Butch Jones and recruiting at Tennessee

Butch Jones for the moment seems to have re-energized the fan base at the University of Tennessee. This is none more apparent than his early efforts in recruiting. Securing signatures from highly touted 2013 players Marquez North and Joshua Dobbs was a solid start in Jones' recruiting efforts at Tennessee.

However, where Jones has really made a statement (to steal from another University of Tennessee athletic slogan) is in his early returns in the 2014 recruiting class. First off, getting the state of Tennessee's top two players to verbally commit as early as March was a major victory for Jones. Todd Kelly Jr. and Jalen Hurd have offers from everywhere a football player would want offers from and both decided 11 months before their signing day to buy into what Butch Jones and his staff are doing at the University of Tennessee. Hurd especially gives Tennessee the big time running back recruit that they have failed to secure in the last three years. Vic Wharton is also a solid pickup in that he's an athlete who has potential on either side of the ball because of his ball skills. He also was Jones' first commitment in the 2014 class and has really gotten the ball rolling in terms of recruiting other players from around the state and country to join up with him going to Tennessee.

Jones and his staff's early 2014 recruiting impact is not just limited to the state of Tennessee though. Jones and his staff have done solid work in getting two players out of the Virginia-Maryland-DC area. Coleman Thomas is Tennessee's only o-line commit at the moment but he appears to have the size and skills to provide depth at any of the offensive line spots. The commitment of cornerback D'Andre Payne was a major get at a position in need of a talent upgrade. Jones has also dipped into Georgia to secure one of its' top running backs in Treyvon Paulk.

The point of this post is that Jones and his staff have managed to get prospects to buy in before they even see what his product looks like on the field. It's easy to imagine that if he gets results on the field come this Fall, he may have a real opportunity to secure Tennessee's best recruiting class since 2007, which would be a start in returning Tennessee to the top of the SEC.