2014 Recruiting Class: The Legacy Class
Head coach Butch Jones was all smiles on National Signing Day in 2014. Tennessee was able to shock the college football world and pull in a top 5 ranked recruiting class. Butch Jones and his staff showed they could go toe to toe with anyone in the country on the recruiting trail. One or two more classes like this one and it won't be long before parents in the state of Tennessee start naming their boys Butch. This class in unique in many ways. There are several legacy players (Berrys, Bates, Kelly, Creamer, Wharton) in this class in addition to several talented kids from the state of Tennessee (Hurd, Malone, Kelly, Wharton, Gaulden, Barnett, Sawyers, Robertson) who helped provide the core for this large class of 30. The talent in this class is a nice push in the right direction for the Vols with guys that can come in and compete right away: Pearson, Barnett, Hendrix, Bates, Hurd, Malone, Kelly, Sawyers, Helm, Blair, Weatherd, Bryant etc. Coach Jones and his staff emphasized the importance of getting the top talent in their home state to play for and represent their state university with pride. The 2014 group is a great illustration of this staff's dedication to bringing back the culture within the state of Tennessee for high school kids. This class is also called the foundation class because they are hoping to lay the foundation that brings Tennessee back to its former glory. Another advantage to this class is the 14 early enrollees already on campus for the Vols. These 14 have already improved the talent level on the team and are showing early signs of competing for spots in the fall. They've been able to graduate high school or juco early and get a jump start on their careers as Vols. Tommy Thigpen was named the 2014 National Recruiter of the Year by Rivals.com for his efforts in this class. He was responsible for landing a majority of the 2014 recruiting class and his efforts were deservingly rewarded with an extension and a raise. Thigpen is quickly becoming a very powerful asset in the recruiting the southern region of the country and in Nashville, TN particularly.
Click on link below to view class:
2014 Recruiting Class
Click on link below to view class:
2014 Recruiting Class
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