The Recruiting Fix: Fixing a Hole

What a whirlwind the past week has been it seems. Much to do about nothing with all this noise regarding the NCAA. At worst we are looking at a single secondary violation. I mean come on, we know these coaches are smart enough not to organize a hostess trip to a school to support players that are already committed. I mean give me a break. And the media latching on to this and spinning it as if we were Bama — that’s just nauseating.

I have to be honest. I haven’t read the articles. I skimmed the first one but didn’t make it to the end. I know what to expect so I just avoid reading them. Some of the headlines have been flat-out lies though. How do you spin Kiffin saying he didn’t think Rubio contacted recruits — he never has before, but he couldn’t be completely sure into “Kiffin admits possibility of recruiting violation.” It’s just unfathomable. And this is the KNS we are talking about here — not the NYT. The paper should be at least cautious about how they word things rather than inflammatory. Whatever sells papers though. I swear those guys have no soul.

Am I the only person that sent that Pete Thamel guy a crap ton of emails calling him a hack journalist and a Gator homer? I mean, a crap ton. And from multiple e-mail addresses. Whatever little I can do to make that jerk’s life a little harder.

Anyway, off rant, on to the assistant coaching situation. Kiffin says that he does not expect any more coaches to leave this year, so it’s two vacancies we are filling which is very relieving. He even suggests that at least one position may be filled prior to the bowl game, if not both, which would seem to indicate that he has someone in mind and there is mutual interest there.

Reports surfaced earlier today, and as early as yesterday evening that Kiffin had interviewed a candidate to fill one of the vacant spots on the coaching staff in Memphis after speaking at the Memphis Touchdown Club yesterday.

No confirmation has been able to have been made as to who was being interviewed, but multiple sources are saying it was none other than former Vols WR coach Kippy Brown.

Kippy was approached last year to join the staff but for whatever reason the timing wasn’t right or the money, or whatever. Kippy has family in Tennessee and is getting close to retirement age. The move would make sense.

If you aren’t sure who Kippy Brown is just ask Anthony Miller, Tim McGee, Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens. Then go to the Texans and ask Andre Johnson. And does anyone remember the Memphis Maniax? That was Kippy’s team. RIP the XFL and those gorgeous cheerleaders.(if you could call them that)

He would be an excellent choice from a coaching standpoint. The guy has ties to the University — he’s coached here before. He knows the area. Has strong ties in Memphis. The obvious question is, can he recruit? Well I think he did a pretty good job of attracting talent when he was here, that was before my time keeping up with recruiting, but he has obviously done it before. I think you would see Kiffin go after a RB coach with Florida ties, someone who has recruited South Florida effectively previously if Kippy is the man. Recruiting areas would almost certainly get adjusted so that Kippy could recruit Memphis and Chattanooga, and Orgeron would likely take over Mississippi and Louisiana — Frank Wilson’s old area.

Some think that an announcement could come as early as today. It is something to keep an eye on.

Jay Graham’s name continues to come up for the open RB coach position, but I am not sure he is a candidate. He does recruit the panhandle of Florida east to Tallahassee for the Gamecocks currently, but he has no ties or history of recruiting South Florida and no real precedent of success coaching running backs. In fact, South Carolina’s rushing offense ranked dead last in the SEC in the regular season this year.

The names I continue to hear for the position are Tom Rathman, Manny Diaz, Sylvester Croom, Greg Knox and Carl Franks. It could be someone from that list or it could be someone I am not aware of having interest. We’ll have to wait and see.

Oh, and by the way, remember last week when we talked about how strange it was Mitch Browning wasn’t receiving interest from anyone? Word is he interviewed for the Offensive Coordinator gig at Memphis.

Want to talk about recruiting? I can’t hear you, but I am imagining a cheer went up.

A lot of the talk is on Bruce Irvin right now with him visiting this weekend. I can tell you this, he’s not going to ASU. From people that I’ve talked to, he’s pretty much ruled them out at this point. He was thinking he wanted to stay on the West Coast for a little bit there, but being close to his family is of primary importance.

I wouldn’t read too much into the ferocity with which we are recruiting him in regards to where we are with other linebackers. The coaches think he is perhaps the best prospect in the nation — regardless of class or position. He’s a guy you take even if you have 10 linebackers you feel good about and we don’t have quite ten, but the coaches do like where they are with LaDarius Owens and Christian Jones.

I really do not know what to believe on this whole SEC core requirement deal with Irvin. The rumor from some was that he didn’t want to take the extra classes required for transfer to the SEC. Then some are saying that he would be an early enrollee here. I challenged that class rumor from the get-go by the way. I never saw anything substantial that indicated that was the case. It just seemed like an excuse for why we lost him to ASU more than anything.

For all we know Irvin has already taken the classes. Perhaps one of our esteemed VolNation columnists could call him up and ask him. That would be super sweet.

At any rate if he doesn’t want to take the courses and he hasn’t yet, look for him to end up at West Virginia. I think he will be a Vol though. Orgeron can be mighty persuasive. Did you not see him pull that slick move on S.J. in the Blindside? I think O freaked Sandra Bullock out a little bit. I noticed she didn’t really want to look him in the eyes.

Don’t get too excited about Justin Hunter. His coach is talking more about Tennessee than he is. He has a relationship with current LSU WR coach Billy Gonzales already because Billy was his recruiter at Florida. And get this, Billy actually encouraged Hunter to go visit Florida after taking the LSU job. I can’t see Urban Meyer doing that. Class move, Billy.

I just can’t see Hunter going anywhere but LSU at this point. Frank Wilson is there too and Hunter knows him from recruiting as well.

Corey Miller has been working on Kelcy Quarles but the feeling is he will end up as a Gamecock in the end despite interest in taking an official to Tennessee. Quarles himself said he was about “85%” committed to South Carolina. Maybe we can somehow get in there and show him that 15% wins championships and get a visit out of him before Signing Day. We get him on campus, we have a shot.

Delvin Jones is somewhat of a mystery. At first he was just looking around to be sure of his commitment. Now he’s taking visits to see what’s out there besides Tennessee. Eddie Gran and Frank Wilson were the two coaches he had the most contact with and now they are both gone. He is said to be visiting LSU and has a visit set up to Ole Miss deep into January. All I can say is to keep an eye on it.

Making the top for Demetrius Wright is huge. There’s no question Kiffin and O want to get a foot in the door out in Cali and the more times UT is mentioned in recruiting circles the better. Look for UT to be a finalist for Dietrich Riley as well.

It’s going to come down to, with Wright, whether he wants to stay at home and play or go out of state. From Wright’s comments, he is of the opinion that he cannot go wrong with either choice.

Wright has been trying to get back to Knoxville and to bring his mom with him, but that never materialized and it’s because of money being so tight. That’s going to make it tough for his mom to make games as well which is why I believe he ultimately stays home.

Wright will announce at the Army All-American game. It would shock me if he did not commit to the Trojans.

Hey, how about Cody Riggs getting a committable offer to Florida right after, and I mean RIGHT after our coaches had an in-home visit with him? They had already put Cody on hold once after he tried to commit. I’m not sure how high on our board he was, but I think they would have taken him to keep him away from Florida. It is definitely something they went back and forth on though. He is diminutive and he does not have the good leaping ability you look for in a top cover corner. I think we like where we are with Nickell Robey and honestly we only needed one corner in this class anyway. Mike Edwards’ departure may have created a need for another there if we could get him, but it’s not a spot we are overly concerned about in this class.

At the very least, it looks like we forced Florida to take a prospect that they might not have otherwise and use one of those spots which are so valuable under the new rules. Win for UT in my opinion.

The coaches are out on the road trying to get some guys that may not have otherwise visited to visit. Remember those HUGE weekends right before Signing Day last year with all those prospects? That would be nice to have a couple of those. Most of the big targets we are after have already visited though. Some guys that the coaches have convinced to visit reportedly: Mack Brown LaDarius Owens Quantavious Leslie

People are saying watch for Matt Simms to sign tomorrow. So, like, watch for that or whatever.

The coaches were supposed to be visiting Brandon Willis sometime this weekend, but Willis has an official visit to Miami where I am told he may commit. I was told that Willis does not even act like he is a commit and says all his schools are even with Tennessee. A visit from the coaches could help turn the tide. Let’s hope they get in there and convince this guy that this is where he needs to be.

Some say his father may be pushing him to UM.

Corey Miller, this is your biggest recruiting job of the year. Talk to yo boy and knock some sense into him.

I have more for you, but I will save it for next week. We will talk about the Olive Branch duo and certainly have more about the coach search.

Now onto something I am doing for the first time this week. Please give me feedback and let me know if you like this feature.

VolNation posters submitted questions and here are the answers to them. I don’t pretend to know it all, but I will answer every question to the best of my knowledge.

Q&A

dmckean722: After so many “dependable” sources said he was all vol…why did we “lose” luc to fsu?

A: The best I can ascertain from talking to a couple of Gator insiders is that Luc is very impressionable. We believe that Luc informed the Gator coaches that he was coming there at FNL and then told the Vol coaches he was coming here on his official visit. This is why both sides had insiders saying that they were getting Luc. Luc’s brother Alex handled his recruitment and was a huge influence on him. He was pushing for FSU. I do not think Luc would have committed to FSU had Bobby Bowden remained in place. I also personally believe that Luc was made aware of Eddie Gran coming to FSU, most likely by someone at FSU and that was the last thing Luc needed to hear to commit.

multiple posters: Who do we have the best chance at landing at the CB and S position?

A: Watch Nickell Robey. He is a pure corner with great leaping ability. Some say the Vols lead even though he is still a UGA commit. I can see the Vols missing on Dietrich Riley and Demetrius Wright. They aren’t out of it with Corey Cooper and I would watch Ahmad Dixon as well. Demar Dorsey may or may not have the grades to qualify. He is someone to watch though if we can get him to visit.

lilesrt: Sab, I know it is difficult to tell with coaches nowadays (Brian Kelly) but how likely do you think it is that we hang on to coach Orgeron after this season? I feel like he may be the one to leave after this season and that would be disastrous to this recruiting season. Thanks!

A: As I said last week, I believe Ed Orgeron will only leave for a head coaching position. He wants to coach again and he thinks he can get it right this time. Someone will give him that opportunity. Will it be next year? I cannot say. I do not think Orgeron will uproot his family and move back West to take a job with roughly the same pay grade at USC.

Indianavol4eva: What are the chances of swaying luc back from FSU?

A: Small, but they are trying. I would watch Luc to see if he enrolls early at FSU, if he doesn’t, it’s a whole new ballgame.

West10vol:Best Prospect in TENNESSEE next year?

A: OT Antonio Richardson. Supposedly the Vols lead.

Vols_Fanatic518: Do we lose Delvin Jones and Ken Adams…and if we do who do we look for to replace them?

A: I’m on the fence with Delvin. Earlier this month I thought there was no way we would lose him. He’s an athlete so you don’t really replace his versatility. I think the kid could end up being a difference-making TE. He’s definitely not a natural DE in my opinion. Losing him would suck.

Adams will end up at Auburn and play DE where he is probably better-suited.

It’s hard to say who could replace Adams as well. It is clear the coaches want a traditional TE in this class, but at this juncture it looks like they miss out on one. Kentucky commit Tyler Robinson is a possibility. I think they are still recruiting Ethan Farmer also though he does not have Tennessee listed amongst his finalists.

joeydupree: Am I that baby’s pappy ?

A: Signs point to yes. But look on the brightside, you have a good job. You can afford a kid.

MrBamSeydu: Who is the most likely, if any, recruit that we end up pulling away from another school from now until NSD?

A: Ahmad Dixon Nickell Robey is another to watch.
atlvolunteer: Both Scout and Rivals have OL Seantrel Henderson as their #1, and OL is definitely a need position for us. I haven’t heard anything about him and I was just wondering why we aren’t recruiting him, is he just not interested?

A: The latter. The coaches send him mail and check in from time to time, but he’s just not interested in us. He’s legit though. The safe pick at #1 for sure. Personally I think Lache Seastrunk is the best player in this class. You know, just in case you were wondering.

beavbullvol: If you were a hot dog would you eat yourself?

A: No. I would find some shade.

Cackalaka Vol: What are the places throughout the country that UT is trying to establish a pipeline that we don’t know about (i.e. Miami Northwestern, Cleveland Ginnland, etc.)?

A: Great question. I think you will continue to see the coaches work the California area very hard, especially Southern California. Watch the traditional powerhouses such as Centennial, Edison, Mater Die — WR Victor Blackwell is a Vol target in the 2011 class. They are also closely watching QB Max Wittik.

They will also continue to try and establish a pipeline to South Florida. St. Thomas Aquinas, Northwestern, Booker T. Washington are all schools they’d love to continue to recruit.

BJWeeks: Have you heard anything new on Morgan Moses? Do you see another wr commiting and if so who?

A: The latest on Moses is that Florida is going after him. They know they are not getting Chaz Green, who canceled his visit there just recently and they are kind of in scramble mode to get another lineman they feel good about. I think the ship has sailed with Moses and Tennessee. His effort has been questioned by some and he has a problem keeping bad weight off. He is also going to be coming in second semester. If he were going to be here in the spring that would have helped him some. There are simply other prospects that we feel better about. (John Cullen) Moses will decide between Florida and Virginia.

To answer the second part of your question, no, I think we are done at receiver.

Tha Don: Now that we’ve got a full season under our belt to both digest some of Lane’s and Monte and Company’s philosophies and they’ve had a chance to experience the SEC 1st hand, what changes or adjustments, if any, do you see them making to their recruiting philosophies and schemes for subsequent recruiting classes and offensive and defensive gameplans once we’ve upgraded the team’s overall talent? Identity for 2011 recruiting class speed or power?

A: Speed on both sides of the ball. Especially on defense. Kiffin’s defense is predicated on speed guys that can run to the ball.

As far as recruiting philosophies go, they are still not going to be afraid to be the first in the boat on a prospect, but you will not see the blanket philosophy we applied to this past class. We will be much more selective with our offers this year and focus our efforts on more specific areas. One reason Frank Wilson and Eddie Gran did not fit in is that they were worked to death. Every member of this staff has busted it’s tail on the trail this year.

ninerplaya57: Since UF claimed both Martin and Powell to be silents and Martin picked Cal over UF, is there any chance Powell comits anywhere besides the Gators? I know he is high on UF and USC but wasn’t sure how hard UT was pursuing him or where we stood.

A: Powell is down to USC and Florida. Most say Florida leads, but USC could pull the upset. UT is not in it for him.

tripper: Do you see another potential NuKeese or Mike Edwards in the class of 2010?

A: Yes. I think that is definitely a possibility. Someone that did not appear to be seriously interested in the Vols will commit on Signing Day.

ptclaus98:Any chance one of our DE commits makes the switch to OLB?

A: Bruce Irvin is listed as a DE by some but I think he sees the field early at LB. He may end up on the line his senior year though. Irvin is not currently committed to the Vols. I see no others making that move, though a few (Brandon Willis , J.C. Copeland will likely end up at DT.

Goliver24:How many players do you think we sign that will make a big impact by coming in and starting from game one? Obviously who are the players as well.

A: Kembrell Thompkins out of our current commits has the best chance to help the team immediately, Michael Palardy will end up place kicking or punting next year, certainly he will handle kickoff duties, Bruce Irvin if he switches back will see the field early, same withJohn Cullen.

MikeHamiltonFan: 1)Where do we stand with Christian Jones? A: 1) We are in as good a shape as any school not named FSU. His connection with Monte Kiffin is strong.

2) Do we get any players out of Dwyer H.S. and if so who do we get? A: 2) No, we’d love to have TE Gerald Christian and have been on him hard, but nothing is going to happen there. He’s all-Gator.

3) Is the staff happy enough with Garza’s Texas connections that we are not looking to hire a Texas recruiting guy? A: 3) Yes, they are happy enough for now. I don’t expect to recruit Texas very heavily. Our priorities and best chance of success lie closer to home. We will try to cherry-pick from there, but a strong Texas connection isn’t a necessity.

4) Do you still think we get an elite RB?A: 4) I’m not as sure as I once was, but I’m going to say yes.

5) If Brandon Willis decommits and goes to Miami, how many threads will be started saying the sky is falling? A: 5) Irrelevant. Will not happen.

So there you go. Thanks for the questions. Hope someone got something out of it. Give me some feedback and we’ll decide whether to do the Q&A again sometime.

If I missed your question, it’s because it was stupid. Just joking. Kind of.