Dissed by Kiffin

[volntn]

What Kiffin said is the same thing Fulmer and company have been saying since he took over in 91. It's common knowledge.

[purplengold]

No one is saying recruit Tennessee exclusively but when Randall Cobb went to Kentucky I was disappointed. Kid made an impact at UK as a freshman, started three games as wide receiver and four as a QB. Also was the punt returner. I think we better get used to hearing his name, because he sure impressed the heck out of me as a freshman. I don't know the situation on his recruitment but if I were Phil Fulmer I would hope I could land that one considering he lived in K-Town.

[66in74]

What Kiffin said is the same thing Fulmer and company have been saying since he took over in 91. It's common knowledge.

 

Fumer didn't actually "say it". And that's a difference.

[volsb1]

I think Kiffin was just stating the facts in that it is a number's game. Tennessee will always have D1 talent, however, the state just doesn't have the number of D1 prospects as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc. Tennessee may have 25 D1 football prospects a year whereas Florida generates 150 due to population of the state. I'm sure Tennessee tries to at least get the majority of its top 10 players each year, but its more difficult with fewer numbers.

[TrenchWarrior]

OK, I'm climbing up on my soapbox...

 

Personally, I think that the "Tennessee has no in-state talent" is a crock. We do--it's just that the UT coaching staff has basically ignored the homegrown talent since the late 90s. Just look at Randall Cobb, Curt Phillips, etc. Phillips might start at QB for Wisconsin as a redshirt freshman. Cobb started for Kentucky last year. Both were from UT's backyard. Both would be competing for the starting QB job at UT now. Both have the raw athletic ability to play several other positions if QB doesn't work out. Both were told by Tennessee coaches they weren't even worthy of consideration. Alabama has a couple of underclass LBs from Tennessee who started last year--players who weren't recruited by the Vols, and we've let UGA, Auburn, Ole Miss, etc. raid the cream of our crop for years!

 

The fact is that recruiting is as much about relationships as it is flashy offenses, star studded resumes, or promises of immediate superstardom. It's been decades since the Vols had a coaching staff who felt that that in-state HS coaches deserved more than token attention unless they magically produced a player everyone else wanted first. Contrast that to Nick Saban at Alabama, Rich Brooks at Kentucky, or Mark Richt at Georgia, who work really hard at building and maintaining relationships with our state's top HS programs and have seen it pay off by stealing (and then starting) the very players the Vols didn't think were worthy of consideration. If our talent base is so weak, why are all these other programs from supposedly football rich areas like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, S.C., etc. working so hard to recruit here?

 

Now, if you look at the national recruiting BS, then yes, we don't have as many top prospects on their suspect lists. But those services are a load of crap based primarily on what a kid does at some camp or how he works out. It's about networking, hype, and exposure more than anything else. Heck, just a couple of years ago Kansas was considered a talentless wasteland, but now they produced one of the nation's top recruits (Bryce Brown) and had more players getting national attention and hype than the state of Tennessee--a state with 2.5 times the population! Do you really think Kansas spontaneously became a miraculous hotbed of talent overnight? I don't, but to hear the recruiting services tell it they did.

 

Another thing to think of is how *LITTLE* competition Tennessee should have for in-state talent. We have only 3 other Div 1a programs in the state, none of which are football powerhouses: Vandy, UM, and MTSU. By contrast, Florida has Miami, FSU, UF, SF, UCF, and every other school in the nation trying to pack their roster with players from there. Texas has about a dozen in-state programs and the eyes of the nation looking there, too. Yet the Vols would rather focus on trying to pry a handful of kids away from those sorts of places every year instead of build up the in-state recruiting.

 

I know I'm rambling, and I know that Kiffin and Orgeron know what they're doing with this nationwide strategy of theirs, but I really, really hate that they continue to take a dump all over this state, its talent, and its traditions at every opportunity.

[muffin]

Give Kiffin time to work is system in.

[66in74]

The more Kiffin speaks..............the less I like him.

[Solomon]

OK, I'm climbing up on my soapbox...

 

Personally, I think that the "Tennessee has no in-state talent" is a crock. We do--it's just that the UT coaching staff has basically ignored the homegrown talent since the late 90s. Just look at Randall Cobb, Curt Phillips, etc. Phillips might start at QB for Wisconsin as a redshirt freshman. Cobb started for Kentucky last year. Both were from UT's backyard. Both would be competing for the starting QB job at UT now. Both have the raw athletic ability to play several other positions if QB doesn't work out. Both were told by Tennessee coaches they weren't even worthy of consideration. Alabama has a couple of underclass LBs from Tennessee who started last year--players who weren't recruited by the Vols, and we've let UGA, Auburn, Ole Miss, etc. raid the cream of our crop for years!

 

The fact is that recruiting is as much about relationships as it is flashy offenses, star studded resumes, or promises of immediate superstardom. It's been decades since the Vols had a coaching staff who felt that that in-state HS coaches deserved more than token attention unless they magically produced a player everyone else wanted first. Contrast that to Nick Saban at Alabama, Rich Brooks at Kentucky, or Mark Richt at Georgia, who work really hard at building and maintaining relationships with our state's top HS programs and have seen it pay off by stealing (and then starting) the very players the Vols didn't think were worthy of consideration. If our talent base is so weak, why are all these other programs from supposedly football rich areas like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, S.C., etc. working so hard to recruit here?

 

Now, if you look at the national recruiting BS, then yes, we don't have as many top prospects on their suspect lists. But those services are a load of crap based primarily on what a kid does at some camp or how he works out. It's about networking, hype, and exposure more than anything else. Heck, just a couple of years ago Kansas was considered a talentless wasteland, but now they produced one of the nation's top recruits (Bryce Brown) and had more players getting national attention and hype than the state of Tennessee--a state with 2.5 times the population! Do you really think Kansas spontaneously became a miraculous hotbed of talent overnight? I don't, but to hear the recruiting services tell it they did.

 

Another thing to think of is how *LITTLE* competition Tennessee should have for in-state talent. We have only 3 other Div 1a programs in the state, none of which are football powerhouses: Vandy, UM, and MTSU. By contrast, Florida has Miami, FSU, UF, SF, UCF, and every other school in the nation trying to pack their roster with players from there. Texas has about a dozen in-state programs and the eyes of the nation looking there, too. Yet the Vols would rather focus on trying to pry a handful of kids away from those sorts of places every year instead of build up the in-state recruiting.

 

I know I'm rambling, and I know that Kiffin and Orgeron know what they're doing with this nationwide strategy of theirs, but I really, really hate that they continue to take a dump all over this state, its talent, and its traditions at every opportunity.

 

The only thing that has surprised me with his comment was that Tennessee actually ranked 17th nationally in D-1 recruits produced. I figured it would be in the high 20s to low 30s.

 

Kiffin spoke the truth. Like it or not, it is the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. Tennessee does not produce as many top-notch prospects as does other areas where he wants to recruit. Tennessee CANNOT compete on an elite level with solely Tennessee recruits. Yes, Kiffin and Company need to land 80% of the top notch recruits in the state, but that alone won't cut it.

[possum]

OK, I'm climbing up on my soapbox...

 

Personally, I think that the "Tennessee has no in-state talent" is a crock. We do--it's just that the UT coaching staff has basically ignored the homegrown talent since the late 90s. Just look at Randall Cobb, Curt Phillips, etc. Phillips might start at QB for Wisconsin as a redshirt freshman. Cobb started for Kentucky last year. Both were from UT's backyard. Both would be competing for the starting QB job at UT now. Both have the raw athletic ability to play several other positions if QB doesn't work out. Both were told by Tennessee coaches they weren't even worthy of consideration. Alabama has a couple of underclass LBs from Tennessee who started last year--players who weren't recruited by the Vols, and we've let UGA, Auburn, Ole Miss, etc. raid the cream of our crop for years!

 

The fact is that recruiting is as much about relationships as it is flashy offenses, star studded resumes, or promises of immediate superstardom. It's been decades since the Vols had a coaching staff who felt that that in-state HS coaches deserved more than token attention unless they magically produced a player everyone else wanted first. Contrast that to Nick Saban at Alabama, Rich Brooks at Kentucky, or Mark Richt at Georgia, who work really hard at building and maintaining relationships with our state's top HS programs and have seen it pay off by stealing (and then starting) the very players the Vols didn't think were worthy of consideration. If our talent base is so weak, why are all these other programs from supposedly football rich areas like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, S.C., etc. working so hard to recruit here?

 

Now, if you look at the national recruiting BS, then yes, we don't have as many top prospects on their suspect lists. But those services are a load of crap based primarily on what a kid does at some camp or how he works out. It's about networking, hype, and exposure more than anything else. Heck, just a couple of years ago Kansas was considered a talentless wasteland, but now they produced one of the nation's top recruits (Bryce Brown) and had more players getting national attention and hype than the state of Tennessee--a state with 2.5 times the population! Do you really think Kansas spontaneously became a miraculous hotbed of talent overnight? I don't, but to hear the recruiting services tell it they did.

 

Another thing to think of is how *LITTLE* competition Tennessee should have for in-state talent. We have only 3 other Div 1a programs in the state, none of which are football powerhouses: Vandy, UM, and MTSU. By contrast, Florida has Miami, FSU, UF, SF, UCF, and every other school in the nation trying to pack their roster with players from there. Texas has about a dozen in-state programs and the eyes of the nation looking there, too. Yet the Vols would rather focus on trying to pry a handful of kids away from those sorts of places every year instead of build up the in-state recruiting.

 

I know I'm rambling, and I know that Kiffin and Orgeron know what they're doing with this nationwide strategy of theirs, but I really, really hate that they continue to take a dump all over this state, its talent, and its traditions at every opportunity.

 

My thoughts exactly, when I read Kiffin's comments. Good post.

[Sequatchie]

Any one who knows me knows I am a big Tennessee fan and with that a member of two Tennessee Message Boards the Scout.com(Inside Tennessee) and VolNation.com I am also a recruiting junkie.

 

This same thing has been discussed for years on the Tennessee Forums and was also brought up again after the Media Days and most agree, me being one that Tennessee doesn't put out a lot of top line D-1 talent.

 

If there are no kids from Tennessee on the team, I'm not as interested in watching. The years with Eric Westmoreland on the team were the best for me. I never missed a game.

I disagree, I could care less if there is a homegrown Tennessee player on the roster as long as they win. Sure I would like to see some in-state guys do good but it seems more time than not as of late they have washed out especially at UT. Daniel Brooks comes to mind he was supposed to be the next Al Wilson but again remember Peyton and Tee martin wasn't from Tennessee and neither is Eric Berry and they are some of the most beloved Vols of all time.

 

I just got a day or two ago Tennessee's media guide in the mail for this year of this season's incoming Freshmen Class of 19 (22 if you count the guys who went through Spring Practice)

 

5 - are from Tennessee (6) if you count Montori Hughes.

 

Looking at this years 2010 Recruiting class.

 

Tennessee has only one commitment from an in-state guy J. Smith from Ooltewah who also happens to be one of the top players in the country at DE that's rare for a TN in-state guy to be ranked that high. Yet they have offered buy my list (7) guys and that might go up to 10 or more if they ever officially offer Tyler Robinson, Zak Tait and Keon Williams.

 

I also think the trend is starting to change with the in-state talent as from what I can tell the 2011 & 2012 classes are loaded with D-1 talent.

 

Tennessee with the exception of a few guys has always been able to get the in-state guys that they really wanted and I truly believe that as the next year or so goes as long as they make progress on the field that will be even more apparent but that could mean even less in-state guys on the roster. Tennessee is currently ranked #12 by Scout.com for 2010 one spot below USC!

[davidlimbaugh]

All about numbers. Same in all sports. People ask why East Cobb baseball teams are so strong compared to Tennessee teams. The population for the entire state of Tennessee is 6.2 million. Atlanta metro area's population is 5.7 million.

 

Mississippi's population is 2.9 million, Alabama 4.6

 

Florida? 18.3 Georgia? 9.6 million

[Sequatchie]

Something I was going to add but was in a hurry again according to the UT Media Guide the number of players on the UT roster including Walk-Ons from the state of Tennessee is (44). Now going from my memory and name the number of those guys on scholarship is around 28-30 there were one or two I'm not sure on.