The CheckerBoard

Fair question and I think one we are all waiting to see.

Vonn Bell, Marquez North, Derrick Green... If we go 0 for 3 with those guys then there will be reason for concern. We really need to get all 3, and there is little doubt in my mind if we got Charlie Strong we would get all 3...

Butch Jones was nobody's 1st choice or even 2nd or 3rd, and the fact is his name alone isn't going to bring in 4 or 5 stars. We need to rely on the staff, and pray to good he wins next year. If he doesn't we will keep drifting further into irrelevance.

Oh jeez... did you just "year zero" us... noooo

:-)

If we recruited King Kong and he was a 3*?????

Yeah, not to beat a dead horse, but this is really an overreaction to be 'concerned' after only two weeks. I think you're forgetting that half of his recruiting job was to keep the guys around who were committed in addition to scouting, evaluating, and visiting new recruits.

The class is only half-full with 6 weeks to go, he's not going to fill it with 4 and 5* guys in that short amount of time. Build up some depth in the weaker positions and stay on top of the elite players who've been keen on Tennessee for a while is the plan.

In the mean, though, chill out, and let the staff do their thing.

A +1 to you Carolina and to the OP. Way too early to be too worried and Coach Jones has some really good recruiters on his staff. True, they have some obstacles to overcome, but with the new intensity around the program, I have confidence the climb back to relevance in the SEC has already started. Who knows at this stage, we may be in for Dooley Part II, or on the other hand, we may have found our Saban!

Got you a +1 to help offset Puddin. I think some of our friends misunderstand the purpose of the down-vote. Or maybe I am the one who misunderstands - I reserve mine for trolls or personal attacks and don't use one just because I may disagree with the poster.

Back at ya.

Staff turn over scares most recruits. We are second and third choice for kids. They develope relationships with our staff and before you know it the staff is gone. We've had so many HCs, coordinators, schemes etc over the past 5 years its hard to be taken seriously. Well get kids who have us as their third choice who don't get picked by higher priorities.

Time will tell. It does bother me some too though. All the excuses above are what we said about Dooley for 3 years.

Maybe we'll get a few late Christmas presents. That will ease our minds.

gasp a DV?? whatever shall i do? Give me some more but u know it's true.