Steve Gann
Sandra 1Tennessee Vols Land Top 10 Recruiting Class
February 5th 2010 19:37
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Tennessee Vols Land Top 10 Recruiting Class
Dooley did a wonderful job of multitasking by hiring coaches and working on recruiting. Assistant coaches Lance Thompson and Jim Chaney for keeping up relatiobships even when they were unsure they would be retained on staff.
The result? Tennessee wound up with the number nine class in the country, including signing Da' Rick Rogers, one of the top receivers in the country.
Now for the bad news. I saw many fans and local reporters celebrating this class as a sign that Tennessee would be able to compete with their rivals in the SEC. A local reporter even proclaimed that Dooley "hit a two run homer" with this class. I'm more cautious in my metaphors. I'll steal a line from one of my favorite baseball films, Cobb starring Tommy Lee Jones. When asked for something he like about Babe Ruth's game, Cobb remarked, "He ran OK for a fat man" So I'll offer this for Dooley's class, "he did OK for a man who is not as ruthless of a recruiter as Kiffin or Meyer." For all the negative talk about probation at USC and Meyer's health at Florida, both signed incredible classes.
Time will tell of course but two things worry me about this class.
Even though Tennessee finished ninth in the country, this class is only fifth in the SEC including yearly opponents Alabama and Auburn.
So even though Dooley overachieved in recruiting this year, don't expect Saban and Meyer to take' bi it easy on the newcomer.
Secondly, it was pretty evident that the Vols' biggest need this recruiting season was for linebackers and defensive lineman. Unfortunately this is where the Vols class came up short. Long time DT commit J.C. Copeland chose LSU at the last minute and Tennessee lost out on several linebackers. This may be because the defensive coordinator position was filled on signing day. The Vols only signed one lineman, who is a junior college transfer, and two linebackers who were not heavily recruited by other SEC schools. These guys may prove to be great players, but with three left over scholarships at some point you just need to get warm bodies to help with depth.
Tennessee is my school and I will pull for them every Saturday, but I'm concerned that we are sliding more and more from the program we had in the nineties.
Final ESPN Recruiting Rankings"
1.Florida
2.Texas
3.Alabama
4.Auburn
5.Oklahoma
6.Florida State
7.USC
8.LSU
9.Tennessee
10.UCLA
11.Penn State
12.Georgia
13.Miami (FL)
14.Michigan
15.California
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