I'll be impressed if we pull a Top 10 class

[volgrr]

I was at the game Saturday night and the atmoshere was pretty bland but how do you bring in recruits when...

1) Fans are bailing at halftime.
2) More fans are bailing at end of 3rd.
3) We are booing our own team.
4) Auburn fans show up in numbers and party in our stadium.
5) Players, mostly Warren, are acting like spoiled brats on the sideline.
6) Our own fans are fighting themselves in the stands.
7) The Product on the field looks like sh!t and doesnt represent the coaching it is getting.

If this staff pulls out a Top 10 class this year they are worth every penny they are paid because there is really no reason a recruit should pick TN based on what they see at a game.

[smooth]

when you are down 13-0 for the first half until the last minute of play. Not much to cheer for.

[Del Griffith]

You really don't know much about recruiting or salesmanship do you?

[volgrr]

You really don't know much about recruiting or salesmanship do you?

Yeah, I do. That is why I will be impressed. Because these coaches are selling these kids something contrary to what they are seeing with their very own eyes.

[UNCVol]

I wouldn't get terribly worried. This staff is selling:

1. The chance for immediate PT
2. The chance to be coached by one of the most impressive staffs in college football
3. The chance to be a part of rebuilding this mess

It doesn't hurt that #1 and #2 together help top recruits play on Sundays.

[Polemicvol]

I think that's almost a given at this point, unless we have mass defections. However a top 5 class might be problematic. And we need top 5 classes to climb back up the hill that is the SEC.

I was at the game and thought the atmosphere was really good. I heard a few scattered boos, but nothing to get too upset about. I mainly saw a huge crowd that cheered the Vols all night long, especially when we started coming back in the 4th quarter.

There are always people who bail out early from games. I've never really understood that mentality. Why bother to go in the first place if you are so eager to leave? I'm there for the duration most games I attend.

I think the recruiting experience is a lot more the interaction with the team, coaches, and seeing the entire university and city. I'm not so sure they focus on crowd actions like we might think they do. And even if they did, I don't think our crowd hurt us last Saturday.

[Napervol]

Well, some leave early when it appears the game might be over. I tried to stop doing that after leaving early in the 1984 bammer game.

My first foray into Neyland will be Saturday. I hope to stay the entire game. And I hope not to hear from any of my long lost bulldawg fans, who ONLY call me when they win.

The 2010 class will be great.

[humbletx]

I was at the game Saturday night and the atmoshere was pretty bland but how do you bring in recruits when...

1) Fans are bailing at halftime.
2) More fans are bailing at end of 3rd.
3) We are booing our own team.
4) Auburn fans show up in numbers and party in our stadium.
5) Players, mostly Warren, are acting like spoiled brats on the sideline.
6) Our own fans are fighting themselves in the stands.
7) The Product on the field looks like sh!t and doesnt represent the coaching it is getting.

If this staff pulls out a Top 10 class this year they are worth every penny they are paid because there is really no reason a recruit should pick TN based on what they see at a game.

season - what has changed? Make sure you read your closing sentence - and re read item #7....

[bluegrassvol]

I believe they will be able to weather the storm this year and sign a good class. With the problems on the field, it might not be top 5, but it will be a good one. Next year is the big worry. I don't think they can have two 5-7, 4-8 type seasons, and expect it not to affect recruiting in a big way.

[humbletx]

I think that's almost a given at this point, unless we have mass defections. However a top 5 class might be problematic. And we need top 5 classes to climb back up the hill that is the SEC.

I was at the game and thought the atmosphere was really good. I heard a few scattered boos, but nothing to get too upset about. I mainly saw a huge crowd that cheered the Vols all night long, especially when we started coming back in the 4th quarter.

There are always people who bail out early from games. I've never really understood that mentality. Why bother to go in the first place if you are so eager to leave? I'm there for the duration most games I attend.

I think the recruiting experience is a lot more the interaction with the team, coaches, and seeing the entire university and city. I'm not so sure they focus on crowd actions like we might think they do. And even if they did, I don't think our crowd hurt us last Saturday.

recruiting". Take a good look at recruiting - specifically in the SEC - and where teams are ranked..

Now overlay that with "coaching" - is this a staff that is deserving of its "off season" ranking? EdO - put him anywhere else in college football - and the ridicule would be just as it was when he was coachin'em up at Ole Miss..

[SoftballVol]

recruiting". Take a good look at recruiting - specifically in the SEC - and where teams are ranked..

Now overlay that with "coaching" - is this a staff that is deserving of its "off season" ranking? EdO - put him anywhere else in college football - and the ridicule would be just as it was when he was coachin'em up at Ole Miss..
How can you criticize the job done by Ed O? His DL is doing a pretty decent job considering the fact that they are incredibly thin and extremely banged up and most of all are on the field way too much thanks to our non-existent offense. O is also the recruiting coordinator and he's done an outstanding job in that department in his short time here. You can criticize the WR coach, the QB coach, the OC, and yes the HC but I would argue that the defensive staff has done a hell of a job under the circumstances.

[AtlantaVol]

I was at the game Saturday night and the atmoshere was pretty bland but how do you bring in recruits when...

1) Fans are bailing at halftime.
2) More fans are bailing at end of 3rd.
3) We are booing our own team.
4) Auburn fans show up in numbers and party in our stadium.
5) Players, mostly Warren, are acting like spoiled brats on the sideline.
6) Our own fans are fighting themselves in the stands.
7) The Product on the field looks like sh!t and doesnt represent the coaching it is getting.

If this staff pulls out a Top 10 class this year they are worth every penny they are paid because there is really no reason a recruit should pick TN based on what they see at a game.

This isn't Southern Cal nor is it close to home for most recruits. UT is going to be a harder and harder sell as the novelty of Kiffin with his NFL guys wears off and recruits actually see with their own eyes the product on the field. In the current time fans expect gratification quite soon as they have seen it with Saban twice, Carroll, Brown, Richt, Tressel, Stoops, etc.

So IMO UT has a very narrow time frame to build the talent back up because if we look shitty in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2010 on the field then I don't see any staff rocking and rolling in recruiting past 2010 season- and we damn better get a top 5 class in 2/2010 while we are still a semi novelty. That and the FACT that UF, UA, LSU, and UGA are routinely getting Top 7 classes so they aren't going anywhere as far as talent. So even with "talent" after 2-3 years can this staff beat proven SECC and NC winners at our rival school??? The mountain is huge to climb and I don't see it happening. IMO the UTAD made a MONUMENTAL mistake in not getting rid of Knoxville Phil after 2005 season. I felt and stated at the time that keeping Phildo past that point would doom us for many a year. If we dump him then for a Kiffin type staff THEN we don't have the disaster 2006 and 2008 classes and are in much better shape now.

WE SUCK AND THEREFORE WE ARE.

[Gravedigger]

I think a top 10 will happen. We will lose some guys before Feb, but we will replace those guys. You know the staff is telling the kids, "Look, we are rebuilding, and it may look bad on TV, but we are going to turn this around, come and be apart of this" The kids all have said, "They are a QB away" Do you think they came up with that on their own? NO, that comes from the coaching staff. I'll take a top 10 from this staff anytime!

[SoftballVol]

This isn't Southern Cal nor is it close to home for most recruits. UT is going to be a harder and harder sell as the novelty of Kiffin with his NFL guys wears off and recruits actually see with their own eyes the product on the field. In the current time fans expect gratification quite soon as they have seen it with Saban twice, Carroll, Brown, Richt, Tressel, Stoops, etc.

So IMO UT has a very narrow time frame to build the talent back up because if we look shitty in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2010 on the field then I don't see any staff rocking and rolling in recruiting past 2010 season- and we damn better get a top 5 class in 2/2010 while we are still a semi novelty. That and the FACT that UF, UA, LSU, and UGA are routinely getting Top 7 classes so they aren't going anywhere as far as talent. So even with "talent" after 2-3 years can this staff beat proven SECC and NC winners at our rival school??? The mountain is huge to climb and I don't see it happening. IMO the UTAD made a MONUMENTAL mistake in not getting rid of Knoxville Phil after 2005 season. I felt and stated at the time that keeping Phildo past that point would doom us for many a year. If we dump him then for a Kiffin type staff THEN we don't have the disaster 2006 and 2008 classes and are in much better shape now.

WE SUCK AND THEREFORE WE ARE.
As has been mentioned several times in other threads some of the coaches you mentioned struggled their first years, Saban most prominently and he inherited better talent than CLK did. As much as CLK may hate doing so the fact is that for his own good he needs to get the word out in one way or another that Fulmer left him a smoking train-wreck of a program and there is no point in pretending otherwise. To pretend otherwise would in fact be counter-productive because expectations is the name of the game.

UGA IMO has peaked recruiting-wise. There's every reason to expect them to decline now because they've suddenly got much better competition recruiting-wise on their borders at UT and at AU. NC also has begun to improve in that department. It's only a matter of time before Rodney Garner moves on; someone will give him a better title and all the money in the world. When that happens UGA will enter their own nuclear winter.

Having said all of that I do agree that continuing to play Crompton without giving anyone else even a chance to demonstrate that they're any worse is one of the great mysteries of life. I sure hope this doesn't spark yet another Crompton thread as that is not my intent. I just think that at this point why not try something new since the current guy isn't going to get it done. If NS sucks in practice and has a bad attitude and refuses to learn the plays then kick him off the team. Don't let him hang around and infect the others. OTOH, if he is not guilty of any of those things - as the coaches say publicly at every opportunity - then give him a shot. Just do it, dammit. We truly have nothing to lose by it at this point.