'21 GA OT Amarius Mims (Georgia commit)

If we ever recruit OL prospects at an elite level again under Will Friend it will be despite him and definitely not because of him. Just not an enthusiastic recruiter.

But hey, at least we didn't get b!tched up front last week. Oh...

So blame him when we don’t land elite recruits on the OL but if/when we do, don’t give him credit?


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So blame him when we don’t land elite recruits on the OL but if/when we do, don’t give him credit?


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I gave him credit, 2 years ago when we last landed one. How much of a role he had in Wanya signing Idk, I don't remember it being mentioned as a big factor. I know Darnell Wright's HS coach, and Friend had zero to do with him signing, though he's yet to live up to the hype. Tate Ratledge basically said he didn't want to play for Friend. And if the ostensible most talented unit on the team gets beat up that badly in our important games, what is it he's bringing?
 
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This is probably a long shot but there could still be a potential top OL prospect we could pursue.

Tristan Leigh, top 50 guy from Virginia. At 6’5 275 he’d definitely needs to put on weight but is still one of the best OL prospects in the country at his size. He hasn’t committed yet, his top 2 are LSU and Oklahoma.. 2 teams that are struggling pretty badly as of late. Maybe rack up a couple of wins while they’re in the gutter and make a call? Plus the proximity to home would be much closer, could help us if he wanted to visit here because it would be much easier to catch a game in Neyland from Virginia than it would be Norman or Baton Rouge.

Idk just throwing out ideas. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something come up here in the next couple months or so. That is if they don’t just flip Orr and call it a day.
 
This is probably a long shot but there could still be a potential top OL prospect we could pursue.

Tristan Leigh, top 50 guy from Virginia. At 6’5 275 he’d definitely needs to put on weight but is still one of the best OL prospects in the country at his size. He hasn’t committed yet, his top 2 are LSU and Oklahoma.. 2 teams that are struggling pretty badly as of late. Maybe rack up a couple of wins while they’re in the gutter and make a call? Plus the proximity to home would be much closer, could help us if he wanted to visit here because it would be much easier to catch a game in Neyland from Virginia than it would be Norman or Baton Rouge.

Idk just throwing out ideas. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something come up here in the next couple months or so. That is if they don’t just flip Orr and call it a day.
Any indication we're looking to get involved or you just turning over rocks?
 
Also need to account for any underclassmen who go to the draft (at this rate nobody). Also technically no one has to graduate so it will be interesting to see how that shakes out. We won’t be losing talent on the aggregate for another year or two though just due to the weak 2017 and 2018 classes
In reality, yes.

In the blue chip ratio, none of that is counted.
 
If we ever recruit OL prospects at an elite level again under Will Friend it will be despite him and definitely not because of him. Just not an enthusiastic recruiter.

But hey, at least we didn't get b!tched up front last week. Oh...
Have you observed his recruiting? Not stating I dont believe you but like to understand the reasons you believe he is a subpar recruiter or is unenthusiastic.
 
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Have you observed his recruiting? Not stating I dont believe you but like to understand the reasons you believe he is a subpar recruiter or is unenthusiastic.
Again I know Darnell Wright's HS Coach Billy Seals very well. He's from Morristown. Friend was listed as the secondary for Darnell but did little to build a relationship other than the occasional cursory text/phone call. His Primary? Brian Niedermayer. To be fair, Darnell likes Coach Friend now that he's on the team from what I'm told. But DW had built-in interest in UT because of Billy.

I also have a good friend on the Hardin County staff (Hudson Wolfe). Friend (listed as primary) did visit him but apparently it was Nieds and Osovet doing much of the legwork.

The dude may find it tedious, may just be disinterested, I don't know him. But it seems to me he doesn't carry his weight on the trail and CJP tries to cover it up sometimes by listing him as the P or S on a kid that's a done deal. Just look at his all-time recruits page on 247. This is a guy who's followed JP around to UGA, FSU, and here mind you. I've always seen him as a good on-field coach so haven't really made a fuss about it, but after watching Saturday? Yeesh.

Edit: Friend didn't follow JP to FSU, that's my bad. Coached out at CSU and was well liked there. But it ain't the SEC.
 
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I wouldn’t say a miss we were loooong shots to begin with
To be in his final two and beat out the teams that he has commit-able offers from, I dunno about the looooong shot. More of an uphill battle against the Curs.
 
After this class, we will probably be right there. Actually as of today we are on the verge of that. The issue is cbj’s last class was bad. Once they’re gone (this year basically), that number looks a lot better

Edit: attached article breaks it down well.

Blue-Chip Ratio 2020: The 15 teams who can win a national title
Yes, that is interesting article. To me, shows the value of stable (and good) coaching, and how QB's can have an impact (good or bad)...and, if you're on this list, you at least put yourself in the mix, even with an off year every now and then. With TX being the outlier, the real list, year over year, is a smaller subset...Bama, UGA, LSU, Clemson, Ohio St, Oklahoma, and second tier threats every few years for the playoffs...Aub, Penn St, ND
 
Pruitt is the right fit for Tennessee. I absolutely believe that. We may not get where we want as fast as we want, but what is the alternative? It is well documented that UT will never pay up for a big time proven coach. At this point, it's better to have consistency with a coach doing things the right way than it is to take the chance that a low ball hire will pan out. People just need to be patient and appreciate that Pruitt IS doing things the right way.
Yeah I'm ok taking a little longer, as long as we keep moving forward, if it means longer sustainability...kinda like it took Majors awhile to build. At this point, the top void on the team is consistent top level QB play on the field.
 
Yeah I'm ok taking a little longer, as long as we keep moving forward, if it means longer sustainability...kinda like it took Majors awhile to build. At this point, the top void on the team is consistent top level QB play on the field.
Yeah I saw a tweet comparing Dabo to Pruitt and Pruitt has actually won more games in less time as a head coach then Dabo won when he started. Plus Pruitt is in a harder conference and is the only team in the East that plays bama every year. Then when we play Florida and Georiga we have to go to Florida and to Georiga. Florida and Georiga never play at each other’s place it’s always in Jacksonville.
 
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Pruitt is the right fit for Tennessee. I absolutely believe that. We may not get where we want as fast as we want, but what is the alternative? It is well documented that UT will never pay up for a big time proven coach. At this point, it's better to have consistency with a coach doing things the right way than it is to take the chance that a low ball hire will pan out. People just need to be patient and appreciate that Pruitt IS doing things the right way.
I think he's done the right things, the right way. I think he's the kind of coach we need at this point but whether or not he is the guy to get it done remains to be seen. At worst I believe he's the guy to lay the groundwork so to speak. If he and his staff develop a QB and continue to develop this O line to reach potential I'd be a lot more confident.
 
Yes, that is interesting article. To me, shows the value of stable (and good) coaching, and how QB's can have an impact (good or bad)...and, if you're on this list, you at least put yourself in the mix, even with an off year every now and then. With TX being the outlier, the real list, year over year, is a smaller subset...Bama, UGA, LSU, Clemson, Ohio St, Oklahoma, and second tier threats every few years for the playoffs...Aub, Penn St, ND
Also have to include transfers and their ranking. In last 4 classes (counting this one), 53 3-stars either by HS or transfer. Now, not all of those 3-stars are still here. That article is a little misleading as well. Take the bottom of the list of teams who is at the 50% and put them against the top. Once we get to 50%, means we are climbing but look at the gulf, 50% vs the top teams are all over 80%, that’s crazy.
 
We got a really good class. Missing on Mims is disappointing but its not the end of the world. While it would have been a great addition to the OL missing on one isn't going to make or break this class. We have so many needs and nothing is final until any of them sign in December.
 
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