OK, first off, I've never been a gloom and doom guy nor have I ever been one to be blinded by the orange glare.
The fact of the situation is; today was not a great day for Tennessee football.
Yes, we landed a top 20 class. That was about all anyone could have expected. That's the best news of the day. The hard dose of reality is that we were only 8th in the SEC. Of those 7 above us, 4 we play every year.
Tennessee fans need to really manage their expectations moving forward.
If this staff can get to a bowl next year it's a success. If they can win a bowl that should lay the groundwork for some future successes.
If this group is anywhere close to advertised, then the next 2 years should see marked improvements in recruiting. If they don't begin to recruit in the top 3 of the SEC consistently then the road back to championships will be filled with disappointment.
This would be a nice class if you were competing in the Big12, there we'd have the number 3 rated class. We'd be number 3 in the Big 10. We'd be number 4 in the ACC.
But we do not play in those leagues and we will have a very difficult if not impossible task of winning a championship with top 20 rated classes.
For what it's worth, I do believe this staff can do better given time.
They'd better.
The fact of the situation is; today was not a great day for Tennessee football.
Yes, we landed a top 20 class. That was about all anyone could have expected. That's the best news of the day. The hard dose of reality is that we were only 8th in the SEC. Of those 7 above us, 4 we play every year.
Tennessee fans need to really manage their expectations moving forward.
If this staff can get to a bowl next year it's a success. If they can win a bowl that should lay the groundwork for some future successes.
If this group is anywhere close to advertised, then the next 2 years should see marked improvements in recruiting. If they don't begin to recruit in the top 3 of the SEC consistently then the road back to championships will be filled with disappointment.
This would be a nice class if you were competing in the Big12, there we'd have the number 3 rated class. We'd be number 3 in the Big 10. We'd be number 4 in the ACC.
But we do not play in those leagues and we will have a very difficult if not impossible task of winning a championship with top 20 rated classes.
For what it's worth, I do believe this staff can do better given time.
They'd better.