NFL Draft history proves the Tennessee Vols' greatest challenge to compete for college football titles
One of the tenets of college football recruiting is keeping your best players at home. That runs true for the Tennessee Volunteers and every other program in America. However, sometimes what's "at home" is a major advantage for some programs over others. Having a massive base of top-tier talent makes things a lot easier for […]
One of the tenets of college football recruiting is keeping your best players at home. That runs true for the Tennessee Volunteers and every other program in America.
However, sometimes what's "at home" is a major advantage for some programs over others. Having a massive base of top-tier talent makes things a lot easier for programs located within their borders. And it can be a challenge for those that don't.
According to a recent report from MaxPreps, 53 players from the state of Tennessee have gone on to be drafted over the last 10 years. That number falls below places like Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Georgia is building a dynasty on a bedrock of home-grown talent in the state of Georgia, where 211 former Peach State high school standouts have heard their names called in the draft over the past decade.
That's not to say that's a promise that a program will be good. After all, the college programs in the states of California and Florida mostly haven't done much over that time.
But it does illustrate the challenges in recruiting that Josh Heupel must face as he works to take Tennessee from a level of good up to annual playoff contender. Being able to keep the best in the state home is key. He's doing that with players like 2025 Brentwood Academy QB George MacIntyre, Ensworth DL Ethan Utley, and Sheffield WR Radarius Jackson.
But it's pretty clear that the talent of high school players in the state in general falls short of the quantity of those across the region. The number of program changers simply hasn't been on the same level in the Volunteer state as in others.
Heupel has done a good job on the recruiting front outside the state in his first three years. It's clear he's going to have to continue to do that if Tennessee's going to end up where it wants to be each year: a playoff team.
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