Is Tennessee poised to join the elite college football league of recruiting programs with this win/start and NIL combination? — Eric Q.
While Tennessee and Alabama were playing Saturday, I was covering the TCU-Oklahoma State game. I sat in the press box with my computer open streaming that game, feeling some of the worst FOMO I’ve ever experienced. That game, that crowd, the stakes, all of it. I cannot imagine a better full package when it comes to college football. That’s what Tennessee can sell to recruits.
Everyone in the country was watching that game. Most people wished they were there. And when Tennessee won, the subsequent celebration was exactly what you’d expect from a fan base starving to return to national relevance.
Tennessee did just that.
I’ve said many times before that recruits don’t often look at a single game and make their college decisions based on the result.That still is probably the case here. But if there ever were going to be an outlier to that point of view, this game was it. Why? Because this game wasn’t just a W in the win column. This was a program-legitimizing win, not just when it comes to what Josh Heupel is building, but what it has to offer. That stadium, those fans, that win? That’s literally playing college football at the highest level.
The NIL stuff is hard to really predict right now. There is no question that Tennessee was at the forefront of the movement and has some really nice pieces coming in as part of its 2023 class — yes, five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava is coming to Knoxville — but I’ve always been cautious about crowning a program due to an aggressive collective because everyone is going to catch up. The market will set and Tennessee’s competitors will be more equipped with competing offers than they were out of the gate. That’s why NIL alone was never something I thought could build a program on its own.
But this win combined with NIL? Wow.
Tennessee was cool when I was growing up in Arizona. People wore Vols stuff in Scottsdale. Kids at my school rooted for them. They were the “it” team then.
I have to ask: Has Tennessee been this cool since it won the national title in 1998? I’d venture to say no.
That was the complete package. I cannot imagine how loud it was in that building that day. And it wasn’t just a one-off win — Tennessee is undefeated and firmly in the national championship discussion.
There is no question that how Tennessee fills out the remainder of its class is one of the storylines for the 2023 cycle. The Volunteers currently rank No. 10 nationally and have 21 commitments — six from top-150 national prospects. They can still build on that.
Going from a solid program to one of the “it” programs is one of the more difficult things a coach can do in college football. I can’t imagine how a team could take a bigger step forward on a single Saturday than Tennessee just did.
While Tennessee and Alabama were playing Saturday, I was covering the TCU-Oklahoma State game. I sat in the press box with my computer open streaming that game, feeling some of the worst FOMO I’ve ever experienced. That game, that crowd, the stakes, all of it. I cannot imagine a better full package when it comes to college football. That’s what Tennessee can sell to recruits.
Everyone in the country was watching that game. Most people wished they were there. And when Tennessee won, the subsequent celebration was exactly what you’d expect from a fan base starving to return to national relevance.
Tennessee did just that.
I’ve said many times before that recruits don’t often look at a single game and make their college decisions based on the result.That still is probably the case here. But if there ever were going to be an outlier to that point of view, this game was it. Why? Because this game wasn’t just a W in the win column. This was a program-legitimizing win, not just when it comes to what Josh Heupel is building, but what it has to offer. That stadium, those fans, that win? That’s literally playing college football at the highest level.
The NIL stuff is hard to really predict right now. There is no question that Tennessee was at the forefront of the movement and has some really nice pieces coming in as part of its 2023 class — yes, five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava is coming to Knoxville — but I’ve always been cautious about crowning a program due to an aggressive collective because everyone is going to catch up. The market will set and Tennessee’s competitors will be more equipped with competing offers than they were out of the gate. That’s why NIL alone was never something I thought could build a program on its own.
But this win combined with NIL? Wow.
Tennessee was cool when I was growing up in Arizona. People wore Vols stuff in Scottsdale. Kids at my school rooted for them. They were the “it” team then.
I have to ask: Has Tennessee been this cool since it won the national title in 1998? I’d venture to say no.
That was the complete package. I cannot imagine how loud it was in that building that day. And it wasn’t just a one-off win — Tennessee is undefeated and firmly in the national championship discussion.
There is no question that how Tennessee fills out the remainder of its class is one of the storylines for the 2023 cycle. The Volunteers currently rank No. 10 nationally and have 21 commitments — six from top-150 national prospects. They can still build on that.
Going from a solid program to one of the “it” programs is one of the more difficult things a coach can do in college football. I can’t imagine how a team could take a bigger step forward on a single Saturday than Tennessee just did.
