MikeHamiltonFan
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Tennessee does not have enough in state talent to compete with just in state guys against LSU, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Because our fans want us to be able to nationally compete against Texas and USC as well, we have to recruit nationally.
I think that the UCLA game is a pivotal one for the Vols in terms of recruiting. LSU will have throttled Washington the week before, and here will come the Vols to play a Pac 10 team that is picked to be decent (unlike UW). When we throttle UCLA it will serve notice that we are back. Losing to UF in a much closer than predicted game would just make recruits believe that they could be the difference maker.
Old players from UT who were from California include:
Kevin Simon, Arian Foster, Donte Stallworth, Casey Clausen. (I am sure I am forgetting some and you will remind me)
In a thread I asked Arian Foster's mother about what UT had to overcome to get Arian to come to UT from California. She said that as huge CFB fans even in Cali they recognized that the SEC was the best conference, they loved the tradition at UT, the 100k fans etc and all the people we have sent to the NFL. She also said that when you do lots of recruiting trips you know that every school will give academic support so the Thornton center was not that important to his recruitment and that he never even went to the Black Cultural Center because he was too busy.
Kevin Simon's dad is known on lots of boards as a defender of the PAC 10, but many recruits recognize it is USC and then a bunch of teams with no shot at a National Title. A beat down of UCLA will reinforce that and will also give recruits the impression that the USC east thing that has been discussed is happening. Tennessee can be seen as USC in terms of a pro offense sending guys to the NFL and tons of TV exposure, with more opportunity for playing time.
In an article from July, the author spoke about how Tennessee recruits nationally and has a larger recruiting budget than it's rivals. It also talks about UT sending coaches out to the West Coast. This quote was of interest:
"Coach Houston Nutt, who last year took over an Ole Miss program that was sixth in recruiting spending from 2006-08, said of going to the West Coast: "We have to have a real tie for us to recruit that far away.""
Recruiting costs: Tennessee tops SEC, Auburn 2nd, LSU 3rd, Press-Register finds - Sports from the Press-Register - al.com
Often we will not be competing with SEC rivals in the fertile ground of California, but we will lose many of our targets to USC, as happened with Josh Scroggins and Dion Bailey. Our offer of playing time will over the years be obvious especially at key positions as JS sits on the bench and wonders what might have been.
James Cregg - Tennessee Football
Coach Cregg is mainly recruiting in CA
and I think he is likely to bring in Uko (DT 4*) and Shirley (4* LB) and he has a chance with Powell (5* DE) and Telfer (4* TE).
We also look very good for some CA prospects being pursued by other coaches, notably
Dietrich Riley:
Dietrich Riley - Football Recruiting
Who in a new article on this site says TN is recruiting him hardest and Tyler Bray a (4* QB) who is very interested in us.
Tyler Bray - Football Recruiting
Secondarily I am very impressed with the Illinois recruiting. I think it is possible we end up with Milton, Prater, Zach Fulton and Corey Cooper.
I think that the UCLA game is a pivotal one for the Vols in terms of recruiting. LSU will have throttled Washington the week before, and here will come the Vols to play a Pac 10 team that is picked to be decent (unlike UW). When we throttle UCLA it will serve notice that we are back. Losing to UF in a much closer than predicted game would just make recruits believe that they could be the difference maker.
Old players from UT who were from California include:
Kevin Simon, Arian Foster, Donte Stallworth, Casey Clausen. (I am sure I am forgetting some and you will remind me)
In a thread I asked Arian Foster's mother about what UT had to overcome to get Arian to come to UT from California. She said that as huge CFB fans even in Cali they recognized that the SEC was the best conference, they loved the tradition at UT, the 100k fans etc and all the people we have sent to the NFL. She also said that when you do lots of recruiting trips you know that every school will give academic support so the Thornton center was not that important to his recruitment and that he never even went to the Black Cultural Center because he was too busy.
Kevin Simon's dad is known on lots of boards as a defender of the PAC 10, but many recruits recognize it is USC and then a bunch of teams with no shot at a National Title. A beat down of UCLA will reinforce that and will also give recruits the impression that the USC east thing that has been discussed is happening. Tennessee can be seen as USC in terms of a pro offense sending guys to the NFL and tons of TV exposure, with more opportunity for playing time.
In an article from July, the author spoke about how Tennessee recruits nationally and has a larger recruiting budget than it's rivals. It also talks about UT sending coaches out to the West Coast. This quote was of interest:
"Coach Houston Nutt, who last year took over an Ole Miss program that was sixth in recruiting spending from 2006-08, said of going to the West Coast: "We have to have a real tie for us to recruit that far away.""
Recruiting costs: Tennessee tops SEC, Auburn 2nd, LSU 3rd, Press-Register finds - Sports from the Press-Register - al.com
Often we will not be competing with SEC rivals in the fertile ground of California, but we will lose many of our targets to USC, as happened with Josh Scroggins and Dion Bailey. Our offer of playing time will over the years be obvious especially at key positions as JS sits on the bench and wonders what might have been.
James Cregg - Tennessee Football
Coach Cregg is mainly recruiting in CA
and I think he is likely to bring in Uko (DT 4*) and Shirley (4* LB) and he has a chance with Powell (5* DE) and Telfer (4* TE).
We also look very good for some CA prospects being pursued by other coaches, notably
Dietrich Riley:
Dietrich Riley - Football Recruiting
Who in a new article on this site says TN is recruiting him hardest and Tyler Bray a (4* QB) who is very interested in us.
Tyler Bray - Football Recruiting
Secondarily I am very impressed with the Illinois recruiting. I think it is possible we end up with Milton, Prater, Zach Fulton and Corey Cooper.