Like most of you, I am itching for something exciting to happen in recruiting. I guess we’ve been spoiled with so much action happening over the past several months of visits. I think we will all have to wait a little while longer though, likely a couple of weeks prior to early enrollment, to get anything truly juicy.
Defensive end Corey Lemonier and DT/OL Calvin Smith were expected by some to make some noise either naming the Vols their leader or committing on the spot. Neither happened for Lemonier although Smith admits to having Tennessee out in front.
Smith was particularly impressed by defensive line coach Ed Orgeron he relayed to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“He’s amazing. I like him. From what I heard, he’s the best (defensive line coach). Not just one person told me that, a lot of people told me that.”
Smith said he might take an official visit to LSU and probably will re-visit UT, Florida State and Illinois.
Lemonier was slightly less enthusiastic than Smith from what I could gather. The highlight of the trip for him was getting the chance to meet Lane Kiffin. The coaching staff really impressed him.
“I was really impressed by their meetings,” Lemonier told Rivals. “I got to sit in on a meeting and they are really good with their players. They also know how to get everyone pumped about the game. They were beating on drums and throwing chairs. Even Monte (Kiffin) threw a chair. It was pretty awesome.”
Ha! Monte Kiffin chucking chairs around the room. Wish I could have been a fly on the meeting room wall.
Lemonier has a fondness for defensive guru/father figure Monte Kiffin. He also spent a great deal of time with Vol defensive line coach Ed Orgeron.
He says that of all the schools still calling him Tennessee,and Florida State are showing him the most love.
He still maintains he has no leaders and does not know when a decision will come. He’s down to FSU, Illinois, and UT, but is visiting Auburn next week.
The prospects of Lemonier and Smith playing together at the next level are no longer as definite as they appeared a week ago as both say that it would be nice, but it is not a guarantee. “We want to, but we’ll see,” Smith said to Rivals. I’m just trying to find the best opportunity for me.”
These guys are in constant contact with each other and such an admission says to me that they are leaning toward separate schools.
Does anyone else see this as a tug of war battle and whoever gets pulled in the mud pit first has to attend the school the other wants to go to? Last week Smith says that it is 95% that they will be at the same school. After spending time together and discussing things, now they are saying that there is a real possibility they could end up at different places.
My best guess right now is Lemonier to FSU and Smith to UT. Smith is sure where he wants to go though his ideals may not line up completely with Corey’s. He will have some time to work on Corey in order to convince him to see it his way. Plus the coaches will be in Lemonier’s home at some point this upcoming month and that will help for sure.
Illinois Wide receiver Matt Milton has been a long time commitment to Tennessee and his official visit this past weekend served only to solidify his pledge.
Milton was overly-impressed by the Vol faithful and their dedication to the team. Fans acknowledged him by name and showered him with appreciation for picking the Vols.
Rival high school coach Derek Leonard recently called Milton “the best player I have ever seen” and Milton’s upside is apparent.
The 6-foot-6, 192 lb., 4.5 40 wide receiver is going to be a beast match-up at the next level.
He continues to field calls from schools interested in swaying him from the Vols’ grasp but relays to each that he is all-Vol and not interested in considering any other schools.
It may surprise some that Jacques Smith is only now taking his official visit to the Vols. He has been at each home game this year and has been a visible recruiter for the Vols for some time — thus the importance of having him all weekend to help recruit.
Jacques has a December 1st date with the U.S. Army All-American Bowl selection tour as they will make a stop in Ooltewah to invite Jacques Smith to what some consider the premier post-season high school event in the country.
At 6’3″, 225 lbs. Jacques is coming in to play. He’s enrolling early, he’s physically right where you want him to be, and he has the honor of learning under one of the best defensive line coaches in the country.
As I predicted in last week’s Recruiting Fix, we did have some surprise visitors make it in for the game. Tall, speedy Wide out Justin Hunter and cornerback/return man Nickell Robey made it into town to witness the Vols’ victory. Both are committed to other schools.
Virginia Beach’s Hunter has been a long-time LSU commit, though he has been taking visits. LSU fans say that he is just taking the free trips to watch some good football games, but I wouldn’t exactly call the Vandy-UT game a “premier” contest. I believe he was here to legitimately check out Tennessee and see if it’s a place he wants to play at. No one has been able to get ahold of Hunter since his visit so little is known at present.
Hunter, who is from Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, Va., committed to LSU in May and is widely considered one of the top prospects for his position in the region — if not the nation. He is 6’5″, 172 lbs. and runs a 4.4 40. That’s prototypical wide receiver stuff right there. Just needs to add the weight and strength that his frame will certainly allow him to add.
His athleticism is what sets him apart from a typical receiver. Even at his size, he has personal bests of 25.05 feet in the long jump and a 7-foot-2 high vertical leap. The long jump is the best measure of whether a guy is fast twitch or not which relates to their ability to make quick breaks and run hitch and go routes, not to mention the ability to elude pursuers. Just in case you didn’t know that.
ESPN rates this cat as the 5th best wide receiver in the nation. They compare him to AJ Green at the same stage but are sceptical that he might not have the breakaway speed of Green.
Hunter has been solid to the Tigers for some time and has reiterated it after every visit. This visit, he has not.
So what’s going on? The sooner he speaks to the public, the less nervous I will be because this kid is a player.
Nickell Robey doesn’t seem too interested in the Vols. Unless he’s trying to fool everyone, this kid just took a visit here to get away for awhile. Anything but Georgia at this point would be a complete surprise.
2011 Defensive Tackle prospect Antonio Richardson from Nashville (Ensworth) attended the Vandy game and is certainly at the top of the Vols’ want list for next year. Getting an early commitment from an instate guy like him would really help the momentum of the next class. This kid is an absolute freak. He’s an ideal Left Tackle prospect and at 6′ is further along than most his age development-wise. He could contribute early at many SEC schools and no doubt, they all will be on him and lucky for them, he says he wants to play in the SEC.
Offensive tackle prospect Shon Coleman has been taking visits, but he still insists that Auburn is his leader. He says he is receiving no pressure in Mississippi to commit to the Rebels.
Although it was reported by several outlets that he would be in Knoxville for the Vanderbilt game, he never made it in. Possibilities still exist for a visit of course and Coleman intends to take all five of his allotted visits. Tennessee is still a factor according to Coleman.
“Tennessee stands just like everybody else,” Coleman told Rivals. “That’s a school I’m looking at. I think I’d fit in good. It’s a great SEC program and they’re losing some offensive linemen, too.”
Coleman (6’7″, 285 although some reports have him above 300 lbs) is a legitimate left tackle prospect, the position he plays in high school, and a perfect fit for the zone blocking scheme utilized by Tennessee. He also fits the mold of Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s ideal lineman as he likes lean, athletic tackles that can move and are slow to fatigue.
Another disappointment was that Dequan Menzie didn’t make the trek and instead tripped to Ole Miss. He’s the number one prospect on the Rebel’s board and they are recruiting him heavily.
Menzie had a lot to say about his visit to Ole Miss exemplified by what he told Rivals.
“It was way better than I thought it was going be like because I did not expect it to be that way. I do not know how to explain it. I just did not expect it to be like that. The atmosphere was crazy and I loved the coaches. They seem like they really want me up there.”
“I really expected it to be like MSU, but their atmosphere is just way different. I just did not have that feeling like I had at Ole Miss. It just felt right at Ole Miss, like I should be there, like home. They know how to win at Ole Miss and you can see why.”
Tennessee, Ole Miss, and North Carolina are the only schools that Menzie is looking at presently. He liked everything he saw at Tennessee and Ole Miss.
“That is why the decision is going to be so hard.” He told Rivals.
In other news, Lil’ Wayne showed up for the party and watched the game from a sky box and
Rumblings and Ramblings
*Devin Mathis who? Who was this masked volunteer and where has he been hiding? Apparently in an apartment along with Jonathan Crompton and Wes Brown. Mathis had only kicked one year in high school and said his longest field goal is from 48 yards. He made all of his extra points in the game this past weekend and added a 25-yard field goal.
It was nice seeing a kick high enough over the out-stretched hands of the other team to not be immediately blocked. If we had the benefit of Mathis for the Bama game, the results would likely be much different. I’d imagine he will be the kicker from here on out.
*Jeff Luc will not be in Gainesville this weekend as was previously reported. The Gators are going to try and get him to take another visit there which screams of desperation to me. I mean, the guy has seen all he is going to see. Bringing him back and bringing him back signals to me that they know they are losing the battle and are trying to claw their way back in.
My prediction: Luc never visits Gainesville again (unless it’s in a UT uniform), although he may take one more trip somewhere — just to be sure — and he commits to Tennessee halfway through December.
*Who else jumped to their feet and screamed at the top of their lungs watching Wes Brown intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown late in the game this past weekend? What a great story Wes Brown is — playing on two bum knees the entire year and still making as much of an impact as any player on the line not named Dan Williams. It was so great seeing him will himself into the endzone to score a touchdown on Senior Day. It was also obvious how jubilant Lane Kiffin was after watching him plow over Jonathan Crompton in celebration during the play.
“I guess it was all just kind of overwhelming. He’s on the injury report this week,” Kiffin joked in a recent press conference.
Doubtless, Crompton was equally happy for his long-time roommate who has given so much to this team. No question that Brown’s heart and impact was appreciated by this team and the coaching staff. It was a fitting home send-off for a great Volunteer. I truly, earnestly hope that you get the surgeries you need and they help you lead a normal life after football. Wow, this guy. Show of hands of everyone who thought Wes Brown would stay healthy enough to finish the season. Put your hand down, Wes, you don’t count.
Here’s hoping that we will have the same moment of jubilation this Saturday as Berry takes one to the house and breaks the all-time interception return yards record. Which conveniently segues into my next ramble.
*That special thing for Berry they keep talking about… Don not be surprised to see Berry playing at free safety, mostly in coverage, or cornerback for the game. Kiffin is going to do everything he can to make sure Berry breaks that record before leaving school. And at the last regular season game would be the perfect ending to a season that had disappointments and surprises, but ultimately one that I think every Vol can be very happy with.
*There has been much talk about Charlie Weiss getting the boot and how that would affect Tommy Rees’ commitment to Notre Dame. We have been on Rees since late summer (possibly earlier) and he is a guy that the coaches have made clear that they covet. I think Rees reasons for committing to Notre Dame in the first place will be what keeps him there regardless of a coaching change.
* OL Damien Robinson told a recruit on his Ole Miss visit that he is just looking at the instate schools at present and maybe Oklahoma. I think that is a pretty good sign that both Bama and UT, whom were said to be leaders at one time or another, have bigger fish to fry.
*On James Stone, UT may not be out of this battle after all. A former Vol, who started 40 games at cornerback over his career says that James is going to pick between Bama and UT. His coach is pushing him toward Bama and James is the kind of guy that does not like to tell people “No.” It will come down to UT and Bama and if this is a kid the coaches want, I like our chances.
*Coaches will be on the road starting Sunday so break out the plane tracker thread again. It’s gonna be fun. Elam and Luc are early enrollees. Watch them closely. I would imagine we’d send Kiffin and Gran to South Florida to visit Christian Jones, Matt Elam and Jeff Luc. O and Frank Wilson may team up and go to Mississippi to see Shon Coleman — then to Louisiana to check out Lache Seastrunk and try to get him to visit. It’s going to be wild starting on Sunday so tune in.
*According to Dietrich Riley, UT coaches will be making one of their first stops to LA to see Dietrich and his parents. These coaches are good, good, good in the home and I would say this also confirms what I though about Dietrich already, that there is still mutual interest.
I still think he ends up at USC in the end, but there’s always a glimmer of hope with these coaches. I’d like to know who they are sending, but I imagine some of that will be more clear once they are on the road.
*Monte Kiffin wasn’t thought by many when he first arrived to be one to do much recruiting, but he is putting in serious work. He isn’t being treated much differently from the rest of the staff, but we get him on key defensive players that we want to land and he plays the father figure roll he is oh so familiar with. Monte Kiffin is going to be a big part of this complete class. And he will be under-heralded. A few recruits will be credited to him, but the majority of the work he does and will continue to do will be known only within the complex.
Man, am I excited! We are getting some of the best players in the nation and this coaching staff can coach. 3 years – 3YEARS. That’s my prediction. We will be in the SEC Championship Game in 3 years as long as we keep this staff together or replace guys with equally talented guys.
Strength Coach Mark Smith, good guy, real head-strong which is good in some situations — not ours. He butted heads with certain coaches and is gone. Then we bring in a guy like Steve Ausmus who is an upgrade in my opinion and everything is hunky-dory. If we can continue to recruit top coaches to replace the ones that have moved on, I think we will be fine. And as long as we keep winning, we will.
Thanks for contributions from my Triple S, a former Vol, and Rivals.com from whence I’m told all of my information comes