3. Recruiting philosophy
The 2017 class was billed as one that could easily be a top-5 caliber one for Tennessee. Loaded with in-state talent, Jones more than ever needed to lock down the state of Tennessee, but was largely unable to do so up to this point in this cycle. Not all is lost. The Vols were able to grab in-state stars Ty Chandler and Maleik Gray, while Trey Smith is set to make his decision next week. But seeing stars like Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers leave UT’s backyard certainly hurt.
The Vols recently fell out of the top-1o of the consensus recruiting rankings and it feels like the momentum has stalled a bit. And while getting elite talent is a must in the SEC, Jones also has to look at his evaluations after several top-rated guys in recently classes haven’t panned out as expected.
