Despite 28 commits, Tennessee’s class doesn’t rank very well nationally.
What fans across the region feared has come to light: Tennessee’s struggling to recruit well. It’s true that this class could outplay their expectations, but most agree it’s a step down from previous Butch Jones classes. What most may not know is it’s the lowest-ranked Butch Jones-only class to date, per 247 Sports.
The combination Derek Dooley/Jones class in 2013 ranked 24th, but no Jones-only class had ranked below 14th until 2017. The final Dooley class ranked 20th and had 8 four or five-stars, which is three more than Jones’s fourth/fifth class. This is worrisome for several reasons, but most worrisome is Tennessee sliding from 11th to 17th in the final week of recruiting when a program is supposed to close strong.
It’s painful to see this after three years of very good or better classes. As others have mentioned, Tennessee’s 23 three-stars leads the top 30 teams nationally, while their 5 four or five-stars is tied for 23rd-best among the top 25 teams. We mentioned yesterday that it’s not the worst Tennessee class to date, but it’s not great.
