How Much Talent Does Pruitt have to Work With in His First Year?

[Type Orange+]

There' been a lot of talk this offseason about how much talent the Vols actually have on their roster heading into the 2018 season. Tennessee's 4-8 overall record last season have led many to write off the Vols as somewhat talentless and lacking in potential for Jeremy Pruitt's first season as head coach.

But the numbers tell a different story entirely.

I combed through Tennessee's roster heading into the 2018 season, and it may surprise you just how much talent is still left on this roster even after losing players like Derek Barnett, Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Cam Sutton, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Josh Malone, Rashaan Gaulden, and John Kelly over the last two seasons. The talent pool isn't as shallow as some may have you believe.

With the dismissal of Ryan Thaxton earlier this week, the Vols now have 84 scholarship players on their roster heading into the 2018 season. Of those 84 players, well over one-third of them (41.7 percent) were ranked as four-stars or better by the 247Sports Composite rankings in their respective recruiting classes.

Tennessee still has two five-stars on their roster in senior Kyle Phillips and sophomore Trey Smith, and there are 33 other players on Tennessee's roster who were rated as four-stars by the composite rankings. That includes grad transfers Keller Chryst and Brandon Kennedy as well.

According to those composite rankings, the Vols have two five-stars, 33 four-stars, 47 three-stars, and two former two-stars (Eli Wolf and Riley Lovingood) heading into this season. That's an average star rating of 3.42 stars per player.

That average doesn't compare to teams like Georgia and Alabama, no. But it's certainly talented enough in comparison to teams like Florida, South Carolina, and Missouri. In fact, the Vols' 2018 roster is actually slightly more talented than the 2017 roster.

Last year, Tennessee had three five-stars, 30 four-stars, 49 three-stars, and two former two-star players on their roster. That averaged out to a 3.40 average star rating per player. That's not a huge difference compared to this season, but there's still a difference. And this year's roster has more overall experience than last year's team at some important areas.


How Much Talent Does Pruitt have to Work With in His First Year? | RTI

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I make a habit not to get involved in pre-season predictions in terms of wins and losses simply because as the old idiom goes, There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

But I will go as far as to say that I suspect we'll see a team this year that is vastly improved over the last.

 

[stevenrich2003]

I honestly think nobody really knows.

I personally think we have a lot more than most folks give us credit for.

 

[KBVol]

Not nearly as much as he needs. Player development, which I fully believe will be a strength of this staff, will be paramount this year.

 

[OnlyGodForgives]

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I make a habit not to get involved in pre-season predictions in terms of wins and losses simply because as the old idiom goes, There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

But I will go as far as to say that I suspect we'll see a team this year that is vastly improved over the last.

Think what you want. Butch Jones, as unqualified as he could be, did not drop one single pass, miss one field goal, or blow one single blocking assignment last year. If you think these players can get better at those things and a long list of other basic football requirements, the team could absolutely be a huge positive surprise this year.

 

[KBVol]

Think what you want. Butch Jones, as unqualified as he could be, did not drop one single pass, miss one field goal, or blow one single blocking assignment last year. If you think these players can get better at those things and a long list of other basic football requirements, the team could absolutely be a huge positive surprise this year.

And Nick Saban didn’t catch a single pass, make one field goal, or execute one single blocking assignment last year.

 

[Behr]

Alabama players so talented they don't need coaching.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

We are putting too much emphasis on HS rankings when saying we have talent. Guys that have been in the program for 2-3 years have received subpar coaching, development, and S&C. They are far more likely than other SEC players to have sustained a major injury due to the issues identified earlier. They are now being placed into a completely new scheme (square peg in a round hole).

 

[illinoisvolfan1]

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I make a habit not to get involved in pre-season predictions in terms of wins and losses simply because as the old idiom goes, There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

But I will go as far as to say that I suspect we'll see a team this year that is vastly improved over the last.

I agree. I think we will do better than the pundits project. The retuning players will be better coached and the new ones will start with good coaching.

 

[Orange Marlin]

If the starting 22 stay healthy we should be fine. We will be competitive, it’s when we start loosing the starters to injury is where the problem my start. JMO

 

[Rudy123]

How the hell can anyone gauge the amount of talent we have on the team, when none of them have had proper coaching or proper S & C time???

We honestly don't know what we have!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Type Orange+]

Think what you want. Butch Jones, as unqualified as he could be, did not drop one single pass, miss one field goal, or blow one single blocking assignment last year. If you think these players can get better at those things and a long list of other basic football requirements, the team could absolutely be a huge positive surprise this year.

Our former HC's tenure could best be described as The Era of the Post Turtle.

When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.

You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place.

The talent cupboard may not be where it needs to be, but it isn't bare, either. With a motivated, knowledgeable coaching staff, who knows how well they'll develop. And besides, the embarrassment of last season should be added motivation for these kids.


GBO!

 

[87&91ALUM]

1) agree with the OP we have ample talent to compete with everyone except Bama and UGA.
2) the transition from crap play last year and injured is, in my opinion, the real story. If the players take it on themselves to learn, grow, pull together, get tough, get strong, execute, spend hours after practice throwing and catching, working on timing routes, running, etc., we can win most of our games and go bowling come next New Years,
3) If the expectation on the team is low, communication is low, there are a lot of ying and yangs going on, poor chemistry, poor desire...we will likely not go bowling and Coach Pruitt will be in the second of possible several house cleanings. A lot of butt chewing will occur.

I hope the men come together and get er done. See you at the Citrus bowl!

 

[quadlee21]

and this doesn't even count for The Great Paul Bain.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

We will know really fast how talented we are after playing West Virginia. IMO we should have enough talent to win around 7 regular season games.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Think what you want. Butch Jones, as unqualified as he could be, did not drop one single pass, miss one field goal, or blow one single blocking assignment last year. If you think these players can get better at those things and a long list of other basic football requirements, the team could absolutely be a huge positive surprise this year.

Butch hired a schit ton of lame assistants and downgraded the staff. Gillespie was the only good one out of the entire bunch.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Our former HC's tenure could best be described as The Era of the Post Turtle.

When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.

You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place.

The talent cupboard may not be where it needs to be, but it isn't bare, either. With a motivated, knowledgeable coaching staff, who knows how well they'll develop. And besides, the embarrassment of last season should be added motivation for these kids.


GBO!

 

[stevenrich2003]

Our former HC's tenure could best be described as The Era of the Post Turtle.

When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.

You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place.

The talent cupboard may not be where it needs to be, but it isn't bare, either. With a motivated, knowledgeable coaching staff, who knows how well they'll develop. And besides, the embarrassment of last season should be added motivation for these kids.


GBO!

:lolabove:

 

[Tin Man]

Coach 'em up. Play the games. GBO.

 

[Behr]

Our former HC's tenure could best be described as The Era of the Post Turtle.

When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.

You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place.

The talent cupboard may not be where it needs to be, but it isn't bare, either. With a motivated, knowledgeable coaching staff, who knows how well they'll develop. And besides, the embarrassment of last season should be added motivation for these kids.


GBO!

Funny you brought that up, me and a friend were talking about post turtles just a few weeks ago. Butch was a good example.

 

[zydane47]

I don't think we're as bad as people think we are. As I showed in a different thread, in the East the gap between teams 2-7 is very very small.

So small in fact we even had chances to win games against at least three of the other teams in this group.

The injuries and apparently incompetent coaching I believe is what killed us last year. I don't think we'll win the East but I would't be surprised if we ended up second in the East. We don't be near the bottom I can say that with some certainty.

 

[volsdeepnsc]

I’m just gonna hope it turns out like 2013 Auburn. Or whatever year they played for the natty. Pretty sure they were only expected to win like 4 or 5 games. Just saying. Maybe we’re gonna be better that people think.

 

[volmanNC]

Not nearly as much as he needs. Player development, which I fully believe will be a strength of this staff, will be paramount this year.

I don't really think Butch was as bad in the player development as people are saying. If you look at a few who went to the Pros, they did fairly well. Some did GREAT. Having said that, I think (no I know) the offense scheme just plan sucked! I don't care how much player development occurred, the offense was going to suck. The main offense we had under Butch was Dobbs making good on busted plays.

Now on defense there might be issues with player development. I really just not sure. It might be if you go back and look at the time the defense was on the field because of zero offense, then you can understand the issues? Anyway, I thinking have a "REAL" X and O guy, instead of a motivational speaker and slogan developer, is really going to help the team this year.

I do think we can and will beat West Virginia...

 

[Type Orange+]

Coach 'em up. Play the games. GBO.

That's all we can do. Then we'll see where we are after the dust clears.

 

[VolNavy01]

I get the feeling this will be similar to Kiffin’s one year. He inherited a team with talent......at least those he didn’t run off to make room for “his” players.........perhaps not as talented as some of Fulmer’s past teams, but definitely talent in place. Kiffin came in, with a pretty good staff, and set a new tone for the team. Similar to Pruitt and Company( that seems to be where the similarities between the two coaches end). They played a schedule similar to this year’s. Flip flop UGA and UF for the top team in the East with Bama still the top out West. That team finished 7-5 with a tough loss to Bama at home and a 23-13 loss to UF in Gainesville. If Pruitt can guide this team to 7-5, this will be a very successful season.

 

[Pruitt Will Do It]

:lolabove::lol:ost-4-1090547912: