Rivals would disagree
2011 rank #13 (one spot behind FL)
2012 rank #17
I give you that he isn't up there with AL, and GA but mediocre???? We got plenty of talent on this team and he is at least somewhat responsible
I posted this in another thread, but I thought that this would be a good place for it.
Rivals Team Rankings for UT:
2010 - 9th
2011 - 13th
2012 - 17th
2013 - 20th
(I understand that the 2013 class is far from complete, so I also looked at avg star rankings for the team and UT comes in 21st there. So while the class may end up top 10 or 15, the coaches will have to close out stronger than they have recruited to this point)
Scout Team Rankings for UT:
2010 - 16th
2011 - 10th
2012 - 25th
2013 - 24th
(As with Rivals, I also looked at average stars to compensate for the fact that this recruiting season is ongoing. In Avg Stars, UT is currently 29th.)
24/7 Team Rankings for UT:
2010 - 7th
2011 - 14th
2012 - 20th
2013 - 22nd
(Average Stars team ranking 2013 - 26th)
ESPN Team Rankings for UT:
2010 - 9th
2011 - 13th
2012 - 21st
2013 - Not currently in top 25 and ESPN doesn't show rankings beyond the top 25.
(Also, there is no way to sort by ranking score or star average on ESPN to compensate for the incomplete recruiting season.)
While the recruiting services can't agree on much, it is obvious that there is a downward trend in UT recruiting under Dooley. It's entirely possible he closes strong with several prospects this year and breaks the trend, but to this point, his classes are getting worse each year. Further, I find it interesting that his best class, according to all but Scout, was the one where he didn't have time to build any relationships.
It's also worth noting that Vanderbilt is currently ranked higher that UT by every recruiting service. However, UT is better at the average star ranking, which means that it is likely that UT ends up with a better final class in Feb.