd so like to stop hearing how Tennessee is not an ideal location to coach because of poor instate talent.

Yes, b/c Tennessee is the fastest growing Southern state. :hi:

 

[CroKev]

Yes, b/c Tennessee is the fastest growing Southern state. :hi:

Really? Can I read about this somewhere?

 

[MidTNVolunteer]

What the heck is wrong with "Chip" in the video... awkward!

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Going forward, is there an expectation that middle Tennessee will continue to produce this depth of talent? I'd so like to stop hearing how Tennessee is not an ideal location to coach because of poor instate talent.

Yes, but keep in mind that this is a very recent development. Even five years ago, you did not find this depth of SEC-quality talent in the Volunteer State, let alone middle Tennessee. On this point, Coach Fulmer stated specifically that "I think high school football in Tennessee in general has continued to get better and better, and Nashville and Middle Tennessee in particular, because of population . . . You’ve got more people moving in. Coaching has gotten better as competition has grown. There’s more exposure, with kids going to camps and playing 7-on-7 — developing at younger ages. There’s more focus on specializing in one or two sports.

“There are good players in Memphis every year, but there seem to be more and more good players in Middle Tennessee here lately. I don’t think you can say (the talent) has shifted, but it’s making a shift” (http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...-from-possibly-Midstate-s-best-class-recruits). The timing of this development bodes very well for Butch and his staff.

 

[Atathakr]

It's scary how many of these kids weren't thinking of Tennessee at all while Dooley was in charge of things. We can only judge results based on on-the-field play, but the thought of missing out on some of these guys that live all of two/three hours away just by virtue of having a seemingly disinterested, aloof HC is pretty disconcerting.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I'd so like to stop hearing how Tennessee is not an ideal location to coach because of poor instate talent.

It's always been a ridiculous argument to me. Even if one believes that the state of Tennessee is average in terms of prospects, Knoxville is less than four hours away from Atlanta, one of the top 5 recruiting markets in the nation. It's also four hours away from Charlotte, a good mid-size market. If you expand the radius out to 500 miles, Knoxville is within striking distance of Washington DC, Memphis, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Indianapolis.

Obviously, Florida, Texas, and USC have proximity advantages that we lack, but it's not like we're recruiting from Lincoln, Nebraska, over 400 miles away from any major markets. If you were to rank UT against other SEC teams in terms of "ease of recruiting", we're probably no worse than 5th or 6th, behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M. We're probably about even with Bama, and slightly ahead of Auburn (the team that played in the national championship game).

Even all that ignores the fact that proximity to major markets isn't always the #1 factor in recruiting. Otherwise, Nebraska and Oregon would have never been top 5 teams. It does help having a good home area, but ultimately, schools are also selling their academic programs, tradition, facilities, and the coaching staff.

Greater talent in middle Tennessee definitely benefits UT, but I've never thought recruiting was our biggest issue to begin with. Poor coaching, talent evaluation, and player development have all been bigger factors in our decline.

 

[Oskie Volum]

It's always been a ridiculous argument to me. Even if one believes that the state of Tennessee is average in terms of prospects, Knoxville is less than four hours away from Atlanta, one of the top 5 recruiting markets in the nation. It's also four hours away from Charlotte, a good mid-size market. If you expand the radius out to 500 miles, Knoxville is within striking distance of Washington DC, Memphis, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Indianapolis.

Obviously, Florida, Texas, and USC have proximity advantages that we lack, but it's not like we're recruiting from Lincoln, Nebraska, over 400 miles away from any major markets. If you were to rank UT against other SEC teams in terms of "ease of recruiting", we're probably no worse than 5th or 6th, behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M. We're probably about even with Bama, and slightly ahead of Auburn (the team that played in the national championship game).

Even all that ignores the fact that proximity to major markets isn't always the #1 factor in recruiting. Otherwise, Nebraska and Oregon would have never been top 5 teams. It does help having a good home area, but ultimately, schools are also selling their academic programs, tradition, facilities, and the coaching staff.

Greater talent in middle Tennessee definitely benefits UT, but I've never thought recruiting was our biggest issue to begin with. Poor coaching, talent evaluation, and player development have all been bigger factors in our decline.

Well said. Why I didn't care if a bunch of coaches in a historically low talented state were butt hurt about not getting call backs because they r trying to up their cred. It's great that more talent is coming in to the area, but imo it's to fresh for a program like UT to hang their hat on it being good good talent. When individual players are WAY better than the competition that's concerning to me.

UT has been recruiting nationally since forever, so it shouldn't be an issue or concern. There are just so many people that r ok with kids just because they r in-state kids. TN HS football won't be where other states are as a whole for a bit.

Just all imho of course...
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[LotteryPick]

Well said. Why I didn't care if a bunch of coaches in a historically low talented state were butt hurt about not getting call backs because they r trying to up their cred. It's great that more talent is coming in to the area, but imo it's to fresh for a program like UT to hang their hat on it being good good talent. When individual players are WAY better than the competition that's concerning to me.

UT has been recruiting nationally since forever, so it shouldn't be an issue or concern. There are just so many people that r ok with kids just because they r in-state kids. TN HS football won't be where other states are as a whole for a bit.

Just all imho of course...
Posted via VolNation Mobile

While the talent isn't on the same level as other states yet, it's getting much better. Rutherford county is one of the most competitive areas in the nation.

Just the right time, too.