Leveraging relationships

[MikeHamiltonFan]

This is not another LPE thread, this is about the staff being able to understand friendships enough to build comfort in for top players.

When we loved Fulton and I found out that his father was good friends with the Prater family I was hoping we would end up with Kyle but that did not work out.

It worked out incredibly that Brandon Willis and Corey Miller both are coming. FSU was falling apart, but the opportunity to play together and room together was very attractive to them.

5 star stud or not, you have a fragile ego as a young man heading off to college. You may be a hero in your hometown, but at UT you are just an athletic member of a massive body of students. I remember Jamal getting hazed a little and getting frustrated and our friendship started because I told him I knew who he was and that I thought he was going to be a star.

Now we have possibly Stephenson and Ahmad Dixon. The staff also recruited the Glenville secondary duo Christian Bryant and Latwan Anderson who would only think about us instead of Ohio State because of Mike Edwards loving his time so far as a Vol.
Calvin Smith and Corey Lemonier...

Dyer may end up here instead of Auburn because Dakota Mosley is coming here. It is a big factor to at least have 1 real friend going where you are going to go.

J Smith, Corey Miller and Brandon Willis and Markeith Ambles have all been important in recruiting guys and making sure they get up to Knoxville and keep recruiting guys.

When we have the all star games in January, the closest family of recruits is going to be the group headed to Knoxville and the very few undecided studs are going to notice.

It is remarkable how many great players know each other, and friendships are important and this staff knows it and uses it to their advantage so very well. They also do not have thugs driving around smoking pot with recruits and getting pulled over...Thank God for the changes Lane Kiffin has brought to our program!

The final important thing is that this staff knows how to leverage existing relationships and create the right key new ones. We all know that California and Texas and Florida are key states for talent. The staff understands how important Georgia is as well. It is remarkable and a testament to great coaching that so much talent ends up concentrated in so few schools. Even on guys we miss, if we do the right thing during recruiting and are respectful of the kids family etc, those coaches will let their players know as they have new great ones that they like Coach Wilson, or Coach Reaves, or Coach Gran, or even Coach Kiffin.

This is the finest recruiting staff I have ever seen in college football. It is also a staff that is great at coaching. Once some of these guys see their prize player doing well in college and staying out of trouble, succeeding academically and then heading to the NFL as a high pick, the recruiting at UT will be almost automatic like it is at USC, where HS coaches trust the coaches and the program to take care of their guys.

[air_force_vol]

Well put.

I remember last off season when a lot of people were saying this staff has to be the best at recruiting in the nation but questioned if they would be able to coach them up. Not only are they showing that they can coach who they recruit but that they can also coach those who were already in place. That is huge in my book. At least 3 times in the Carolina game, the announcers mentioned how Berry, Hardesty, and McCoy had bought into this system along with the other seniors.

[jrobison]

I agree. I think our biggest selling point (other than PT) is the fact that we've taken a team with bottom feeder SEC talent and turned them into a team that may finish 2nd in the east.

I do think, however, that this is somewhat of a down year for the SEC from top to bottom. I'd credit that to the lack of top notch QB's. Outside of Ingram and Hardesty (maybe Ben Tate and Charles Scott), there really aren't a lot of name backs, either. Everyone knows that Rainey and Demps are good, but they would always be a Tebow-afterthought. SEC defenses are top notch, as usual. Ironically, all of this makes us look that much more attractive.

[MAJOR_ORANGE]

The article says that Dakota Mosley is coming here, I didn't know he committed.

[jrobison]

HAHA...Thats not an article. Thats MHF's own opinion based on a few facts and a little personal opinion. Very well written, though...right?

[MAJOR_ORANGE]

Originally Posted by jrobison

HAHA...Thats not an article. Thats MHF's own opinion based on a few facts and a little personal opinion. Very well written, though...right?

Yes it is, I misunderstood.

[jrobison]

Very easy mistake to make. I thought that about a lot of his posts at first.

[MikeHamiltonFan]

hahaha sorry about that. I read a lot of articles but not only is it not an article, I am not an insider.

LWS is a true insider who does not speak about every recruit but when he says something is it gold. Hubbs over at TOS has some great sources.

Sab and LV on here have been right a lot and have some sources I think. JMVA also has talked to lots of these recruits himself and is an excellent writer. It seems like jrob and Montrell and junder all have some insights and may have some sources and ooltewah is a guy who plays with J Smith and who is coming to the Memphis game with him. He has been mocked several times by others and it turned out he was completely correct.

[jrobison]

I have no sources...just opinions and a little insight into how all of this works.

Ok...I read Meat Market...twice.

[junder13]

Thanks for the love MHfan. I have no sources. I just read too much like you do. Nice "article", btw. You always make good pts and your crazed optimism about how our recruiting season would end is starting to look more and more like reality. Pretty exciting.

Yo, jrobinson...you're from Jefferson City or live there now? I grew up in Jefferson City and lived there till I went to UT.

[jrobison]

Born and raised man...