Randy Smith
As dawn broke on National Signing Day, members of the Tennessee football coaching staff had been in the office for hours, waiting patiently by the fax machines or whatever it is now that they use to receive those national letters of intent. Head coach Butch Jones had set an amazing standard over the past three years, signing talent laden recruiting classes, while building depth for his young football team. A slow start to the 2015 season, which included some tough close losses to good football teams caused some dissension among the Big Orange faithful, while those young Volunteers learned to win those close games, rather than blow big second half leads.
A 9-4 season capped by a second straight lop-sided bowl game victory over a Big Ten opponent once again gave U.T. a lot of momentum heading into yesterday. The numbers would be much smaller, because the Vols had over-signed each of the past two years, which the NCAA allows you to do as long as the numbers match up. That fact alone kept Jones from locking up another top five recruiting class, but make no mistake; the needs have been filled in Knoxville.
I know a 13th or 14th ranked recruiting class doesn't sound as sexy as one listed in the top five, but while some schools lost athletes they had counted on, the Vols closed strong. They locked up former Vol Dale Carter's son Nigel Warrior, a four star defensive back. They locked up Florida cornerback Tyler Byrd and Florida receiver Latrell Williams. But the biggest signee of the day was the nation's number one overall junior college prospect; defensive end Jonathan Kongbo. Kongbo is the closest thing the Vols had to a five-star signee on Wednesday, but the four-star athletes were abundant.
While Tennessee was settling in on their 14th ranked class, (depending upon which recruiting service you use) Alabama fans were giddy over what they claim is their sixth straight national recruiting title. Of course according to that same fan base, the Crimson Tide has won something .like 65 national titles on the field, so don't put too much into that. Florida State also laid claim to the recruiting title and 'Bama's chief rival now in the SEC West, LSU also had a great class.
But while other schools claimed victory on the recruiting trails, Coach Butch Jones and his staff quietly signed another top-notch class. Adding just what they needed to build a defense that can rival any in the country; one that gives new defensive coordinator Bob Shoop plenty to work with when camp opens. In addition to Kongbo, the Vols also added possibly their best class ever when it comes to defensive backs.
What does all this mean you ask? It means that the Volunteers are back to relevance in the SEC. They should be picked to win the SEC East title in August. They should also be ranked in the pre-season top 15 or maybe even the top ten polls later this year. They should arguably have one of the top 3-4 teams in the SEC in 2016 with the potential to have a team good enough to even make the college football playoffs. You're probably saying to yourself, " Oh that guy is so pro-U.T. He picks the Vols to win the national championship every year." I really don't but what you see here is also something you can read other places by other writers. Tennessee is going to be very good in 2016. How good, is something only time will tell.
I do know this.... yesterday, Butch Jones added 21 bricks to the team he has been building "brick-by-brick" And those bricks are good.....very good.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.