I think this is a first

[BrentVU]

Not sure how many years now I've been closely following Vandy recruiting, but it goes back at least to the late 1990s. However... I can say with pretty much certainty that Vandy has NEVER had 19 commitments by July 4 before. Not Franklin, not Bobby Johnson, not Widenhofer...

What has happened? 14 of those 19 are guys that either took official visits or came to camp during the June camp season, and the staff was able to elicit commitments. The staff was able to convince a slew of prospects that they really liked to come on campus for camps, and got a pretty good percentage of the guys they really wanted to commit.

To be sure, there were some big ones that got away: most notably Crews Law of CPA (North Carolina), Jordan Burns (Tennessee), Robert Bourdon (Duke), Cam Dooley (Missouri), and Cameron Keys (Missouri). But Vandy was able to persuade a pretty decent percentage of these campers. Also, there were two 2024 guys who made such favorable impressions at camp, got offers on the spot, and committed within a day or two (Jaren Sensabaugh and Harrison Moore). What it underscores is just how important these June camps have become for attracting, evaluating, and persuading prospects.

And there are still a couple of high-profile campers from which decisions are due soon, and Vandy is hoping for good news. The biggies are: Dontae Carter of Cibolo-Steele, TX; Johann Cardenas, RB from Texas; Jason Patterson, RB from Sneads, FL; and Amontrae Bradford, DL from Statesboro, GA. If Vandy got all four of those (which it probably won't), the number would balloon to 23.

What we saw last year is that Vandy more or less took a pause on accepting offers once we got into August. There are dozens of guys out there still who have been extended a Vandy offer at some point, but now with the current numbers, they may not be "committable" offers. At some point you may have to tell guys, we'd love to have you at Vandy, but with our current numbers, we'll have to see how many are not coming back next season before we accept your commitment. VU appears to have reached that point earlier in the year than it usually does, and that looks like a sign of success to me.

[3rdFloorDyer]

Yes, we are recruiting faster, but the question is, of course, is are we recruiting better? Time will tell. We do seem to be competing against a higher level of schools.

[MrMemorial]

Could be several things at work.

Kids recognizing the value of a VU education.
They know there's always the portal if they decide to bolt. (would apply everywhere)
Big name NFL stars at functions like the elite TE camp.

[Nashmann]

How are we ranked nationally and then in the SEC so far?

[MrMemorial]

How are we ranked nationally and then in the SEC so far?

#35 nationally... a virtual tie with Oklahoma.

#12 of of 15(?) in the SEC??? They list Okie but not Texas??
https://247sports.com/Season/2024-Footb ... erence=SEC

[BrentVU]

How are we ranked nationally and then in the SEC so far?

#35 nationally... a virtual tie with Oklahoma.

#12 of of 15(?) in the SEC??? They list Okie but not Texas??
https://247sports.com/Season/2024-Footb ... erence=SEC

Excuse me, I feel a rant coming on...

I made the mistake of clicking on the link provided here, and IMHO this information could almost not be less meaningful. Ok, check back with me in February, and I might give this page a side-eyed glance just for grins. But I can already tell you what it will say: Vanderbilt will be ranked between No. 35 and 55 in the nation, and 13th or 14th in the SEC; Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, etc. will be ranked among the Top 5; and in the age of the portal, it could all not be less meaningful. (I notice that TCU, which played in the national championship game last season, was not even ranked in the Top 50 in 2021 or 2022, and barely cracked the Top 30 the two years before that.)
(Nothing against you, MrMemorial, you were just answering the question.)

[GoldOrDie]

Vandy might have more than the normal number of commitments for this time of year, but the key will be if they can keep them until signing day. It seems like Vandy always identifies one or two 3* recruits early that seem to get the attention of the a blue blood school late and we lose them. Hopefully they can keep the positive momentum as early signing day gets closer.

[Nashmann]

18 3 stars....we are the ONLY SEC team so far without a 4 star...Mizzu even has two 4-stars. You can say all you want about the star system but we rarely get the numbers the other SEC teams get. Only or mostly 3 stars will keep us at the bottom of the league....

[dore74]

Frankly the staff, I believe, gets this and is working to get the under-rated 3’s. They get our unique and difficult place in the SEC, hopefully they will succeed. Time will tell

[MrMemorial]

18 3 stars....we are the ONLY SEC team so far without a 4 star...Mizzu even has two 4-stars. You can say all you want about the star system but we rarely get the numbers the other SEC teams get. Only or mostly 3 stars will keep us at the bottom of the league....

What was Jay Cutler rated? Ralph Webb?

[Johnmn555]

[

What was Jay Cutler rated? Ralph Webb?
[/quote]

Irrelevant. If our average number of stars is low, the chances are that the overall class won't be that good. I believe Cutler was a one star who was the last player offered by Woody. So what kind of class would you get if you had 20 one stars? One might turn out to be a Cutler or a Webb and the rest would be FCS players and we would get killed. While the number of stars for one player might not be that indicative, the average number of stars across a class is. The superior SAT average at Vandy is very relevant in comparing it to MTSU, even if some students at MTSU turn out to be diamonds in the rough and outperform some Vandy students with higher SATs.

[Nashmann]

18 3 stars....we are the ONLY SEC team so far without a 4 star...Mizzu even has two 4-stars. You can say all you want about the star system but we rarely get the numbers the other SEC teams get. Only or mostly 3 stars will keep us at the bottom of the league....

What was Jay Cutler rated? Ralph Webb?

Two diamonds in the rough.....much more the exception to the rule....please re-read what I wrote "Only or mostly"

[buffy]

Two diamonds in the rough.....much more the exception to the rule....please re-read what I wrote "Only or mostly"

Nashmann: The board has had this argument a million times. Relative stars, statistically, can't be ignored. If you're betting on who wins the national championship, there are only a few teams that will have the horses.

But ultimately, all that matters for us, is how good the staff is at projecting 3-star talent, signing that talent, developing that talent and retaining that talent. The evidence, thus far, is promising. We're gonna have to start going to some bowl games before a bunch of 4-star talent will want to jump on board. It's silly to expect anything more at this point.

[MikenNashville]

“We're gonna have to start going to some bowl games before a bunch of 4-star talent will want to jump on board. It's silly to expect anything more at this point.”
Exactly Buffy, it’s amazing what even a small bowl game will do for recruiting. As I’ve said before I think this year is critical to get to a bowl game with all the new changes coming in 2024.

[Troubadore]

Our class currently ranks 37, and will get a bump when Tristen Brown earns his stars, and another nice bump tomorrow when Cardenas comes aboard, fingers crossed. That kid is going to be special (here?). So we'll be somewhere in the 30s.

Historically our classes often ranked in the 60s and were coached down to finish in the 80s-110s. Of course James Franklin quickly coached 60th-ranked classes up into the top 30, and suddenly started signing top 30ish classes, if only for too short a time. Success breeds success.

Stars aside, if Lea & Co can maintain this 30-something level of recruiting, keep the players on board, then coach 'em up instead of down, it follows that we could become a consistent top 30 program. With the amount of cheating, violations, and punkhood rampant among our SEC brethren, I would not want our program to stoop so low to rise that high in the rankings. If we can hover around the top 30 we'll lose to the Bamas and Georgias, but should win 3-4 SEC and 3-4 OOC games per year which would be fine in my book, and likely with the VU Admin. Competitive 6-6 or 8-4 teams will put fans in the stands and be fun to watch. We're headed in the right direction.