TOS, where Barton worked for many years and where he had a big say in the rankings, has this class currently at 51. Average of the 5 previous classes (Mason and Lea) was 46.4, so this one is a little below average. No need to try to spin anything, let's just do better next year and get the NIL piece figured out. We had a chance to level the playing field with a well-thought out, leading edge NIL program but we do what Vanderbilt always does--we were late adopters and the gap widens and we fall further behind.

Before Clark Lea's press conference, we were able to talk to Joey Lynch, AJ Blazek, Nick Lezynski, Dan Jackson, and Justin Lustig. I'll give a quick recap of each one in this post. I plan on transcribing each interview to put out there.

Offensive line coach AJ Blazek:

- Talked about how they were only planning on taking 3 offensive linemen to start the class but ended up with 4.
- Should have 20 scholarship linemen heading into fall camp.
- Talked about the skill set of each linemen signee. Thinks he has two true tackles and two interior guys.
- Talked about the importance of getting Julian Hernandez and Junior Uzebu. Loves his current group.
- Thinks Grayson Morgan is going to be really good.

Tight Ends coach Just Lustig:

- Talked about Brock Taylor. Great athlete that camped at Vanderbilt this summer.
- Talked about the skill set of Kam Johnson. Thinks he is underrated. Plaed in heavy run system, but he can make plays. Explosive basketball player
- Talked about the added speed in the class. Mentioned Evan Herrmann specifically as the type that could help the coverage units.
- Said that Justin Ball and Cole Spence are ready for a good season.

Linebackers coach Nick Lezynski:

- Talked about the versatility of all three linebacker commits. Said they can play multiple positions.
- Talked about the impact of Ethan Crisp who he said is their best recruiter in the class.
- Talked about the athleticism of Dante Kelly. Does it all. Thinks Jailen Ruth can rush the passer a bit.

Corners coach Dan Jackson:

- Raved about Martel Hight. Said he's never seen a high school player practice as hard as him.
- Also talked about Jalen Gilbert on the back end. Thinks Hight and Gilbert can run and tackle in space. Should open up for pressure situations.
- Talked about Hight as a true corner despite playing safety in high school. Said that he played corner when he was younger and on 7-on-7 teams. Good press skills that don't show on tape because he's at safety.

Joey Lynch:

- Talked about the young skill talent coming. They will have to earn it, but he expects an impact.
- He said that all three running backs are sub 11.0 100 guys. Really excited about all 3. Said Alexander being an early enrollee will help him.
- Talked about the wide receivers being great multi-sport guys. Sherrill and Parish as good basketball players and Humphreys in track.
- Talked about adding size up front.
- Also raved about Kam Johnson. Talked about his performance at camp. Thinks he can be a guy.

That's the basic rundown. Will post full interviews over the next couple of days.

Who is the best prospect?

These podcasts are fantastic. There's some language here but Tyler Siskey has worked on multiple NCAA SEC staffs and was a recruiting coordinator and pulls no punches (good or bad) when talking about how this thing works.

Here's an episode that deals with some of this, but several of their recent episodes do also. They talk about how some kids charge just to be recruited, all kinds of stuff. And it's all essentially legal now.

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Took the money and ran!!

Based on stuff LSU people are saying on twitter my earlier prediction might unfortunately be correct

2 shiny pennies

After talking with a big time booster, I think it’s 5-6 wins in the SEC for stack to keep his job. It isn’t progress year to year but the rational will be the team stabilized after losing Scotty and is showing the chance for a good 5th year. I say horse poo to it, but I can see that happening. If vu wins around 3 sec games, it’s his opinion he will be fired. The buyout, as I’ve been told, is not an issue towards making the change. His contract was said to be bumped 2 years but did not impact anything else with the extension. If I was a betting man, and I am, I am going all in that Vu will be in the coaching search field this spring. I don’t see 4 wins with this current team.

The site didn’t crash on NSD this year!

Clint Cosgrove sits down with Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea to discuss the Commodores' 2023 recruiting class.



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I’ll try to get a couple in tomorrow if I have a minute.

Most intriguing: Humphries - with that speed and his relatively raw football skills, we may have a superstar. Hope he starts at KR and PR from day 1.
Space eaters: Miles and Thomas. My two favorite of the OLs and DLs and players I was afraid we'd lose until they signed. Critical part of our turnaround to get players like these two.
Immediate Impact: Hight - hope he has been working out. We need DBs now.
One Of Them Has To Work: the three RBs - Doesn't matter which among Sedrick, AJ or Deago, but we desperately need one of them to flash early and often.
Best Keep: Sherrill (even if Pimpton signs) - not losing a local kid who absolutely can contribute was important
MVP: Crisp - early commit at a position of need who set the tone for this class

Ole Miss loses to North Alabama (KenPom No. 299) and Texas A&M falls to Wofford (150).

KenPom has Vanderbilt at 100 overall, with a predicted 5-13 mark in the SEC and now outright favorites in both South Carolina games as well as the Ole Miss game here.

He’s good friends with Mack Brown FWIW

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VU Commodores still lists last year’s roster.

No message.

- Vanderbilt picked up a commitment from Wisconsin defensive end Evan Herrmann yesterday. The 6-foot-6 and 210-pound defensive end decommitted from Wyoming and committed to Vanderbilt after an official visit. He talks about it in the interview that we did.

I could tell in my phone interview, Herrmann was bothered by decommitting from Wyoming. Wyoming had recruited him for a long time, and their head coach flew out to watch him play basketball a couple of weeks ago. It was a tough decision for him, but he made the best choice for himself. Herrmann doesn't want much press about his Vanderbilt commitment in respect to Wyoming. I know some will likely mock that decision, but I get it. These schools put in a ton of work on these prospects, and it hurts to lose them late in the process. My interview with Herrmann is below.

Herrmann talks Vanderbilt commitment and more

- We know of two early enrollees in this class. Ethan Crisp and Sedrick Alexander both let us know that they will early enroll at Vanderbilt. Kenric Lanier would have been an early enrollee, but it won't be at Vanderbilt.

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- Vanderbilt defensive tackle commit De'Marion Thomas will sign with Vanderbilt tomorrow. He said that Stanford, SMU, and Houston all made late pushes to get him to visit, but he told them that he was firm in his Vanderbilt commitment.

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- As for tomorrow, Vanderbilt fans should be looking for the announcements of Vanderbilt commitments of Ka'Morreun Pimpton and Junior Sherrill. As it has been talked about, Texas and LSU are pursuing Pimpton where he visited the past two weekends. UAB and Trent Dilfer are pursuing Junior Sherrill. We reached out to Sherrill on whether he visited UAB and got no response. That isn't cause for concern as Sherrill hasn't been a big talker on social media throughout his recruitment.

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- With the loss of Lanier, Vanderbilt fans should be on the lookout for the announcement of Jaelen Smith. The Texas wide receiver had Vanderbilt in the top three among Michigan State and Minnesota. We've been told that Minnesota isn't an option for him now. Smith was supposed to visit Vanderbilt this past weekend, but we can't confirm that he made the trip.

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- That's the update for this morning. That's not a lot and much of it repeated, but it gives an idea of where Vanderbilt is right now. As always, Vanderbilt could add some surprises tomorrow. If we get any updates today, we will put in this thread.

We gonna land this dude?




Offer him all of the cash and gold.