The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t land a single top-100 national football prospect in their 2021 or 2022 signing classes.
So far in this 2023 recruiting cycle, the Vols have snagged five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, lost out to Ohio State for five-star receiver Carnell Tate, and are finalists for five-star offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and five-star edge rusher Chandarian Bradley from Platte City, Missouri.
What has Tennessee competing for the country’s elite talent as if Phillip Fulmer was back at the helm?
Is it the success and the excitement of Josh Heupel’s first season that has led to optimism for this autumn and beyond? Is it a Tennessee tradition that includes 13 Southeastern Conference championships and the picturesque setting of Neyland Stadium overlooking the Tennessee River? Or could it be that the Vols have been competitive out of the gate in college football’s new world of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals?
Well, it strikes me that “competing” is doing some heavy lifting there. Let’s see where the dust settles on UT’s class come December. In any event, I’m sure the money doesn’t hurt, but that particular playing field is going to level sooner or later, at which point all recruits will be left with is deciding if they really want to wear Urnge.
Get The Picture 
I love how listing 5 star misses tries to boost the notion that UT is back baybee! Recruiting is the ultimate zero sum game and they ain’t no points for second place. But hey, whatever rocks your boat vols. You be you.
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No kidding, dude’s really pumpin’ the sunshine hard this morning!
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Tennessee has 5 star misses and Florida has “only lost by a score” to Saban as their defining achievements this decade.
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The new Tennessee: “Among Those” University. Make that list, baby!
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Also Ran U
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Tweet 7/01/22
In case you missed Jeff Sentell’s Tweet
When a big decision came down this week, it wasn’t the end of the world. No locusts came down on Athens.
But it could lead to a QB who played for The Black Plague. No joke.
#UGA is in a good spot with the nation’s No. 2 QB for 2024. That’s 5-star Julian Sayin out of Cali. https://pic.twitter.com/Bv905c2CqJ
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My god, those orange clothes UT commits/players/fans wear are offensive to the eyes. Nico Iamaleava was wearing those god awful orange pajamas pants a couple months ago during during the Vol scrimmage. Why do they need to wear colors that burn?
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Orange makes my retinas bleed!
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Toothless nation can jump up and down all they want about their QB. He can’t play the game and win all alone, so they still have a ways to go. From looking down from my #1 perch, I see the same pathetic bunch of vowels.
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Those particular recruits like them cornbread-fed big girls.
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PhatPhil——>The father of a 1000 PAWGS
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Don’t forge the toothless girls – they are special if you think about it.
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When is the draft?
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Wasn’t Phat Phil at the helm for their decline?
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Wow, they ‘might’ land a 4-star QB?! Who knew those volunteer trousers made of old potato sacks had such deep pockets?
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I can’t wait for the day Nico “Iamaleava” announces his transfer
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I mean it’s right in his name. I-am-a-leava’n you guys for greener pastures.
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Great catch cpa
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Just a couple sentences in, I knew that quoted passage had to have come from a paper in Knoxville, Chattanooga, or the Tri-Cities. Can’t imagine anyone outside of East Tennessee being blinkered enough to believe that a couple blue-chippers and a cushy collective have restored the Vols to recruiting-powerhouse status.
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“Competing as if Phillip Fulmer were still at the helm”- you can do that openly now, right?
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My O’Miss friends change the subject when the mention of Hugh Freeze.
Arkansas fans are embarrassed that Petrino was ever there.
FU fans just don’t talk about UM..
But the toothless, finger-missing fat asses at Tennessee? They still worship The Great Pumpkin and mistakenly believe everyone else is in awe of his time as UT’s Warden. That’s how dumb they are in Knoxville.
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And after a few good years, he drove the program off a cliff for seven straight years- and then came back and did it again! And there it remains, a smoking ruin. He did for UT football what Thelma and Louise did for the Ford Falcon.
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Heupel’s “The Man” up in Knoxville.
After all, his win against Vandy last fall bought them to an even 5/5 for the last decade.
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By next man up, I presume you mean, the next man up onto the gallows….
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That’s a great UT tradition, man! They love telling you that General Neyland was brought in to straighten out the Vanderbilt rivalry. A hundred years later, Jones & Jeremy & Josh can say the same.
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Everybody has a price.
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Tennessee probably beats Florida this year which could have them at 4-0 out of the gate as the return to the glory days will certainly echo throughout the Cumberland Plateau.
Then, after their bye week they get @LSU, Bama, UK and @Georgia. We need to beat the shit out of them.
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I bet they split the difference and go 2-2 during that stretch. I’m not nervous about playing anyone next season but I will say I’m glad we get the Vols on our turf.
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Yep, me too since it is Year 2 in Heupel’s system. On paper we’ll be better than them for the next 3-4 years at least, but I’m worried for 2023 when we travel to UT. Won’t be surprised if they spring the upset.
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OMG! Debbie Downer in the room! WTF??? ‘…they spring the upset.’ Damn, son. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you smell kinda orangey to me. But I don’t know better, so maybe take your negativity somewhere else.
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Or maybe be just a hair objective that UGA isn’t an indestructible Death Star. Even Alabama loses a game or two every once in a while.
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When they go 7-5 or worse this year (Heupel’s UCF teams got worse every year he was there), I have a feeling his actual signed class will look a little different.
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Had this big long email written. Short version – right now, based on their average ranking in 247, they are trending toward a top 10-15 class. This is not new for UTjr. They did this with Pruitt, with a couple of Top 10 classes. The difference is that they have written, what is apparently a very large, check to a 5 Star QB. And while it has helped, it hasn’t had the effect they thought they would get; say like Texas is enjoying with Manning.
Right now, UTjr. is at 13, while Georgia is at 7th. (By the way, look for UGA to make a move in July. In fact, a LB is declaring today and the crystal balls are trending hard toward Georgia.
I’m not one of those recruiting season crazies, but do watch it close enough to know that it is way to early to know how this will shake. In Pruitt’s next to last year, he at one point had the #1 class during the summer. But average per recruit was around 90 and he had pretty much filled out the class. People were making a big deal out of it; but if you followed it close enough, you knew that if the class held, that it was good enough for around 10th.
Not to bore y’all with this; but there is a BIG difference between the #5 class and #10. But the gap between #10 and #20 isn’t near as wide. 5 Stars and high 4 Stars do make a difference.
We’ll see where UT lands. If that offense doesn’t live up to the hype this year; what they have right now could come apart. If it takes off and they win more than expected – then maybe they work themselves inside of a top 10.
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Harris is a CB
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If you believe for a second that Pajamapants Ponytail would be coming from California to play quarterback at Tennessee if he wasn’t being paid $8 million to do so, then I can’t help you. And, look, not knowing what the pay structure is like out there he’d most likely be a fool not to be taking their money. But come on, the reason they’re suddenly alive in recruiting again is because the moneyed folks in Knoxville are pushing their chips to the middle of the table.
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They are probably guys that don’t want to compete, and get an easy starting position.
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I just reread that. None of them have committed. Damn…..
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Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think the pockets are too deep at 10RC…weren’t they just stumping to build up their collective’s base? After 8 mil…the money starts to dry up…
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I think it has more to do with Heupel than anything. I see him as an offensive version of Kirby- good college career and has paid his dues and had success as a coordinator. He’s even had success as a HC.
I hope Tennessee flounders in hell forever but I’m not going to deny my thoughts that Heupel seems to have most of what I’d want at a program like that.
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And more importantly, he seems to have most of the traits that elite HS football players want.
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I was going to comment similarly. Heupel isn’t sunshine pumping euphemisms that are awkwardly cringy, there’s your recruiting bump right there. The top 10% of players don’t buy that bullshit “opportunity is nowhere’ stuff.
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It would have to be somewhere north of 8 figures.
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