Feels like this happens every year but the GQ seems to focus on just the week of signing day. We swung for some guys and came up short.
But this was Tennessee's close...
1) Desmond Williams- One of the Top 8 JUCO players in the country. Top 3 JUCO DB and a ball hawk. Had like 13 INTs in 2 years against college players. Big position of need as well.
2) Kaleb Webb- Top 100-200 player on multiple sites. Got him over Michigan who is playing for a National Championship.
3) Jourdan Thomas- flipped from Miss State who had a solid year. Performed well at Miss Ala all star game and is in line for a bump per Woody. Position of need.
4) Christian Harrison- blew up late. Got him over Florida who made him a priority. Position of need.
5) Joshua Josephs- #73 overall on On3 and #168 overall on 247. Got him over Michigan and Auburn.
(Edited in) 6) Tyre West- I didn't see that coming. Rodney Garner folks.
Who we kept:
Squirrel White- after UGA and Auburn tried hard.
Who we are getting for sure:
Justin Williams- Top 200 player and a position of need as a big back.
Pierce- in line to get him but grades giving pause. Apparently those around him wanting him to look? But Top 100-200 player.
On misses- this happens every year. We swung at guys who had deep relationships with other coaches and schools. The VQ mods gave off confidence which set up this sense of failure. It is not the mods fault as they report what they hear from UT and the people around the kid. Obviously things changed. But I think this has created a false narrative.
Darren Agu- I never got the confidence on UTs side. The kid was committed to Lea at Notre Dame. Stayed committed to Vandy during that horrible football season. And he gave them the last visit. He was always staying with Lea. If he wasn't he wouldn't have scheduled that visit.
JUCO DBs- Scott and Gilbert. Not sure. Got beat by Auburn apparently.
M'Ba- confidence and then he left the visit and questioned the fit. I don't think he was the type of player Garner was looking for and they were honest with him. Garner will go get a transfer portal guy with multiple years instead of a JUCO guy.
Tolan- Been committed to a powerhouse SEC program for a long time that hired a big time coach. Fair play.
May be another guy I am forgetting but I just think the fact that Tennessee landed a few of their guys early set the narrative that signing day was a whiff when they are about to land a Top 20 class.
And IMO the reality has always been that next year and maybe even 2023 is going to be about who they get from the portal to plug and play. Freshman and many sophomores are not ready to do that.
But this was Tennessee's close...
1) Desmond Williams- One of the Top 8 JUCO players in the country. Top 3 JUCO DB and a ball hawk. Had like 13 INTs in 2 years against college players. Big position of need as well.
2) Kaleb Webb- Top 100-200 player on multiple sites. Got him over Michigan who is playing for a National Championship.
3) Jourdan Thomas- flipped from Miss State who had a solid year. Performed well at Miss Ala all star game and is in line for a bump per Woody. Position of need.
4) Christian Harrison- blew up late. Got him over Florida who made him a priority. Position of need.
5) Joshua Josephs- #73 overall on On3 and #168 overall on 247. Got him over Michigan and Auburn.
(Edited in) 6) Tyre West- I didn't see that coming. Rodney Garner folks.
Who we kept:
Squirrel White- after UGA and Auburn tried hard.
Who we are getting for sure:
Justin Williams- Top 200 player and a position of need as a big back.
Pierce- in line to get him but grades giving pause. Apparently those around him wanting him to look? But Top 100-200 player.
On misses- this happens every year. We swung at guys who had deep relationships with other coaches and schools. The VQ mods gave off confidence which set up this sense of failure. It is not the mods fault as they report what they hear from UT and the people around the kid. Obviously things changed. But I think this has created a false narrative.
Darren Agu- I never got the confidence on UTs side. The kid was committed to Lea at Notre Dame. Stayed committed to Vandy during that horrible football season. And he gave them the last visit. He was always staying with Lea. If he wasn't he wouldn't have scheduled that visit.
JUCO DBs- Scott and Gilbert. Not sure. Got beat by Auburn apparently.
M'Ba- confidence and then he left the visit and questioned the fit. I don't think he was the type of player Garner was looking for and they were honest with him. Garner will go get a transfer portal guy with multiple years instead of a JUCO guy.
Tolan- Been committed to a powerhouse SEC program for a long time that hired a big time coach. Fair play.
May be another guy I am forgetting but I just think the fact that Tennessee landed a few of their guys early set the narrative that signing day was a whiff when they are about to land a Top 20 class.
And IMO the reality has always been that next year and maybe even 2023 is going to be about who they get from the portal to plug and play. Freshman and many sophomores are not ready to do that.
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