Remember this statement from Pruitt

#76
#76
Mtnvol80 said:
With some of the best athletes in the country. JP has done pretty good this class, with all things considered, but we didn't close any Gap. Bama and Georgia just made the gap even wider
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Not true. Bama stuck at par. In fact, it'd be tough for their classes to get any better.

UGA is bringing in better classes than what theyre replacing (2014, 2015 classes), so yeah they are increasing the gap a bit.

But we also made some gap, or closed gap, between us and usc, uf, etc. Gotta win some of those games first.
 
#77
#77
Roustabout said:
Bama and UGA aren’t slowing down so they’ll have to close the gap through coaching, getting the most out of the roster and minimizing turnover and busts.
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Yup, OU and Clemson have been perrenial studs with top 15 classes. Or we can be like ucla, fsu, ourselves, etc. Gotta create comp advantages with Xs and Os. Need a big 12 offense with an sec defense.
 
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#78
#78
chrismc1000 said:
You can't just do that, if he did then he may not of had enough players to fill a roster much less have some sort of depth at any position.
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Do what? I didn't advocate how he should do it. I'm just saying that a good coach figures out a way to motivate his players. Pruitt was, by his own admission, unable to do that. He says when he gets better players, he'll be able to motivate them better (duh!). I guess that means we'll be able to beat every team on our schedule that has lower-ranked recruiting classes than we do?
 
#79
#79
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Nah, I hate to tell you, but we didn't close the gap on Bama or UGA. 10 of our 22 commits/signees are blue chips (4 and 5 star recruits) 25 of Bama's 26, and 19 of UGA's 22 are. That's the reality, being in denial about it doesn't change it.
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Let's focus on the task at hand. Let's get to where we beat everyone in the East not named Georgia on a regular basis. Looks like we will out recruit everyone in the East except Georgia. 10-2 with losses to Bama and Georgia and a New Years day bowl looks real good to me. Crushing the Gators on a regular basis and reminding Vandy, Missouri, and Kentucky that they ain't one of the 6 real SEC programs would be like so may light years better than we are now. Then after a couple of years of that kind of play that gap will narrow with Bama. You got to crawl before you walk and walk before you run! GBO
 
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#80
#80
With the caliber of talent and coaches around this league, I believe when Saban finally retires, no one is going to regularly beat anyone. Right now, UT and Ark are the only candy-asses in this conference. Ark is still a mess, and JP is getting stuff done here. The parity in this league is about to return. Pretty soon, we'll be ruining other SEC team's opportunities to play for the NC. But, with that, we will also be getting beaten, and knocked out of contention. In a few years, after Saban is gone, the SEC will struggle to get even one team in the College Football Playoff. UT will be relevant. But, I fear no one will be dominant. But, just maybe we will see the first two loss SEC Champion in the playoff. UGA will never rule the way Bama has ruled the SEC.
 
#82
#82
LittleVol said:
They made the gap wider? Because our class ranking?

It's about building an identity and recruitng players that can adhere to that. And then coaching it all up. They did NOT widen the gap.
Do you want to know why? Because they are already at the top and we are climbing...

It is hard for a college football team to become any better than what Alabama is right now. It's about maintaing for them every year and finding the right motovation to maintain....

This class definitely helped begun to close the gap
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This class is full of guys needed to build a base. O linemen and D linemen. This conference is won in the trenches. Always has been. Every great UT team had a few things in common. Tough guys in the trenches. Great QB's, WR's, RB's, great defenses, and a great kicking game. But, it all started with the trenches. JP is very attuned to this fact. Big dudes with attitudes. Something we haven't had around here, in a while. JP is spot on, in his recruiting. His system, if managed correctly, will work. Its working in Bama. For all you old guys like myself,it should look very familiar, in it execution and overall strategy. We watched the Big Orange do it for decades, with a great amount of success, in the 80's and 90's. Pound the rock. Throw overtop. Stop the run. Force turnovers. Win the kicking game. It is classic General Robert Neyland winning football. I look forward to watching it grow, and unfold.
 
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#83
#83
1974Vol said:
Let's focus on the task at hand. Let's get to where we beat everyone in the East not named Georgia on a regular basis. Looks like we will out recruit everyone in the East except Georgia. 10-2 with losses to Bama and Georgia and a New Years day bowl looks real good to me. Crushing the Gators on a regular basis and reminding Vandy, Missouri, and Kentucky that they ain't one of the 6 real SEC programs would be like so may light years better than we are now. Then after a couple of years of that kind of play that gap will narrow with Bama. You got to crawl before you walk and walk before you run! GBO
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I totally agree, let's beat Vandy and Missouri then South Carolina then Florida THEN let's worry about Bama and Georgia. Florida and South Carolina are recruiting comparably with us this year, we are slightly ahead right now, but they are certainly not becoming more talented than us with this year's class.
 
#84
#84
Chilmonty said:
So are you saying all those Freshman are gonna Start??

Got some good recruits but they won't all contribute instantly!
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I agree with this .. next season his first recruiting class will be sophomores and year two his second recruiting class will be sophomores and freshmen... this thing isn't going to happen overnight . I know people are going to say "we've been through this before" but honestly whats our choices? its to each their own but I am going to patiently wait to see what the future brings with Pruitt. I have plenty of non vol related life circumstances to keep me occupied during the wait.......
 
#86
#86
Longsufferingvol said:
Georgia almost always has more talent in terms of star ratings. I'd say that Tennessee has done okay against them over the years.
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Yeah but MR isn't there anymore. He just got plumb blew out by Wisconsin.. Kirby needs to clean up a few small things and he will get a championship very soon. He's def in the upper tier of coaching and is surrounded by a lot highly skilled athletes. I think I seen a stat the other day that he's led 116 minutes of 120 minutes in the last 2 games against Bama. That's pretty dang respectable
 
#89
#89
unfrozencvmanvol said:
I totally agree, let's beat Vandy and Missouri then South Carolina then Florida THEN let's worry about Bama and Georgia. Florida and South Carolina are recruiting comparably with us this year, we are slightly ahead right now, but they are certainly not becoming more talented than us with this year's class.
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D***, somebody had to say it!!!
 
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#91
#91
Let's just keep hoping our AD didn't screw up another hire...lots of concerns but still a few positives out of the 2018 season.
 
#92
#92
I remember him saying this recruiting class will up nears the top with the best of them...so far I have no complaints
 
#93
#93
The deciding difference is SABAN.

Bama loses so many talented players every year to the draft and to graduation. How do they continue to field a great team each year with fresh faces? The typical viewer sees it's probably because they have a top 3 recruiting class each year. That certainly is a large percentage of the solution but the main reason is that Saban is a helluva football coach.

These star recruits sit and they develop, they learn. Most of them are not put through the gauntlet Day 1. By the time they are JRs and SRs they aren't beaten up. Then they're drafted and recruits notice. Thus, the perfect cycle.

Not to mention that Saban is a genius and is the most adaptive HC with his personnel around. He surrounds himself with talented coaches and innovative minds to get the advantage. With a fair share of politicking.
 
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#95
#95
dcm3w said:
The deciding difference is SABAN.

Bama loses so many talented players every year to the draft and to graduation. How do they continue to field a great team each year with fresh faces? The typical viewer sees it's probably because they have a top 3 recruiting class each year. That certainly is a large percentage of the solution but the main reason is that Saban is a helluva football coach.

These star recruits sit and they develop, they learn. Most of them are not put through the gauntlet Day 1. By the time they are JRs and SRs they aren't beaten up. Then they're drafted and recruits notice. Thus, the perfect cycle.

Not to mention that Saban is a genius and is the most adaptive HC with his personnel around. He surrounds himself with talented coaches and innovative minds to get the advantage. With a fair share of politicking.
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Don't forget about the bag men and the steroid program.
 
#96
#96
Longsufferingvol said:
Georgia almost always has more talent in terms of star ratings. I'd say that Tennessee has done okay against them over the years.
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We have beat them when they were more talented a number of times certainly, but on balance, outside of the 90's where we were generally more talented than them, we have lost to them more often than not. I think CJP is a good coach, he's learning on the job, but I think he can turn it around given time, and to give him time, people have to understand he inherited our program at a historic low, and he is facing stronger headwinds in terms of what is going on at other schools we recruit against, many of whom have a demographic advantage over us anyway, than say Fulmer did.

We've just got to take baby steps, re-assert our authority over Vandy, beat Mizzou, and work our way up the food chain to be ready when an opportunity presents itself (such as Saban retiring) to get back in that upper echelon. The days in which our historic success could be expected to translate into a quick rebound passed by several coaches ago. We've won less than a third of our SEC games the last 10 years, this is going to take some time.
 
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#97
#97
Now there is some truth.

Meyer is the first guy I recall that ran a gimmick offense even though he had the talent to line up and play straight ahead football.
 
#98
#98
Rudy123 said:
Since Saban has been there, we came close to beating them in 2009 but Lincoln had his kick blocked. Had we won that game, Bama would not have played Notre Dame for national championship that year. We would have knocked Bama out of the national championship game.
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In 2009, we beat Texas for the national championship. Notre Dame was 2 national championships later in 2012. In 2015, the vols played their best game under the butch jones era. We again came on late with Heisman winner Derrick Henry and went on again to win another national championship. Of course, since then we have won another national championship.
 
#99
#99
Hacksaw said:
Agree with you on not ready to judge. But until we see real results, it's all we really have to discuss. I disagree with you that the bizarre episode with Sapp is evidence of anything positive. It could signal any number of things and most of them aren't good.
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I'm sorry, I meant to convey that I think the whole Sapp ordeal is a negative symptom of not every player buying in.
 
#100
#100
Hacksaw said:
I didn't like this statement at the time. And it's even worse to see our own fans give it validity. I don't want a coach who says it's going to take this or that before we can even slow them down. Yeah, we can't get out of our own way, but trust me for a few more years and maybe we might even be able to be competitive with them! That's inspiring.
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Yeah it seems like some Vol fans would rather have a coach who blows smoke rather than tell the truth.
 
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