Tennessee football spares no expense in recruiting. Do Vols get their money's worth?
Tennessee has spent more money on football recruiting than every public university except Georgia and Alabama, but those programs have national titles to show for it.
The Vols didn’t get much return on their investment except mostly mediocre records under former coaches Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones and an NCAA investigation that alleges 18 Level 1 recruiting violations under Pruitt.
But there’s also some good news for coach Josh Heupel. Records show that Tennessee consistently puts immense resources into recruiting regardless of who’s coaching the team. So the right plan could yield sustained success.
Tennessee spent $10.73 million on football recruiting expenses from 2017-22, according to annual fiscal reports submitted by the university to the NCAA and obtained by Knox News through a public records request.
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Tennessee averaged $1.79 million in annual recruiting expenses during that six-year period. Georgia spent $2.75 million per year, and Alabama averaged $1.91 million. Georgia and Alabama combined to win four of the past six national championships while the Vols failed to sign a top 10 recruiting class.
It’s a bitter fact for the Vols to digest. But there’s potentially a sweet aftertaste under Heupel.
Here are the key takeaways from Tennessee’s recruiting expense reports and how they compare to the top programs in college football.
Tennessee recruiting budget has few rivals
Recruiting expenses cover transportation, lodging and meals for recruits, additional personnel for official and unofficial visits, phone charges and postage for pursuing recruits and the value of schools' vehicles and planes or those used by the school for recruiting. Compensation for coaches and recruiting support staff is not included in the recruiting expenses.
In the past six years, Tennessee's recruiting budget was routinely near the top of college football.
In the 2022 fiscal year, Tennessee spent $2.9 million on recruiting expenses. The Vols ranked No. 4 that year, according to data obtained by USA TODAY Sports Network in response to open records requests and compiled in partnership with the Knight-Newhouse Data project at Syracuse University.
Here’s the top 10 for 2022:
Georgia: $4.5 million
Clemson: $3.2 million
Texas A&M $3.0 million
Tennessee: $2.9 million
Oklahoma: $2.6 million
Texas: $2.4 million
Alabama: $2.3 million
Michigan: $2.2 million
Oregon: $1.8 million
Florida: $1.6 million
There were 30 public schools in Power 5 conferences that spent at least $1 million on recruiting in the 2022 fiscal year. That excludes successful programs at private institutions like Southern Cal, Miami, Notre Dame and TCU.
Oklahoma State spent the least among Power 5 public schools at $455,689. In the SEC, Mississippi State was last at $633,482. Vanderbilt did not disclose its financial report because it is a private institution.
Recruiting results didn’t match money spent
Now comes the bad news. Tennessee did not sign a top 10 recruiting class during those six years of spending.
Jones’ 2017 class was ranked No. 17 by 247Sports Composite. Under Pruitt, Tennessee’s classes ranked No. 21 in 2018, No. 13 in 2019, No. 11 in 2020 and No. 22 in 2021.
Heupel’s 2022 class ranked No. 17.
Geography accounts for some of the discrepancy between expenses and class ranking. Schools like Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida and Ohio State spent less and recruited better than Tennessee. But they’re in fertile recruiting states, which reduces travel expenses.
Tennessee also spends lavishly on official visits to impress recruits. In 2020, The Athletic reported details of expensive meals, photo and video shoots and accommodations for recruits on their visits to Tennessee.
There’s no indication that those expenses have changed much under Heupel. But Tennessee didn’t get its money's worth until it signed the No. 9 class in 2023, featuring 5-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Tennessee will spend what it takes on recruiting
There’s no shortage of recruiting resources at Heupel’s disposal. And, more importantly, that’s the norm.
Most schools have ebbs and flows in their recruiting budget. Florida State dropped from No. 1 in recruiting expenses in 2017 to No. 36 in 2022. LSU was in the top 15 from 2018-20 but ranked No. 45 in 2022.
But Tennessee has been a mainstay among the top spenders. It ranked No. 3 in recruiting expenses from 2017-20 and No. 4 in 2022. The only outlier was a No. 16 ranking in 2021, when recruiting expenses were skewed for all programs during the pandemic.
Tennessee’s recruiting budget has steadily grown from $1.6 million in 2017 to $2.9 million in 2022 without being adjusted for inflation. The takeaway is that the Vols won’t back down in any arms race that involves recruiting expenses.
SEC expansion won’t allow Vols to let up
The SEC already spends vastly more on recruiting than any other conference. That gap should increase when Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC in 2024.
In 2022, five SEC schools were in the top 10 in recruiting expenses: No. 1 Georgia ($4.51 million), No. 3 Texas A&M ($2.98 million), No. 4 Tennessee ($2.92 million), No. 7 Alabama ($2.32 million) and No. 10 Florida ($1.64 million).
But Oklahoma ($2.63 million) and Texas ($2.44 million) ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. That means the SEC touted seven of the top 10 according to future membership.
It shows that Tennessee must continue growing its recruiting budget to keep pace with competitors who vie for a finite number of elite recruits.
Tennessee has NIL and recruiting money. Few schools have both.
Paying recruits for their name, image and likeness has a major impact on landing the top prospects.
But many recruits still choose a school for traditional reasons like distance from their home, success of the program, potential playing time, path to the NFL, academic opportunities and relationships with coaches.
It raises the question of where the most money should be spent – a university’s recruiting expenses or payments to recruits by an NIL collective outside the university? The most successful programs will be supported by both, and Tennessee appears to be one of them.
In 2022, On3.com ranked the “most ambitious NIL collectives.” Spyre Sports, the primary collective that pays Tennessee athletes for their NIL rights, ranked No. 1. Iamaleava reportedly signed an NIL contract worth about $8 million, although he's never confirmed the deal.
Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Texas and Alabama also appeared in both the top 10 of that NIL collectives ranking and 2022 recruiting expenses.
Collectives for Miami and Southern Cal were in the top 10 but those schools’ recruiting expenses are not disclosed because they’re private institutions.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: Where Vols recruiting budget ranks among top spenders
