JC Shurburtt article on ESPN.com

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#5
But based on the track record determined by those criteria, there are some fantastic recruiters in Knoxville.

The headline-grabber was Ed Orgeron. The UT defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator is known nationally for his recruiting prowess, so much so that a book was written that chronicled his recruiting ability when he was head coach at Ole Miss. There hasn't been another coach to document that type of attention for his ability to identify and obtain talent for a college football program.

But it's not just Orgeron. This week, Kiffin rounded out his staff. Here's a look at three blockbuster hires.

Recently, Lance Thompson was hired away from the University of Alabama. Thompson was a key recruiter for Tide coach Nick Saban during his time in Tuscaloosa. Thompson is a native of Atlanta and revitalized Alabama's recruiting efforts in the Mobile area (he signed Julio Jones and currently has Trent Richardson committed) and along the Florida panhandle. Certainly, those are all areas that Tennessee will want to hit hard, particularly Mobile. The Bay City is one of the most underrated metropolitan areas in the Southeast in terms of producing football talent.

Eddie Gran, the former running backs coach at Auburn, was known throughout South Florida, particularly in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale area), as a great recruiter. In fact, he had the Tigers in on multiple prospects from that talent-rich area. There is no doubt that given the number of prospects there, it's a smart place for Tennessee to recruit. Currently, Miami and Florida get most of the elite players from that area, but there are plenty to go around and eventually Tennessee will be able to challenge for some of those kids if they start winning.

There isn't a high school coach or player in New Orleans that doesn't know who Frank Wilson, hired late last week as the receivers coach, is. Wilson was on Orgeron's coaching staff at Ole Miss, where he signed multiple prospects out of the Crescent City. Prior to that, Wilson was the athletics director for the entire New Orleans City School system and before that; he was head football coach at O.P. Walker High in New Orleans.

While I believe it's fair to be skeptical if Kiffin can raise the level of the Vols program (after all he's following a coach that is one the top recruiters of all time and that won a National Championship in Knoxville and had an outstanding 17-year run), but he's at least passed the test of putting some very key parts in place.
 
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