What Tennessee football's recruiting hot streak means and what to expect before signing day
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A hot streak of commitments has positioned Tennessee to have a chance at signing its best recruiting class since Butch Jones inked the nation's No. 4 overall class in 2015.
Tennessee's 2023 class has 18 commitments following the pledge of five-star defensive end Chandavian Bradley on Sunday. Bradley joins quarterback Nico Iamaleava as national top-50 prospects in UT's class.
The Vols' class is ranked No. 5 overall in the 247Sports Composite, behind Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson and Texas.
On this edition of "The Volunteer State," Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network and the News Sentinel's Adam Sparks and John Adams debate Tennessee's chances of remaining in the top five.
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The trio agrees that UT has much work still to do if it hopes to retain its spot in the rankings come the December signing period, but they see a top-10 class being very much within reach.
As Sparks points out, Tennessee is the only SEC team in the top five, and recruiting stalwarts like Alabama, Georgia and LSU are likely to surge as signing day nears.
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The key to securing a top-five or top-10 class is to stockpile more four-star prospects.
Look at last year's rankings, for example. Texas ranked fifth despite signing just two five-star prospects, because the Longhorns also landed 20 four-star prospects. That four-star bounty is often the difference between a top-five class and a top-15 class.
By comparison, Tennessee has two five-star prospects committed and six commitments from four-stars. It needs to at least double that latter figure, but there's time for that, with plenty of four-star recruits still uncommitted.
While Adams applauds Tennessee's recruiting surge, he notes that the Vols have usually signed classes that fare well in the rankings, no matter who the coach is. The problem, he says, was often a lack of player development. He's encouraged by the early player-development results from Josh Heupel's coaching staff. If they continue to pair that development with top-10 recruiting classes, that's a winning formula.
Toppmeyer says the recipe for success really has grown into a three-pronged approach for most teams:
– Recruit at a high level
– Develop that talent
– Supplement that talent with some high-impact transfers
Any way you cut it, though, recruiting remains at the fulcrum, and UT's recent gains are cause for optimism.
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Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. John Adams is a senior columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. If you enjoy their coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, you can subscribe to The Volunteer State podcast for free so you won't miss an episode, or check out SEC Football Unfiltered, another podcast from Toppmeyer and Adams.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Tennessee football recruiting hot streak means for Josh Heupel
