Josh Heupel and Tennessee lining up a strong 2023 recruiting class

#26
#26
The "Chicken Littles" who did not like the hire had to find some excuse to complain. Once he can get some studs on defense we can start thinking about championships. Could take another year or 2.
My wife is the VFL and I'm still trying to convince her this was a good hire. When they knock off the Gators this year she may start coming around.
 
#27
#27
Josh Heupel and Tennessee lining up a strong 2023 recruiting class

When we hired Heup the ONLY worry I had was his ability to recruit top talent. I knew he could coach with the best of them. Well worry no more Heup is KILLING IT on the recruiting trail. The number one kid in the state and we need an elite edge rusher. Can you imagine what Rodney is gonna turn this kid into.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO It's great to be a VOL NATION

ONLY worry I had was his ability to recruit top talent
Glad you got that MESS outa yore Haid!! lol
 
#28
#28
OP, I completely agree with everything. My biggest concern was his ability to recruit as well. Things are looking up on the hill!
 
#29
#29
Heupel is like a modern day Urban Meyer or Steve Spurrier. When he gets all his guys in , no one will be able to stop us. Glad we got him.

Whoa there, Mr. BOP! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Love the Heup, but he hasn't really done anything yet until he beats the lizard men, the slobbering mutts, and the toxic algae bloom. Meanwhile, we need a defense made up of guys who put Gorilla Glue on their pancakes instead of maple syrup, eat Godzilla patties as sausage, biscuit sop xenomorph blood-gravy, and washes it down grizzly bear milk and river pebble coffee.
 
#30
#30
Whoa there, Mr. BOP! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Love the Heup, but he hasn't really done anything yet until he beats the lizard men, the slobbering mutts, and the toxic algae bloom. Meanwhile, we need a defense made up of guys who put Gorilla Glue on their pancakes instead of maple syrup, eat Godzilla patties as sausage, biscuit sop xenomorph blood-gravy, and washes it down grizzly bear milk and river pebble coffee.
You are without a doubt the most “colorful” poster on this board.
 
#33
#33
Tabbed by the Top247 as the nation’s No. 6 edge rusher and No. 50 prospect overall, Herring’s verbal to the Vols sees this eight-player class rise to No. 8 in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings.

I like that we got the #1 guy in the state but if the #1 guy in your state is #50 overall, it doesn't say much for the talent in state. We're going to have to look well beyond Tenn
 
#34
#34
TN fans need to rethink this line of thinking. Getting the instate guys is not very important. You recruit the best you can from wherever you can. The 2023 instate class isn’t very strong at all.

In-state recruits who love Tennessee also bring a love and loyalty to the locker room that is an important glue to team building. When a teammate tells you what it felt like as a kid to see his first game in Neyland Stadium, that creates a connection to the fans that wouldn't be there otherwise.

If you did assemble top recruits from around the nation and brought them to Knoxville, you'd just have an NFL locker room. And combining (different amounts of) NIL money with no underlying loyalty to the school or fans...

Like I said, it provides an important glue.
 
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#35
#35
I don't get why anyone worried about his recruiting when he killed it at UCF. It still baffles me.

Or did people just not adjust for the fact that he was in the lowly AAC? Recruiting is all relative to your level of program. He beat up the AAC in recruiting.

It's difficult to project how success recruiting G5 translates to success recruiting top 10 classes at power-programs. There are plenty of examples of coaches who recruited well in G5 and sucked at major programs. At G5 level, it's very much about 'fit'. The difference between the #60 and #80 class in terms of "talent" is negligible, so the differentiator ends up being fit, development, and how you utilize that talent. Those things matter in the SEC, too, but you do have to have top athletic talent to win at the highest level. It's much more difficult to find and recruit the right "top talent" out of a very small pool than it to recruit "players that fit" out of a much larger pool.

This isn't to say I ever thought Heupel couldn't recruit top talent. My view was more 'we'll have to wait and see'.

I also think some people were misjudging Heupel because they ignored that he was hired, essentially, 2 months after when coaches are typically hired, and thus started at a significant disadvantage recruiting. Particularly true since the players he would recruit at UT were not the same as he would at UCF.
 
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#36
#36
TN fans need to rethink this line of thinking. Getting the instate guys is not very important. You recruit the best you can from wherever you can. The 2023 instate class isn’t very strong at all.

You want to cherry pick your state without wasting a ton of resources on it. We've missed on some really good players because our coaches were not respected in state. Not owning your own state also makes nationwide recruiting harder because your failure to keep your best players home will be used against you on the recruiting trail.
 
#37
#37
I like that we got the #1 guy in the state but if the #1 guy in your state is #50 overall, it doesn't say much for the talent in state. We're going to have to look well beyond Tenn
Those who rate the players probably have never seen him play. I am satisfied with his recruiting and believe it will get even better. It seems that we are getting in with a lot of very good players. Enjoy the ride. It will be fun again.
 
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#38
#38
Hard to judge with NIL. Would he be having this success if he couldn't arrange NIL contracts for players? Seems like the guys who were allegedly paying players and were coincidently masterful recruiters (Kiffin, Saban) are the guys who are complaining the most about NIL.
 
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#39
#39
Absolutely right, I'm a Heupel supporter all the way and if he isn't recruiting well enough for you, send him some money. $$$ gets *****!!!!! Not what kind political speaker you are, it's now "let me see the money".
 
#40
#40
In-state recruits who love Tennessee also bring a love and loyalty to the locker room that is an important glue to team building. When a teammate tells you what it felt like as a kid to see his first game in Neyland Stadium, that creates a connection to the fans that wouldn't be there otherwise.

If you did assemble top recruits from around the nation and brought them to Knoxville, you'd just have an NFL locker room. And combining (different amounts of) NIL money with no underlying loyalty to the school or fans...

Like I said, it provides an important glue.

Maybe the "Post of the Month." Our best Tennessee Teams all had a handful of native Tennessee Boys that provided that "glue."
 
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#41
#41
We lost a lot of depth with the coaching change. BUT...we are replacing it with (better) quality depth. The more depth and development we get, the better we will be. Our issue last year was not having the horses to get off the field on third downs. I'm gonna believe that was a depth issue not a schematic or coaching issue. If we can get off the field quicker, we are going to have some amazing success.
Being able to tackle a scrambling QB before he reels of 10 to 15 yards would be an awesome start 😂. But I DO have faith in this staff. They haven’t failed to impress so far
 
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#42
#42
Great point. Revisionism runs rampant around here for + and -. Nobody was on this board crowing or pounding their chest @ CJHs recruiting acumen. That was probably rlthe biggest question mark. But, if it gets to the point where people are strutting around saying they told us so, I'll allow it for the greater good. 😄

Ya, I'm cautiously optimistic, and certainly want CJH and staff to excel here. However, acting like there was no reason for concern because he was an elite recruiter at UCF is just out of touch with reality.
 
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#46
#46
You are without a doubt the most “colorful” poster on this board.

Oh, just having fun, amusing some, ruffling the feathers of others.
mona-lisa-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
#47
#47
Being able to tackle a scrambling QB before he reels of 10 to 15 yards would be an awesome start 😂. But I DO have faith in this staff. They haven’t failed to impress so far
Vol fans should never be impressed with a 7-6 season with the signature win being KY.
Vol fans should never be impressed with a recruiting class outside the top 10.
Vol fans should never be impressed by running up the score and stats against cupcakes.
What impresses you?
Perhaps you are confusing competence with greatness. It is easy to do after having to suffer the last 3 UT staffs.
 
#49
#49
In-state recruits who love Tennessee also bring a love and loyalty to the locker room that is an important glue to team building. When a teammate tells you what it felt like as a kid to see his first game in Neyland Stadium, that creates a connection to the fans that wouldn't be there otherwise.
I've never lived in TN. I grew up in the same town as Heath Shuler where practically everyone is still a Vol fan. UT is a national brand. You don't have to be from TN to love Neyland or the Vols.

If you did assemble top recruits from around the nation and brought them to Knoxville, you'd just have an NFL locker room. And combining (different amounts of) NIL money with no underlying loyalty to the school or fans...

Like I said, it provides an important glue.
You just lifted your leg on most of the great players who ever played at UT and more the likely most of the great players who will in the future.

Just a short list of guys you just labeled as lesser VFLs.... Shuler, Manning, Clausen, Martin Witten, Graham, Little, Bryson,... there are loads of them.

NIL is an influence. To some it may be the deciding influence. But if you have always just gone for the job who paid you the most then you've probably had a lot of misery at work. If you are more like these guys and had the opportunity to work in different states and have simply followed the biggest offer... then you've DEFINITELY given yourself some misery.

Hopefully you've had the opportunity to work for an employer that you loved... on a team you loved.... doing something you loved... that didn't forget to pay you. The guys who just go after the biggest NIL... will likely be in the portal at some point.
 
#50
#50
I don't get why anyone worried about his recruiting when he killed it at UCF. It still baffles me.

Or did people just not adjust for the fact that he was in the lowly AAC? Recruiting is all relative to your level of program. He beat up the AAC in recruiting.
Simply battered vol syndrome. A guy can coach so he probably can’t recruit, or this guy can recruit so he probably can’t coach. We all have been through it and find it hard to believe our UT might have finally gotten it right. I am a believer.
 

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