The worst Gator recruiting class…ever?
I mentioned this in passing the other day when certain individuals whined about Tennessee’s 2017 schedule, but it bears repeating. Tennessee is now solidly better than Florida in terms of straight-up roster talent. This is aided by Florida’s worst recruiting class maybe ever. It’s #11 in the SEC, #31 nationally, and Dead Effing Last in the Rivals era for Florida.
How’s Florida doing in recruiting well I mean sure it’s fine IT’S FINE— https://t.co/iyMGW2jf9z
— BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL (@edsbs) January 26, 2017
With 6 days until #NSD17, #Gators could be headed for their worst recruiting class of the Rivals era. https://t.co/zFXNvbahRZ
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) January 26, 2017
This Gators class is truly without precedent as of now: #31 on 247Sports, #31 on Scout and #34 on Rivals. In my database, I can’t find a Florida class lower than #22 in the last 15 years, which is when most football recruiting sites started. This is disastrous for the Gators.
Most importantly, this can only positively affect Tennessee. For three of the last four years including 2017, Tennessee has a better recruiting class than Florida. Tennessee’s number of blue-chip recruits (4 or 5 stars) from 2014 on heavily outweighs Florida, 47 to 31. It is remarkable how far Florida’s recruiting has fallen under Jim McElwain, and it is a minor miracle that they’ve been able to win the SEC East two straight years.
Of course, I’m not mentioning that Georgia has out-recruited both by large margins in the last few years. However, one of Tennessee’s two largest rivals is about to enter the least-talented era of their program in decades. McElwain better be as great of an in-game coach as he appears to be. Otherwise, Tennessee, Georgia, and possibly even South Carolina will be wrecking his less-talented roster for the next four years.
I’ve made it known publicly that I’m not a big fan of this Tennessee class. It might be good for me and others to realize that it could be far, far worse.
