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Hooker: Spring all about visits, not commitments for Fulmer
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Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer isn’t judging the recruiting progress by the number of commitments.
Good thing. The Vols only have one pledge for 2009 after excelling in early commitments for the past two years.
Now, Fulmer is all about planting seeds, not necessarily harvesting commitments. That has meant more spring visitors than he can remember in his long tenure at UT.
“We’ve always brought some guys in,” Fulmer said. “We probably brought more in (this spring) because we’re doing a better job of identifying the guys that we’re going to recruit. Everybody’s in tune to getting them in early.”
“Everybody” means UT’s coaches. And the fact that Fulmer said they are more in tune is a veiled reference to an improvement in staff chemistry from the last regime.
That, however, doesn’t mean UT has a better coaching staff. Offensive and defensive coaches often don’t get along, yet still win championships.
Part of the reason UT doesn’t have more commitments rides on new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson and his relatively obscure reputation. Clawson’s image will grow if he has success in the SEC.
Prospects want to see Clawson and staff in action before they commit. That means, in some cases, the Vols can only lay groundwork and hope for a productive September, both offensively and, subsequently, in recruiting.
That could start even sooner, beginning this weekend with the Orange and White Game. Sure, Fulmer wants to showcase his offensive weapons to fans. But he’s also handcuffing his defense to show prospects just what they can be a part of on offense.
There’s certainly reason to believe that Clawson’s offense is tailor-made to skill position players. Clawson promised to get playmakers the ball in open space and so far this spring he’s done so.
Senior tailback Arian Foster lauded the new attack this week for its versatility. Foster is far more of a threat out of the backfield than he was a year ago.
Redshirt freshman Ahmad Paige is another example. No longer a small receiver stuck on the line of scrimmage, Paige is now able to showcase his athletic ability with screen passes — just another example of how Clawson plays to his team’s strengths.
Every receiver should benefit from Clawson’s reliance on slants. The slant should give elite athletes the ability to catch the ball in stride and make defenders miss downfield.
There’s also Clawson’s willingness to experiment, even in the midst of installing a new system. The G-Gun, with sophomore receiver Gerald Jones at quarterback, returned this week and figures to see some snaps today.
Sophomore safety Eric Berry even got his shot at quarterback in a package that some reporters are calling the Wild Berry. Don’t expect to see that package today, but it will certainly be an option if Clawson needs a spark this fall.
All are selling points for potential offensive recruits. Problem is, they’ll want to see all the above in action before they pledge their services.
Fair enough. Just don’t wait too long. Fulmer laments the fact that recruiting seems to accelerate with each and every turn of the calendar. Decisions must be made quicker.
That doesn’t play to UT’s strengths as a program with limited in-state talent, which leads us to the one knock on UT’s recruiting efforts to this point. Even with a new offense, it’s hard to figure out why the Vols don’t have one in-state commitment.
The speed of the recruiting game shows no mercy, not to Fulmer and not to any high school prospects.
“If they don’t do something early, they may be left out,” Fulmer said. “It’s all happening faster.”
Visitors: The Vols are expecting a handful of visitors for this weekend’s events.
UT has some work to do to land Dallas Lee, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive lineman from Buford (Ga.) High School. The Vols appeared to be the leader until Georgia recently increased its recruitment and Florida State made a delayed scholarship offer.
Lee’s recruitment is eerily familiar to Terrance Parks’ recruiting journey. Like Lee, Parks was also primarily considering UT and Georgia until the Seminoles showed up.
Park then committed to FSU despite a close friendship with Berry, a former high school teammate.
Tailback David Oku from Carl Albert High in Midwest City, Okla., is traveling with Gerald Jones’ family. Oku and the Joneses are extremely close.
The 5-10, 175-pounder is also considering Florida State, Illinois and Michigan among others.
Dave Hooker covers recruiting. He can be reached at hookerd@knews.com.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by eb502us on April 18, 2008 at 7:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, so getting early commitments on offense might be slow until the Clawson offense is unveiled. I can buy that. What I can't buy is the fact that Fulmer can't recruit a 4-5 star defensive lineman. Bolden was the last one and he's yet to consistently develop. Is it any wonder why we seem to get manhandled in the trenches the last few years? Turning 3rd string offensive lineman into defensive lineman is getting old.
Posted by pdhuff on April 18, 2008 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
eb502 - 7:06 you have shined the light on the Vols biggest short-coming. It is mystifying why any d-lineman seems to not seriously consider us. Its not getting any better.
Posted by ggriggs939 on April 18, 2008 at 9:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The commentary on this site is one of the reasons recruits are reluctant to sign with the VOLS. They dislike caustic remarks about themselves and their coaches. The legal media is another hurdle they face. Even espn has commented on and derided the local hyenas who feed on the hand that feeds them. Not beinmg smart enough to recognize that the University of Tennessee athletic teams is the only reason for their being in existence, they denigrate and criticize every aspect of the activities and especially the players who participate in the programs.
We are aware of the inducements that the VOLS can offer, but have no idea as to what other schools give to sign a recruit. Going to class and meeting the standards of the ncaa, sec, University academics, coaching staff, local media and the 'experts' on this site can be daunting for a Tennessee signee whereas at other schools they apparently haven't been required to meet all of those requirements. When your sole purpose in going to college is to try to get a shot at the pros, why encumber yourself with all the extra requirements?
Posted by awhill00 on April 18, 2008 at 9:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fulmer just needs to delegate offensive coaching... NOT recruiting. He's a great recruiter. GO VOLS!!
Posted by RichRollin on April 18, 2008 at 10:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I sure hope we get Marlon brown from memphis. #1 WR in the country. Can't let him get out of the state. I'll agree that fulmer is a great recruiter, probably top 5-6 nationally amongst head coaches. The only problem I have is that we seem to let guys like this slip out to USC,BAMA,ect. Gotta keep'm in state. Did JUlio jones get outta bama? No, satan kept him in state and dipped in to TENN and got some killer recruites. We gotta keep'em in state.
Posted by RichRollin on April 18, 2008 at 11:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm pumped. Anybody else? I can't help it. I just feel good about this team. Not the deepest team ever, but we gotta lot of guys that are tweeners. Got guys that can play in more than one spot. Robert ayers playing DT on passing downs will help us. He is very good. Just imagine him and bolden at DT, ben martin and wes brown at end on 3rd and 20. Get by them and you got the GOONSQUAD! Bring it on TEBOW! I include rico mccoy in the goon squad, because he's tryin' to straight SLAUGHTER! GOVOLS!!!
Posted by FWBVol on April 19, 2008 at 1:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The fact is there aren't that many 4 and 5 star defensive tackles out there to recruit. On top of that, many so-called top DTs are much like Bolden coming out of high school, i.e. they were so dominant that the first time they are challenged it takes them a while to respond.
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 3:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
eb502us,
First, I hope Chavis finally gets off his rear now since Trooper isn't around to bring him players any more. You can't have a guy that doesn't recruit well on an SEC staff anymore. CPF's main fault in the lack of DL's is that he's tolerated Chavis' lack of recruiting production.
Second, what exactly is your problem with Dan Williams. That decision looks like gold right now.
Third, as FWBvol said, there aren't that many great DT's out there... and even fewer from Tn.
All that said, Cory Hall will be back next year and looks to be a very good DT prospect. If they can sign a couple more out of HS then it should be fine.
Posted by pdhuff on April 19, 2008 at 6:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sjt18 - where have you been, on sabbatical?
Going to the O/W?
As far as DT's, 2 competent would be nice. More would be ecstasy.
Catch the sportsbook odds at 7-1 on Ga, 6-1 on Fla and 100-1 on Vols for NC? What do they know.
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Working third shift right now to help manage an expanded production dept during our busy season.
No. Love to but the 700 mile commute is more than I can handle.
Absolutely, Hall might make one. Different things have been said about Dallas Lee. Some people threw their hands up when UGA offered and FSU got involved... but the way I here it UT is still very much in the mix. I know there are several others with strong interest but I don't recall the names right now.
I answered that odds thing when you asked me on another thread. To add, if you are picking UGA and UF that strongly... you can't pick UT even if you wanted. UT being equal to Ark and UK is a little ridiculous... but we'll have to wait and see. I'll be more interested in the adjustments to the odds after the first month of play.
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"here" s/b "hear".
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 7:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BTW, pdhuff, If I'm not mistaken, the early odds like those would be heavily influenced by the media and partisan fan betting.
UF and UGA fans are pretty hyped about their chances with some good reasons for both. Bama fans are downright delusional... you might have some play between Aub and Bama fans to run that up too.
Most rational UT fans are cautiously optimistic. I am... but even if I were a betting man there's no way I'd put money on UT right now. Too many questions that can only be answered when the real shooting starts.
Posted by budrhon on April 19, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A potential 6-6 season, Fulmer on the Hotseat and whether Clawson can inject something better into this team looms with any recruit thinking of signing with the Vols. The O&W game is important, but the UCLA game will speak more on what is going on with this team. A poor showing on National TV against another west coast opponent will surely have Fulmer in the spotlight in a negative way. Other Coaches will use that in giving the Vols another poor recruiting turn out.
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
budhron, if all that gloom and doom comes true then you can be sure other coaches will use it... just like they used the noise about CPF's job security last year. Some of that of course was earned when UT lost badly to UF and Bama. Part of it was a function of a grumbling fan base.
Again, I've seen no one else anywhere else predicting a 6-6 season. Where have you seen that? Which games are you predicting as losses?
Posted by pdhuff on April 19, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sjt18 7:49 good post. The odds are on potential, not actual events. But they give us the "start somewhere".
I do share your idea that we will be head and shoulders above KY, not sure about Arkie. Nutt can recruit!
Posted by sjt18 on April 19, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ark has a void especially among their skill players. If Mallett is eligible that will help them but it doesn't solve all their problems. They had losses on D too.
A good friend of mine is a Hog fan. They are fully expecting a losing season or two while Petrino gets his own type of players in.
I wish they were going to be better since UF plays them and UT doesn't... but they will probably be last in the West this fall.
Posted by johnlg00 on April 19, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My major disappointment with recruiting in recent years has been our inability to get high-quality DLs, as is the case with many others on here. If there is such a lack of them, then why do about half of our opponents seem to be able to rotate at least two complete, productive units against us? I don't get it from the prospects' perspective, either. Don't we have about eight d-linemen starting in the NFL these days? I get it that we don't have a whole lot of them in-state, but they surely seem to be around somewhere, and don't we pride ourselves on recruiting nationally? It's all a mystery to me, but then, a lot of things are mysteries to me(;-P)!
Posted by givehim6 on April 19, 2008 at 1:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope todays game will be successful in impressing some off the "wait-n-see recruits to come to UT. You can't really blame them, as a fan I'm cautiously optimist with this years team. hopefuly after the O&W game we will be getting some good commitments. GO VOLS!
Posted by pdhuff on April 19, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
johnlg00 10:43 am -If big Phil should ever get on that slippery slope, you have pegged the very reason for it. Good post.
Posted by abnermc on April 19, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
UGA will be greatly disappointed again this year.Wait & see.
Posted by budrhon on April 19, 2008 at 4:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
sjt18: sorry for delay in getting back. Saturday Honeydo list if you know what I mean. Check out this website http://coacheshotseat.com/ UT is predicted to go 6-6. One of the Sports shows in the Carolinas was talking about Fulmer being rated low on the Coaches hot seat list. They thought he should be higher than what was listed on the website.
Posted by weisgarber2003 on April 19, 2008 at 7:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
People shouldn't be too concerned with Phillsbury's recruiting efforts. After all, he brought in the 35th best class in the country didn't he? And he even gave the eloquent Vanderbilt speech about getting quality help where they needed it, or words to that effect. The man Phillsbury is a supreme master of verbal sleight-of-hand.
Posted by General_Watermelon on April 19, 2008 at 7:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
budrhon - Where will Fulmer be ranked on the list when he's holding the Sears Trophy this year?
Be happy and eat more fritters!
Posted by General_Watermelon on April 19, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One other thing I noticed at the O&W Game. Coach Chavis looks like he's been in a fritter eating contest with Fulmer and get this.......WON!
Posted by pdhuff on April 19, 2008 at 9:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gen Fritter 7:46 - has big Phil finally been bested and by a loyal member of the "family"?
Now we know why he's not in the press box. Insurance. LOL
How did Poole look?
Posted by sjt18 on April 20, 2008 at 1:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
weisgarber, Not to burst your bubble or anything... but two of the 3* that I consistently suggested were underrated have already made strong moves to carve out playing time: Johnson, Poole.
Poole was said to be the best prepared RB they've had come in since J Lewis. He's already impressed the upper classmen with his toughness and work ethic.
Frazier, Rogan, Wilson, Parker, both Fosters, Stocker, and Dan Williams are all 3* players CPF found and developed. All of those guys have an excellent chance of playing on Sundays.
Posted by pdhuff on April 20, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
IF - a big IF- Poole can stay healthy, he could be the man. Run hard, run North and South, hold the pig and make things happen, North Jawga lad!!
Posted by PaulTheVol on April 20, 2008 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dallas Lee committed to Georgia on Saturday. That hurts because he is a great one.
Posted by sjt18 on April 21, 2008 at 5:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah Paul. That stinks. I was very hopeful he'd come to UT as a DT. OTOH, that may help UT with some OL's in GA they've been after.
I've given a little more thought to the Ming recruitment too. I had basically written him off but he then I thought about Bama's class last year. They still run the 3-4 and signed about 8 or 9 DL's last year. Auburn also had a solid class.
UT OTOH can offer him almost immediate PT. If Wes Brown becomes a star, that would have to help as well.
Posted by hiresanders on April 22, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tell that to Pete Carroll, they have like 8 commits so far.
Posted by sjt18 on April 23, 2008 at 2:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hiresanders, Tell what to Pete Carroll? USC is in LA. Last year something like 20 of the Rivals 100 were from within 50 miles of USC... He'd have to be pretty well incompetent not to do well recruiting.
He's a good coach so with his geographical advantage, he doesn't have to be a great recruiter.
Any coach at UT no matter what you think of their coaching ability MUST be a GREAT recruiter to stay competitive.
Posted by pdhuff on April 23, 2008 at 5:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sjt18 2:33 am - Ol' Urbie M doesn't have to travel far either.
If UConn can field a decent football team, why don't they have a top ten squad out of NYC area. Man, think of the thugs available. I can see the pregame now, Lorenzo Macklin, 6'8 340 - Rykers Island, Johnny Batho 6'6" 327 - Sing Sing- Marv Ricotella 6'1" 225 - Attica, would be potent! LOL
Posted by sjt18 on April 23, 2008 at 6:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That is funny.
I've often wondered why so little talent comes out of the northeast but you just don't see it even out of NY. I don't think I've ever heard of a good football player that grew up in NYC.
I guess that kind of answers the question. NYC is too urban and the rest of NY state is "not athletic".
Posted by sjt18 on April 23, 2008 at 6:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You're right about Meyer. I checked awhile back. Florida routinely produces 40 to 50 4*/5* players each year. With both FSU and Miami down, UF is basically picking and choosing rather than recruiting.
Don't know if you saw it but Richt said not long ago that he doesn't have to put too much effort into recruiting any more. They've had enough success that it is easy to get home state kids in... and there's more than enough talent in GA to keep them in the top 10 of recruiting year in, year out. I can't remember the exact words but he basically said that the GA recruits seek them out.
You need to run for the legislature in Tn on the platform that you will overhaul the state's middle school and Jr High football system so there's a better supply of homegrown talent for UT. You'd probably get elected...
Posted by philfan on April 23, 2008 at 7:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you build it, they will come, was a slogan of a popular movie some years ago about a baseball team with players that were actually dead but did not seem to know it. Try this one: If you whip them, they will come, means that if and when we start beating Florida and a few other teams on a very regular basis, they, the recruits, will come to Tennessee without too much persuasion from Fulmer and the other coaches. I firmly believe that the outcome of the Florida and UCLA games is critical in order to stop this cycle of negativism on this chat board and to finally win another SEC trophy. I hope I do not sound too melodramatic about this but I believe the Florida game, especially, will determine strongly the future of Tennessee football.
Posted by General_Watermelon on April 23, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
sjt18 - Pete Caroll does have a lot of talent in the back yard, but in fairness, USC wasn't getting as much until he came. Agree that it makes it easier when they are in your back yard. Fulmer has only a few great ones to chose from in TN and then he has to go outside the state and explain to a kid's momma why she should let her baby play miles from home. Even the naysayers have a tough time picking apart Fulmer's normal recruiting classes. I've heard the momma's like to watch Fulmer eat their cooking. Hard for a skinny guy like Spurrier to compete with that.
Posted by sjt18 on April 25, 2008 at 2:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
philfan, kids from GA, FL, AL, and LA grow up dreaming of playing for the home school. Beat them or not, a lot of kids are staying home regardless. They'll only leave if those programs drop off generally. When UGA was down during the 90's, a lot of teams including UT were able to raid GA.
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