Why it's important for Tennessee Vols that Harrison Bailey is elevated to 5-star status
The Tennessee Vols have already signed four-star quarterback Harrison Bailey. In fact, he's already on campus and enrolled in classes. Which means his days as a recruit are over…..kinda. Next week, Rivals will reveal their updated 2020 rankings and there's a strong chance that Harrison Bailey, even though he's already signed, will become a five-star […]
The Tennessee Vols have already signed four-star quarterback Harrison Bailey.
In fact, he's already on campus and enrolled in classes.
Which means his days as a recruit are over…..kinda.
Next week, Rivals will reveal their updated 2020 rankings and there's a strong chance that Harrison Bailey, even though he's already signed, will become a five-star recruit.
It's important, for Tennessee's sake, that Bailey receives that fifth star.
Confused as to why?
Stay with me here.
Recruiting rankings have nothing to do with how a player actually performs.
But that doesn't mean they don't matter.
For the most part, recruiting services get it right. Sure, they miss on players every year. Five-star talent bombs, while a two-star recruit no one has ever heard of ends up making it to the NFL.
However, the programs that routinely sign top 10 classes are the programs that are usually in the top 10 at the end of the year.
Programs aren't competing for championships if they aren't recruiting at a championship level.
And a championship level is where Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols want to be.
Currently, the Vols don't have any five-star players in their 2020 recruiting class.
Every team above them in the rankings, except Michigan, has at least one five-star player.
Having a five-star player will change the entire perception of Tennessee's 2020 recruiting class — especially from folks outside the "UT bubble".
If Bailey gets a fifth star, suddenly there's going to be some more hype around him. He's going to be talked about on a national level a bit more (especially when people realize he's fourth in Georgia high school history in passing yards behind Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson and Jake Fromm….a record Bailey would've destroyed if healthy).
Tennessee needs that hype surrounding Bailey and their 2020 recruiting class. They need kids that wouldn't previously consider the Vols to give them a second look.
When a recruit from California sees that Tennessee is in the top 10 with a five-star quarterback, it could change how they perceive the Vols. Maybe they decide to give UT a look because of it. And once a recruit is on campus, you never know what could happen.
Everything in college football boils down to recruiting. It's all about "how can this help us land better players?"
That's why coaches — even LSU's Ed Orgeron after winning a championship — are back to the recruiting grind the minute they leave the field.
Bailey receiving a fifth star won't directly help Tennessee win games, but it could help them land the players they need to beat Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
And that's really all that matters.
Featured image via 247Sports
