Tennessee football: 5 concerns surrounding Vols offseason

4. Lack of recruiting exposure

The month off with no bowl game didn’t just limit practices. It also significantly hurt Tennessee football in recruiting exposure, which is a huge deal for Jeremy Pruitt and co. as they try to rebuild their recruiting class.

Of course, we mentioned in a previous post that this was an advantage as well since he could spend time focusing on recruiting, so it goes both ways. But the Vols are a bit more hampered than most because of their lack of exposure.

After all, they’ve gone two years without reaching a bowl game now, and in one of those years, their head coach responsible for recruiting was focused on other duties as the defensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide. So UT could have used the bowl game still just to be able to get its name out there.

The fact of the matter is the Vols have had losing seasons in six of nine years this decade and missed bowl games five of nine years. They are falling off the map, and simply playing an extra game on national television would have meant something.

With the personnel issues already facing the team, Jeremy Pruitt needs to get immediate help. But he might not have it to the level he needs with this recruiting class, as it could be out of the Top 10. And that’s going to be an issue as the SEC East continues to get better. Going 9-15 in two years with two different head coaches is just too hard of a sell to some kids.