Tennessee out recruited Florida

[bamajoe]

according to 247 Sports. Tennessee was something like 13 and Florida 17 I think. How is that possible when considering how respected Mullen is and being located in the Florida recruit hot bed?

[OrangeAfroMan]

lol

[Drew4UTk]

don't hate, @OrangeAfroMan , it'll only hurt a little while. 

[bamajoe]

Perhaps I should have asked why Florida's recruiting was so bad and Tennessee's so good? It is a serious question.

[Drew4UTk]

in my opinion: 

Tennessee, by my reckoning, needs a little bit of everything which means they'll be after players everyone else is- and there are a lot of 'ratings' for those players... florida isn't in as bad a shape, so they're out for types that fit the culture in addition to needs- more selective- and because of that selective nature they likely won't be as concerned about 'rating' as 'filling in'.  

Florida didn't do bad, in other words- Tennessee didn't do bad either.  the difference in rosters while looking at it in tiers, UF and UT are neck an neck. there is a desparity between them and 8 up or so. and another from 5 up... there is also a drop off after their tier.  

teams like UGA and Bama aren't burdened with this dynamic... the 'rating system' is based off of what they seek already 'culturally' in terms of players and talent.  their style will keep them on top because they're already on top with what others seek... 

an aside- in my opinion the best players aren't 'naturally gifted' as much as they are competitive.  a matter of fact, the difference between a 3 and 4 star compared to a 5 is DRIVE.  Competitive players will play outside their minds 100% of the time, as that is how they've achieved their notoriety (competitiveness being cause for notoriety)- and aren't that much if at all more physically gifted than the 3 or 4 star rated players... they are driven by wanting to be the best- and because of that they aren't drawn to teams that will make them 'big fish in a small pond' and with promise/certainty of making them stand out... instead, they're drawn to possibility of 'BIGGEST fish in the BIGGEST pond' where they can compete against the best....

don't get me wrong, there are 3 and 4 stars who play out of their minds too- but without the 'drive' they wouldn't even be rated... many- a lot- of 3/4 stars are burdened with idea's 'they're already better' and presume to assume that role without proving it- happy as 'big fish in a small pond' mentality.  This is the basic dynamic, in my humble opinion, that teams at the top stay at the top- they draw the true competitors, where as middle of the pack teams get a lot of prima donna's who wash out- but who keep their recruiting classes in single or low double digit ratings. 

Florida is filling out roster while UT is building one.  at the end of all of this if you were to compare the two rosters UF will still have the edge....... for now.   

[Drew4UTk]

all that said... 

I believe Pruitt has a lot more upside than Mullen, and it's not even close.  UF will be shopping for another coach before UT is.  

[roadvol]

..the recruiting base in Tennessee has improved a lot over the last 4-5 years.
Tennessee has been losing most of these during that period due to the instability of the coaching situation,
Pruitt has been playing catch up since he arrived since most of these kids are being recruited for 2-3 years before they graduate
The next couple of years should start to show vast improvement in recruiting for Pruitt as he's had the opportunity to get into high schools and talk to recruits in their Soph and Jr years.
We're seeing some of that this year and will only get better.

[Cincydawg]

Put a Drew Lock on either team and they would be a lot better (duh), but Florida would probably be 11-1 instead of 9-3.  Tennessee still needs a core of the team, so they might not improve that much because Lock would be running for his life.

Both need a top tier QB though.

Michigan got a decent QB and became a player in one year.

[Nashville4UGA]

Pruitt should be recruiting better than Mullen right now. He has more early playing time to sell and the be a part of building something special.  When your team is losing by 25 pts on average in losses he can tell his recruits...."look, these guys playing for me right now i wouldn't have recruited, but we need YOU to come in here and fix this. Start as a freshman and create your legacy...blah, blah, blah. 

The key will be once he starts getting HIS guys, can they win more than two conference games a year? Most likely yes, but i'm not so sure he's the guy that's going to win an SEC title for them any time soon.