'25 Portal Thread

#16,327
#16,327
PlanetVolunteer said:
I mean, Aguilar isn't unknown. I think you can sell him. He had 6,700 yards in two seasons.

Regardless, they really like Matthews, Staley and Brazzell as starters.

Brazzell can be all SEC

We saw 5 star flashes from MM

Staley, according to some is that dude.
Click to expand...
I think Brazzell is overrated. IMO. He didn’t show that much last year. Against top competition he disappeared. I do think Mike and Stanley are going to be studs. And Amari and Travis will be really good. Only worried about depth as we always have injuries at DB and WR every single year.
 
#16,328
#16,328
Weezer said:
Being honest, I'm more concerned with defense than I am offense. The offense is going to be what it's going to be. So many questions on that side of the ball, I'm not sure a WR transfer will move the needle that much. But defense is more established. Key players there could really make a difference. DT for the rotation. Maybe 2. A CB to cover for McCoy's injury. A safety, because I really think we need a solid safety. Maybe even a LB that can actually cover. We struggled with that last year. I'm pretty sure the defense could be really solid, especially with a couple of pickups. But we're breaking in new almost everywhere on offense. New QB. New RB. New WRs. New OL. It's going to be what it's going to be.
Click to expand...
Defense is fine. Better at virtually every position with either more depth or players another year older. We lost a first rounder and we still have a luxury at edge.

Offense is the worry for the third straight year. But we went with a youth movement and overhaul at defense last year (Lb & DB) and it worked out well. Hoping the same this year for the offense.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange Navy and MrVolton
#16,329
#16,329
Y’all aren’t spinning this correctly. Let me help you.

It’s going to be easy to recruit talented high school recruits because they know they won’t be benched for a portal addition
 
  • Like
Reactions: RAVOL
#16,332
#16,332
SmyrnaATLVolisback said:
I think Brazzell is overrated. IMO. He didn’t show that much last year. Against top competition he disappeared. I do think Mike and Stanley are going to be studs. And Amari and Travis will be really good. Only worried about depth as we always have injuries at DB and WR every single year.
Click to expand...
Takes a year to get comfortable in Heupel's world. I think he becomes more of a factor this year.
 
#16,334
#16,334
Weezer said:
If I counted correctly, we've met our scholarship reduction numbers, with the exception that the punishment says we must operate with at least a two-scholarship reduction every year of our probation. So I think we can do 83. Probation goes through 2028, I believe.
Click to expand...
Another 3 years at 83? What? Who did we kill? Ridiculous.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bpalmer28
#16,336
#16,336
Weezer said:
If I counted correctly, we've met our scholarship reduction numbers, with the exception that the punishment says we must operate with at least a two-scholarship reduction every year of our probation. So I think we can do 83. Probation goes through 2028, I believe.
Click to expand...
2027 on probation.. can get to 85 or 105 whatever it ends up being..
 
#16,338
#16,338
Jackcrevol said:
Larry,

Any word on what's going in with recruiting?
Click to expand...

Not high school recruiting. I don't pay a lot of attention to that part anymore.

On the portal, they would like to get some depth pieces at WR, DT and Safety. BUT, agents are asking for starter money and Tennessee is in need of backup players. They are not going to pay that type money for someone to come in as a depth player. it would totally disrupt the financial roster.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cherokeeeVOL, bullet20, OptimusPrimerib and 33 others
#16,339
#16,339
The bellyaching in here is almost hilarious at times. I think posters on here grossly overestimate the amount of quality SEC starter level players actually in the portal (especially in the spring).

We grabbed two starters on the OL to go with our other starting transfer OL. We brought in a gamer QB in a literal nightmare scenario of losing your starter. We got a WR that everyone on here wanted a year ago at this time.

Sure we may not bat 100% but to act like our coaches are just floundering around helplessly is akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get the exact toy or number of toys you wanted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolsCigarMan, OptimusPrimerib, SugarCC and 21 others
#16,340
#16,340
LWSVOL said:
Not high school recruiting. I don't pay a lot of attention to that part anymore.

On the portal, they would like to get some depth pieces at WR, DT and Safety. BUT, agents are asking for starter money and Tennessee is in need of backup players. They are not going to pay that type money for someone to come in as a depth player. it would totally disrupt the financial roster.
Click to expand...
Wow. Sounds like I owe an apology to Joey Halzle and Kelsey Pope, and need to rehire them both.

That's actually very good to hear. I was thinking about this, albeit briefly. Was certainly worrisome that something internal was going on that other teams had latched onto. Reassuring to hear Spyre and Huepel staff didnt forget how to recruit, overnight.

Thx Larry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OptimusPrimerib, volsfan_17, tnhunter 10 and 3 others
#16,342
#16,342
AllVol11717 said:
The bellyaching in here is almost hilarious at times. I think posters on here grossly overestimate the amount of quality SEC starter level players actually in the portal (especially in the spring).

We grabbed two starters on the OL to go with our other starting transfer OL. We brought in a gamer QB in a literal nightmare scenario of losing your starter. We got a WR that everyone on here wanted a year ago at this time.

Sure we may not bat 100% but to act like our coaches are just floundering around helplessly is akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get the exact toy or number of toys you wanted.
Click to expand...

It’s a sport to some of them. You’ve got posters who’ve been here for years and have <500 posts, who are showing up to complain
 
  • Like
Reactions: AllVol11717, volsfan_17 and barrylee
#16,343
#16,343
Weezer said:
I guess the challenge is finding someone willing to EARN their playing time.
Click to expand...
I think you nailed it. Any player transferring at this point is looking for a bigger bag or more playing time. I have to believe that we feel a bit better about our WR room than most people think. I understand it’s unproven but that’s the nature of current college football. I think Heupel is also known as a straight shooter so he likely tells them that they will have to compete for playing time. We have 5-6 highly rated guys and don’t have a history of playing a bunch of receivers. Heupel and Tennessee have shown that they can be pretty aggressive in the portal when they really think they have a glaring need. Just have to hope that potential turns into real production. I’m actually excited to see how a few of these young guys develop. There is just a lot going on behind the scenes that we simply don’t know about. I understand it’s a Volnation tradition to dream up the worst possible scenario and run with it. Understandable under previous coaches but hasn’t Heupel earned the benefit of the doubt by now? He has with me and I also realize expecting the playoffs every year is a great goal but should not be expected.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange.
#16,344
#16,344
Weezer said:
If I counted correctly, we've met our scholarship reduction numbers, with the exception that the punishment says we must operate with at least a two-scholarship reduction every year of our probation. So I think we can do 83. Probation goes through 2028, I believe.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think we can go to 83 but read a lot of stuff that said we may choose to go 82. Assume to knock another one off the limit requirement
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange.
#16,345
#16,345
LWSVOL said:
Not high school recruiting. I don't pay a lot of attention to that part anymore.

On the portal, they would like to get some depth pieces at WR, DT and Safety. BUT, agents are asking for starter money and Tennessee is in need of backup players. They are not going to pay that type money for someone to come in as a depth player. it would totally disrupt the financial roster.
Click to expand...
Some much needed calm in the midst of the manufactured storm. Thanks for the information.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LaagerVol, bluegrasser, Jackcrevol and 1 other person
#16,347
#16,347
KG1821 said:
If you have been listening to the way AP has been talking about it he doesn’t expect him to make an impact this year
Click to expand...

AP has never been wrong about guys who will make an impact 🙃.

But he’s prob right on this one. AP says that bc the he’s still injured and hasn’t participated much still coming off that surgery. So the staff doesn’t truly know what they have in him yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AngryButchJones
#16,348
#16,348
MarcoVol said:
AP has never been wrong about guys who will make an impact 🙃.

But he’s prob right on this one. AP says that bc the he’s still injured and hasn’t participated much still coming off that surgery. So the staff doesn’t truly know what they have in him yet.
Click to expand...
Frankly, I’d be more concerned if he were getting the dreaded VQ camp hype.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Orange., OptimusPrimerib, captainfalcon777 and 4 others
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top