re: FOX CFB Analyst Joel Klatt: "Look for Chip Kelly at Tennessee"

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Given Tennessee's recruiting disadvantages

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You must be talking about Tennessee from 5-10 years ago cause the Tennessee of today no longer has "recruiting disadvantages". Just last year, the state of Tennessee produced 3 composite 5-star players (Tee Higgins, Trey Smith, and Jacoby Stevens). Tennessee produced the 6th most players of any state in 2017 when it came to signing Division 1 scholarships. The top ranked player in Clemson's stellar recruiting class came from Tennessee. Same with LSU. This year Ohio State has 2 players from Tennessee in their epic recruiting class. And even Alabama currently has 1 player from the state of Tennessee in their very small and selective recruiting class. And yet, even with Ohio State and Alabama plucking away top ranked instate recruits in the class of 2018, The University of Tennessee still has a consensus top 5-10 recruiting class with nearly half the class and a majority of the top ranked players coming from the state of Tennessee. Just going by 247s composite rankings, 6 of the top 10 players in Tennessee's 2018 recruiting class are from the state of Tennessee including the top 3 (Cade Mays, Greg Emerson, and Alontae Taylor). When you can build a top 5-10 recruiting class based largely on instate recruits, you are not "disadvantaged" when it comes to recruiting. If anything, Tennessee has now reached a level when it comes to instate talent that it should be actually considered a recruiting hotbed more than anything else.

And FTR, if you look forward at future classes, the talent in the state of Tennessee is just getting better. Right now according to the 247's composite rankings, the 2019 instate class at Tennessee has 20 composite 4-star recruits. That's more instate talent than every other state in the country outside of Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. Thanks to the rise in population in middle Tennessee (specifically the Nashville Metro Area), the instate talent pool that the University of Tennessee can pull from has risen dramatically. One could argue that Tennessee is RIGHT NOW at the same level as Louisiana when it comes to producing elite college football talent. And I don't think anyone would say LSU comes with "recruiting disadvantages". The idea Tennessee is a difficult place to recruit at is simply not supported by the facts anymore. Its now actually one of the easiest places in the country to recruit. Its about a 3 hour car ride in every direction from a recruiting hotbed. Its got Nashville to the West that is only 180 miles away producing lots of talent. Its got Atlanta to the South that is only 200 miles away that has always provided lots of talent to the University of Tennessee. And it has Charlotte to the East and DC/Maryland/Virginia to the North to also supplement it with lots of talent as well.

The University of Tennessee is right now actually sitting on a goldmine when it comes to recruiting advantages. The instate talent pool will only continue to improve. And given its proximity to Atlanta and Charlotte, the right coach could easily win a national title at Tennessee.