How does the time go by so quickly? Just yesterday, it seems, we were kicking off the beginning of the Lane Kiffin era with a dominating performance over Western Kentucky and here we are now facing the last home game of the year. At least in the waning weeks of football, recruiting picks up a ton peaking this season on February the 3rd, which is National Signing Day.
Expect a lot of action between now and then. I believe that part of our commit list is somewhat fluid at this point and you could see some defections leading up to the last minute in favor of some, perhaps more-highly-coveted prospects. Perhaps not though. Perhaps everyone on our commit list makes it in. I find this the less-likely scenario.
Senior Day is Saturday and there are several guys whom Vol fans are going to really hate to see go. Eric Berry is the first name you think of and it’s not 100% that he will be moving on to the NFL, but it’s close. I cannot see why he wouldn’t at this point. The kid has proven everything he can in college. He is one of the more-versatile and complete safeties I’ve ever seen play and will certainly go down as one of the best players to ever don the Orange and White. What is great about Berry, and it’s a rarity among star players these days, is that he is as great of an individual as he is a player.
It will be sad to say goodbye to Wes Brown. Thank you, Wes, for giving your all for Tennessee. You are not alone in that, it just seems that your “all” is more than almost anyone else’s. We will always remember your days as a Volunteer fondly.
Thank you to Dan Williams. Thank you for coming back another year. The NFL will reward your loyalty to the Vols with a big-time contract. Whoever passes on Williams in the first round will grow to regret it later.
Thank you to Jonathan Crompton. Thanks for putting up with all the hate and becoming a very effective QB despite it. That cannot be easy but through it all, you’ve grown as a quarterback and a person. I think I speak for many Vol fans in saying that I wish you had another year of eligibility remaining.
Yell for our seniors if you are going to be in Neyland this weekend. Let them know how much we appreciate them deciding to come to UT and their contributions to the program. These are the guys that have stuck with us through the ups and downs and have respected the opportunity to play football at Tennessee.
This week also presents the last opportunity for prospects to visit Tennessee for a home football game. Several will take advantage of it, and don’t be surprised to see a few that we do not yet know about make it in as well.
Corey Lemonier and teammate Calvin Smith will be here for their official visits.
Calvin says that he is being recruited as a defensive tackle for the Vols, though he could also potentially play on the offensive line if competition at DT is too thick. He claims a top 2 of Illinois and Tennessee and says that there is a 95% chance of he and Corey ending up at the same school.
Lemonier is a defensive end all the way — probably a strong side rusher in college. He claims that FSU is still in the mix and perhaps leading for his services, but Smith has been less than thrilled by the circus that is surrounding head coach Bobby Bowden and a couple of his assistants there. One would assume that Lemonier has the same concerns.
Many have said that both Lemonier and Smith are feeling the Vols right now and that Tennessee likely stands the best chance at picking up the duo if all goes well on their visit. There is a consensus among some that they actually thought very seriously about committing a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to wait to take their visits. Corey Miller, Brandon Willis, and Jacques Smith (Smith on an official) will be present to help recruit and they have done a very good job with recruits on visits historically. Don’t be shocked to see a commitment from one or both during or following the weekend.
Shon Coleman will be present for his official as well. Coleman is currently committed to Auburn but has been looking around at several schools lately — Bama and Ole Miss being two others he has recently visited.
Shon is an impressive prospect at offensive tackle and may remind some of guys like JaWuan James at this point. Both are tall, athletic guys who need to pack on more weight to really make an impact at tackle in the SEC. Shon has the frame to pack on another 40-50 lbs and still retain much of his athleticism.
It’s certainly no coincidence that Jacques Smith’s official visit coincides with that of Lemonier, Smith and Coleman. Expect him to be on those three hard from the time they arrive on Friday until they depart on Sunday. Pretty good trade off if you ask me. You put Smith up for a couple of nights in a hotel room, feed him, then in turn he helps convince three of the biggest prospects on your board to become Vols.
Safety Ahmad Dixon had said following his official visit that he would drive up with his parents for the Vandy game, but it appears his High School play-offs will interfere with those plans. Dixon still intends on returning to UT after the season.
No solid info on Corey Nelson making it into town. I would lean towards it not happening at this point after he has already missed one such appointment. Corey could still choose to visit after the season. I think a lot of that will depend on how the linebacker position shapes up over the next couple of months. Will Ralph Williams stick to his UT commitment? Will he be encouraged to move on? How good do we look for Christian Jones?
As the regular season winds down, this is the time that you really start seeing some indication of what sort of changes to the coaching situation at under-achieving schools may or may not be made. Here are some situations to watch with that in mind that could affect prospects we are pursuing.
Virginia
Morgan Moses was a silent commit to Phillip Fulmer prior to his ouster last year. Kiffin and company nearly secured him for the Vols but he decided to follow former Tennessee coach Latrell Scott to Virginia.
After not qualifying for admission, Moses decided to attend Fork Union Military Academy for a year in order to get his grades right. Now that Moses appears to be on the path to qualify, his recruitment is open to any interested suitors and there are a several.
Al Groh’s seat has gone from hot headed into the season to a blazing inferno with only two conference wins so far and an overall record of 4-7. An upset win over conference rival North Carolina will not likely be enough to save his job and Latrell Scott will probably be out the door as well in a house-cleaning move.
One of the issues concerning coaches in regard to Moses is his weight and whether or not he has the discipline to keep it at a manageable level. If the coaches think he does, then look for the 5th ranked offensive tackle in the last recruiting class to be a viable candidate to join the Vols current commitment list.
Arizona State
When Bruce Irvin de-committed from the Vols, many said it was due to not wanting to take the extra classes required to transfer from a Junior College to a SEC program. That looks at present to still be the hurdle the coaches are trying to jump. It would likely require Irvin staying in school a bit longer than he anticipated in order to finish the required coursework. He had originally planned on graduating in December and joining his new team in early January.
Irvin’s talent is clear. Also clear is the coaches’ desire to have him as a part of this class despite any obstacles in their path. They don’t appear to be too concerned with the possibility of him not arriving until summer sessions as Orgeron is in contact with Irvin at least once a week.
ASU hasn’t exactly made waves in the Pac-10 this year, beating up on a couple of the weaker teams in the league and some pathetic OOC opponents. Dennis Erickson is likely to be given another year, but ASU doesn’t look to be trending upwards by any means contrasting starkly with the path the Volunteers appear to be on. After getting blown out by Oregon this past week, Erickson is now 19-16 over three years and needs his last two games to turn out in his team’s favor to make it to .500 this year and qualify for a bowl.
Tennessee is also much closer to Irvin’s family in Georgia and Irvin has expressed a desire for his family to see him play in college. Irvin has promised the coaches that he will most certainly pay a visit to the Vols officially once his season is over.
I think there is a very real possibility the coaches could pull off a re-commitment.
Illinois
Here’s another situation where a head coaching change is not likely in the immediate future. Zook has done some good things for the Illini — especially in terms of recruiting — and he doesn’t look to be in danger of losing his job quite yet, but some changes to the coordinator positions are likely and could be a major influence on players such as safety Corey Cooper.
Cooper hasn’t been the most solid commitment for some time and is certainly exploring his opportunities. Tennessee is in his final 3 along with Notre Dame and he loves the coaching staff. Obviously with Notre Dame’s likelihood of coaching changes, that would leave Tennessee as the only stable program.
Cooper just finished a trip to Nebraska and has already taken one to Notre Dame and Illinois. His next visit is scheduled to be Arizona on November 27th and he has yet to set up a date to see the Vols although he says he will.
He intends to make a decision once he is finished with his visits.
Notre Dame
The most public hot seat in the land right now belongs to Irish coach Charlie Weis. Many say that a change to the head coaching position is very likely and that the decision to part with Weis has already been made. Who replaces Weis will have a large impact on who chooses to stick with their Notre Dame commitments and who does not.
This is also the situation most likely to impact UT in terms of commitments as several members of the current Notre Dame class have given the Volunteers serious consideration. QBs Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix, RB Giovanni Bernard and LB Prince Shembo all gave the Vols at least a look. Bernard and Shembo have visited.
It’s no secret that the coaches have had Tommy Rees near the top of their quarterback board for quite some time and have not ceased recruiting him as they have some other QBs. He would be an unlikely pull as his reasons for committing to Notre Dame have more to do with the school and the academics than the coaching staff, but don’t expect that to stop the coaches from pursuing a guy that they very much would like to have as part of this class.
Florida
I cannot see Urban Meyer leaving Florida for Notre Dame. I think he may parlay it into a huge raise at Florida, especially if the Gators win another Championship. He still has young kids and I think the same things that kept him from accepting the Notre Dame job over Florida in the first place will keep him from accepting it now. He doesn’t have to recruit nationally at Florida. Very rarely does he have to go very far from his own backyard for talent. The situation at Notre Dame requires much more traveling.
The Charlie Strong situation certainly bears watching though because, barring some sort of agreement to hand the reins over to Strong after Urban Meyer moves on or retires, he is headed elsewhere at some point in this class’ playing cycle. I can’t see an agreement such as that taking place though due to Meyer’s age and Strong’s stated interest in heading a program. Strong has already been linked to several potential job openings including Virginia and Memphis.
Some other quick notes:
Offensive lineman James Stone has a final five that, surprising to some, does not include the University of Tennessee. It’s not clear whether Stone lost interest in the Vols or it was the other way around, but Stone’s interest in UT was, at one time, genuine. It’s nice to be in a situation at a need position where this really doesn’t hurt the Vols as they have many highly-regarded guys with UT loud on their radar.
JuCo OT John Cullen is still very much in the plans for the Vols and he is reciprocating the interest. Cullen, who has already taken an official visit to UT, plans on taking each of his remaining visits and concedes the possibility that after those visits, UT could still be his leader.
Cullen will not be a mid-term transfer and will require the Spring, at least, in order to graduate Junior College, but he could still provide early help to an area of great need as he should come in physically ready to compete.
Matt Elam is not solid to the Gators despite what their fans would have you believe. I don’t think he is leaning anywhere particularly but a recent visit to Georgia seems to have put even more doubt into his head as to how committed he is to playing for Florida. Look for West Virginia to be a player here as Elam already has a teammate committed there in WR/CB Robert Clark. Tennessee has offered Clark as well so there is certainly still a possibility of both playing for the Volunteers.
OL Chaz Green still has two more visits to take before he decides where he will be spending his college years. He will visit Florida for their game vs. Florida State and plans on visiting Southern Cal once his season with Tampa Catholic is over. He then plans on taking a couple of weeks and then making a decision.
WR Kenny Shaw plans on visiting the Vols after the season. Florida State still leads, but Shaw took note of the fact that the Vols recently lost a slot receiver as a result of Nu’Keese Richardson deciding to mug two broke rednecks with an air-powered pellet gun.
He’ll be in Michigan this weekend and Florida and Georgia are high on his list also.
Closing the regular season out with two wins would really help momentum recruiting-wise. We will be expected to win both of these last two games, but it would still be a strong statement that the Vols are still on the right track after dropping one to Ole Miss in disappointing fashion.
Also two wins likely means a pretty decent bowl depending on how the rest of the SEC pans out. The Outback Bowl is still a very realistic possibility and the Vols should match-up with someone that is very beatable from a weak Big-10. An 8 win season should impress quite a few and even exceed the expectations of many Vol fans for Kiffin’s first year. That would best Nick Saban’s first year at Bama and Kiffin was left with much less to work with.
The next couple of weeks are guaranteed to be interesting as coaches are allowed to make in-home visits with recruits starting November 29th. They did much of their best work in-home this past year so there should be much to discuss.
Enjoy your weekend.