We begin this edition of the War Room like we do every week with a couple of ground rules. Everything that is reported in the War Room must stay in the War Room. That is how this works. The information in War Room is detailed to the point that it does not need to be passed beyond the doors of this post. This is a special feature for subscribers only, which is why it is posted on the premium board. Posting here is the only way to ensure that the information is exclusive to The General's Quarters. The War Room is a collective effort of notes and news gathered throughout the week by Brent, John, Rob, Paul and Austin. The War Room will only work if everyone helps make it work … and now that both our prayers are with our leader Brent Hubbs and this national signing day was anything but … LAME ... it's on with the news.
Tennessee had one major target down the stretch in recruiting and beyond Drew Richmond it was a pretty uneventful signing day for the Vols as all kind of went as scheduled.
But, there was certainly some drama with Richmond and it was an entertaining recruitment for some time. Don't discount the drama with Venzell Boulware, either. That's one the Vols had to work late to hold onto.
Richmond had been one of the Vols' top targets since Butch Jones took the Tennessee job in December of 2012 and in the weeks leading up to Richmond's original announcement in September of 2014 the Vols were the team to beat. That was, until a visit to Ole Miss had Drew reconsidering his thoughts of heading to Tennessee and he went with the Rebels on Sept. 9.
As it turns out, that was really just the opening act of his recruitment.
Throughout the fall, while being a staunch supporter of Ole Miss' on-field success, Richmond continued to visit Tennessee. But, the Tennessee coaching staff felt there was very little seriousness to Richmond's interest and it's fair to say the Vols took their foot off the pedal somewhat as nothing really seemed to change.
By December, there was little, and at times no, communication between Richmond and the Vols as the big left tackle seemed set on heading to Ole Miss. In fact, in Volquest's lone conversation with Richmond at the Under Armour All-American Game he told us he wasn't taking an official visit to Tennessee and wasn't considering the Vols.
But, coming out after the Vols' bowl win and several top Ole Miss targets heading elsewhere, like Ugo Amadi, it seemed Richmond began to really look at other options seriously.
Coming out of the dead period communication began again. Jones deserves a ton of credit with Richmond as the two really had built up a relationship that was formed over years. Also don't discount the factor Bob Welton played in his recruitment as well as the two logged a lot of time together while Richmond was on Tennessee's campus.
But, the question remained, how serious Richmond was in the Vols? It was one Jones addressed with Richmond and once Richmond let Tennessee know the interest was genuine the Vols turned up the heat and really in a matter of weeks were able to make up a lot of ground.
Jones went in the home just one week before signing day and the visit went as good as possible with Drew starting to hint the Vols could in fact be his destination.
Then came Richmond's official visit to Knoxville where Phillips and other players were instrumental in recruiting the Memphis lineman to Rocky Top. When exiting the trip Sunday early afternoon, Richmond gave Tennessee strong indications that on signing day he would be a Vol.
While there was some sweating it out down the stretch, once Richmond told Ole Miss' staff Monday night that he was decommitting the writing was on the wall. The Rebels continued to pursue Richmond over the next 48 hours but the Vols held on.
It certainly was a wild recruitment as just a month ago Richmond wasn't even looking at Tennessee, and for them to make up that much ground in that little time is impressive.
In fact, we're told emphatically that the SEC office got involved down the stretch to ensure that Richmond's recruitment was on the up-and-up. He and Tennessee didn't speak by phone for a short period earlier this week, and Ole Miss had boosters preying as late as Tuesday night per sources in Memphis.
It didn't matter. Richmond followed his heart, which honestly had been with Butch Jones for some time. Jones might not have had some geographical advantages that Ole Miss did, but he made up for those factors with an extremely close interpersonal relationship.
Once the SEC had faded, it's worth mentioning the importance of both Antonio 'Tiny' Richardson and, frankly, the relentless work of the Vols' academics team inside the Thornton Center with Dr. Joe Scogin.
While Richmond's recruitment was the only one with some major drama down the stretch there were certainly some others throughout the process.
The most notable besides Richmond had to be Kyle Phillips. The early enrollee defensive end from Nashville was literally debating his options until the night before his decision. Coming down the stretch both Ole Miss and LSU had the lead at different times but the Vols were able to remain the most steady with Phillips down the stretch.
Phillips was the last addition to what has to be one of the most impressive collection defensive line talent in one class in several years. The quality and quantity has been noticed not only by the Vols but by coaches around the country.
Another interesting recruitment has to be John Kelly. The Vols didn't offer the talented athlete until late November and by that time most believed it was going to be either Michigan, Minnesota or Michigan State. But, credit Robert Gillespie[/B] for really going all out for Kelly once he evaluated the running back.
From late November onward Tennessee became a very real factor with Gillespie and Kelly growing close and Gillespie focusing on those around Kelly as well. By mid-December the Vols became the team to beat and that lasted all the way through signing day.
On the day Kelly announced, the same day Mike Bajakian left for Tampa Bay, Kelly was close to holding off on his afternoon announcement but Gillespie was with him before his announcement and convinced him it was right to make that decision as the Vols still had several running backs on the board.
But, with Kelly in the fold by that Wednesday evening the Vols had to inform Jaason Lewis they were out of spots at running back. Love, who was still seriously considering the Vols and some wonder if he was leaning towards Knoxville, ended up going with Stanford.
While some asked why the Vols chose to go with Kelly without hosting other highly ranked backs like Love and Lewis the simple fact is that Kelly was the Vols' top running back target down the stretch. Kelly, at 5-foot-10, 200-pounds, Tennessee felt like was the most ready to compete and really the most complete back left on their board.
Some wondered why the Tennessee didn't replace Kendall Bussey with another running back down the stretch but after talking to his father and digging a little more into the situation Bussey was planning to blueshirt for Tennessee.
So, when Bussey decommitted he was essentially decommitting from the scholarships that were available in 2016 and didn't open up a spot for the 2015 class.
While the Vols' class will certainly be remembered for who they landed leading up to signing day, there's no doubt that some will remember that Tennessee had to let some very good players know that they were full.
Offensive tackle Pat Allen was set to make an announcement for Tennessee at the Semper Fi All-American Game in early January but decided to hold off and indicated to Volquest that the Vols were still the team to beat coming out of the game. But, as time went on and Georgia got back into the picture, Allen continued to delay a decision.
Once things heated up with Richmond things with Allen began to cool from a Tennessee perspective and Jones didn't even visit with Allen down the stretch essentially taking the Vols out of the race for the Maryland offensive tackle.
An interesting note on Ugo Amadi. Though the sublime cornerback already is enrolled in classes at Oregon, he likely would have been a Vol had he wanted to commit months earlier --- or had the Vols' board of top targets not changed so dramatically.
Some reported that Texas A&M was a factor for junior college cornerback Justin Martin down the stretch but the reality is Martin's visit to College Station, Texas, wasn't much more than a courtesy visit for Martin as he certainly has a great respect for John Chavis.
What little drama there was around the Vols signing class is a testament of just how close the group became. Whether it was Alabama, Florida or Georgia that continued to make plays for PrestonWilliams or the many others, most of the Vols' commitments and eventual signees stayed the course with Tennessee.
In terms of what the Vols are getting overall in this class, Tennessee's staff feels they have absolutely started the rebuilding of the lines of scrimmage for the Vols. While it's not fair to ask the Vols to rely the amount of freshmen they did last year, they certainly don't expect to have the luxury of redshirting a good portion of this class as a large number of them will have to play immediately.
Some of that will be out of need, but it's also a testament to their talent. A good number of people we've talked to this week on campus have indicated they see the ceiling being higher in the 2015 class than with the 2014 class.
As for the talk surrounding Mike DeBord, we know from a first-hand account that DeBord told someone, "Look, I hired Butch Jones and he busted his ass every day for me. It's time for me to bust my ass every day for him,"
The ability to move the offense --- and the won/loss column --- forward remain keys in this environment.
We still expect a formal announcement of a 2017 game opposite Georgia Tech in the relatively near future. The Vols and YellowJackets will participate in an action-packed weekend that the SEC is set to formally announce at a later date, but look for multiple games to kick off the opening of Atlanta's new football palace.
With the class of 2015 now wrapped up the staff will turn it's full attention to the class of 2016. Tennessee is off to a great start in the class with seven commitments and four 4-star commitments early on.
Expect the class to be around 20-22 spots as we're a year out, but as we've seen with Butch Jones the numbers are never really a firm thing.
The needs? Wide receiver will be a huge priority for the staff and the Vols will take at least three wideouts and depending on how numbers shake out don't be surprised if Tennessee signs four next year.
We've mentioned a lot of names early on but Donnie Corley and several more are clear early targets.
Safety is also a top priority and Ikenna Okeke is a name to remember.
As always, the line of scrimmage will continue to be a place the Vols concentrate on and offensively they are off to a really good start with tackle Ryan Johnson already in the fold.
Texas jumbo athlete Kellen Diesch is someone Tennessee likes because of his frame and athleticism and he'll be on campus in a few weeks for the Vols' Feb. 21 junior day. Tennessee seems to be in really good shape early on as his Diesch's parents are big Tennessee fans. But, don't be surprised if he continues to pick up more offers moving forward.
Other important offensive linemen early on include Taleni Suhren.
On the defensive line it starts instate with guys like Tariq Tisdale, the two West Tennessee defensive ends are priorities Steve Stripling[/B] has known since early 2014 and has built a good relationship with. Tennessee and Mississippi State are the two early frontrunners for Gooden. Tisdale seems to like the Vols early on, but several others like Ole Miss and Mississippi State are involved as well.
Tennessee will also likely want to add at least one more corner to its group and Patrice Rene who we wrote about over the weekend. The Canada product is someone Willie Martinez has really started to recruit hard recently and could emerge as someone to keep an eye on.
On either side of the ball, either at cornerback or wide receiver, instate athlete Rontavius Grove is someone to keep an eye on as well.
We will be bringing you a lot of coverage over the weekend on the class of 2016 so on both Saturday and Sunday look for a closer look into the Vols' recruiting efforts already underway.
And a big reason the Vols are already and have been hitting the ground running with the class of 2016 is because of the advanced scouting done in the recruiting department. A lot of people have seen the names Bob Welton, Dana Morrison, Matt Hibbs and others this week, Matt Wilson, the Vols' Recruiting Personnel Administrator, has shown to be a very valuable asset in the early scouting department and has really helped the Vols looking forward to 2016, 2017 and beyond.
HOOPS
Tennessee dropped an ugly one at home this week to Mississippi State, one that the Vols certainly would like to have back. Tennessee had an awful night on the defensive end and for the first time this year Donnie Tyndall kind of seemed to question his team's discipline.
The bottom line is that this team is still vastly overachieving, but dropping that one to the Bulldogs certainly brought them back to earth a bit. It hurts even more due to the team heading out for a two game road swing to Georgia and Vandy that will be tricky.
As always, people want to know what's going on with the NCAA and Tyndall, and as we've been having to relay for awhile now, there's just nothing new to report as the coach has still not received a letter of allegations from the NCAA.
Remember, Tyndall will have have 90 days to respond to the letter before going in front of the Committee on Infractions, so even if the letter arrives next, we're looking at the middle of May before a resolution. Assuming this thing drags on for a little while longer it could end up being July before the case is heard.
Unless the allegations are just so damning in nature there's no choice but to part ways with him, then it's our belief that Tennessee will stick with Tyndall at least until the committee meets.
This is just speculation on our part, but in that timetable, Tennessee might be more inclined to take some harsh penalties in order to keep Tyndall in order to avoid conducting a coaching search in the middle of summer. That would be a tough situation to say the least.
On the recruiting front this staff is certainly acting like they're going to be around awhile and continue to try and build towards the future. Increasingly, that future looks like it could include a healthy does of junior college talent in the late signing period.
Al Pinkins was back down in the southwest this week where he has been putting in some major junior college evaluation work in the last month. This week swing man Shawn Smith[/B] got a long look from Tennessee.
On Thursday the focus was on point guard Rob Gray[/B] at Howard College. Gray, who is originally from Forest City, N.C., has been getting some heavy attention from the Vols lately. He's definitely a player to keep in mind going forward as the staff looks to address what looks like an enormous hole at the point guard spot.
Lastly, some good news on the five-star front in 2016. Top Vols' target Abdulhakim Ado is expected to be an unofficial visitor for the Vols' game against Kentucky on Feb. 17. That's a nice development and will be third time he's been on campus since the fall.
This post was edited on 2/6 12:34 AM by P_Fortenberry
Tennessee had one major target down the stretch in recruiting and beyond Drew Richmond it was a pretty uneventful signing day for the Vols as all kind of went as scheduled.
But, there was certainly some drama with Richmond and it was an entertaining recruitment for some time. Don't discount the drama with Venzell Boulware, either. That's one the Vols had to work late to hold onto.
Richmond had been one of the Vols' top targets since Butch Jones took the Tennessee job in December of 2012 and in the weeks leading up to Richmond's original announcement in September of 2014 the Vols were the team to beat. That was, until a visit to Ole Miss had Drew reconsidering his thoughts of heading to Tennessee and he went with the Rebels on Sept. 9.
As it turns out, that was really just the opening act of his recruitment.
Throughout the fall, while being a staunch supporter of Ole Miss' on-field success, Richmond continued to visit Tennessee. But, the Tennessee coaching staff felt there was very little seriousness to Richmond's interest and it's fair to say the Vols took their foot off the pedal somewhat as nothing really seemed to change.
By December, there was little, and at times no, communication between Richmond and the Vols as the big left tackle seemed set on heading to Ole Miss. In fact, in Volquest's lone conversation with Richmond at the Under Armour All-American Game he told us he wasn't taking an official visit to Tennessee and wasn't considering the Vols.
But, coming out after the Vols' bowl win and several top Ole Miss targets heading elsewhere, like Ugo Amadi, it seemed Richmond began to really look at other options seriously.
Coming out of the dead period communication began again. Jones deserves a ton of credit with Richmond as the two really had built up a relationship that was formed over years. Also don't discount the factor Bob Welton played in his recruitment as well as the two logged a lot of time together while Richmond was on Tennessee's campus.
But, the question remained, how serious Richmond was in the Vols? It was one Jones addressed with Richmond and once Richmond let Tennessee know the interest was genuine the Vols turned up the heat and really in a matter of weeks were able to make up a lot of ground.
Jones went in the home just one week before signing day and the visit went as good as possible with Drew starting to hint the Vols could in fact be his destination.
Then came Richmond's official visit to Knoxville where Phillips and other players were instrumental in recruiting the Memphis lineman to Rocky Top. When exiting the trip Sunday early afternoon, Richmond gave Tennessee strong indications that on signing day he would be a Vol.
While there was some sweating it out down the stretch, once Richmond told Ole Miss' staff Monday night that he was decommitting the writing was on the wall. The Rebels continued to pursue Richmond over the next 48 hours but the Vols held on.
It certainly was a wild recruitment as just a month ago Richmond wasn't even looking at Tennessee, and for them to make up that much ground in that little time is impressive.
In fact, we're told emphatically that the SEC office got involved down the stretch to ensure that Richmond's recruitment was on the up-and-up. He and Tennessee didn't speak by phone for a short period earlier this week, and Ole Miss had boosters preying as late as Tuesday night per sources in Memphis.
It didn't matter. Richmond followed his heart, which honestly had been with Butch Jones for some time. Jones might not have had some geographical advantages that Ole Miss did, but he made up for those factors with an extremely close interpersonal relationship.
Once the SEC had faded, it's worth mentioning the importance of both Antonio 'Tiny' Richardson and, frankly, the relentless work of the Vols' academics team inside the Thornton Center with Dr. Joe Scogin.
While Richmond's recruitment was the only one with some major drama down the stretch there were certainly some others throughout the process.
The most notable besides Richmond had to be Kyle Phillips. The early enrollee defensive end from Nashville was literally debating his options until the night before his decision. Coming down the stretch both Ole Miss and LSU had the lead at different times but the Vols were able to remain the most steady with Phillips down the stretch.
Phillips was the last addition to what has to be one of the most impressive collection defensive line talent in one class in several years. The quality and quantity has been noticed not only by the Vols but by coaches around the country.
Another interesting recruitment has to be John Kelly. The Vols didn't offer the talented athlete until late November and by that time most believed it was going to be either Michigan, Minnesota or Michigan State. But, credit Robert Gillespie[/B] for really going all out for Kelly once he evaluated the running back.
From late November onward Tennessee became a very real factor with Gillespie and Kelly growing close and Gillespie focusing on those around Kelly as well. By mid-December the Vols became the team to beat and that lasted all the way through signing day.
On the day Kelly announced, the same day Mike Bajakian left for Tampa Bay, Kelly was close to holding off on his afternoon announcement but Gillespie was with him before his announcement and convinced him it was right to make that decision as the Vols still had several running backs on the board.
But, with Kelly in the fold by that Wednesday evening the Vols had to inform Jaason Lewis they were out of spots at running back. Love, who was still seriously considering the Vols and some wonder if he was leaning towards Knoxville, ended up going with Stanford.
While some asked why the Vols chose to go with Kelly without hosting other highly ranked backs like Love and Lewis the simple fact is that Kelly was the Vols' top running back target down the stretch. Kelly, at 5-foot-10, 200-pounds, Tennessee felt like was the most ready to compete and really the most complete back left on their board.
Some wondered why the Tennessee didn't replace Kendall Bussey with another running back down the stretch but after talking to his father and digging a little more into the situation Bussey was planning to blueshirt for Tennessee.
So, when Bussey decommitted he was essentially decommitting from the scholarships that were available in 2016 and didn't open up a spot for the 2015 class.
While the Vols' class will certainly be remembered for who they landed leading up to signing day, there's no doubt that some will remember that Tennessee had to let some very good players know that they were full.
Offensive tackle Pat Allen was set to make an announcement for Tennessee at the Semper Fi All-American Game in early January but decided to hold off and indicated to Volquest that the Vols were still the team to beat coming out of the game. But, as time went on and Georgia got back into the picture, Allen continued to delay a decision.
Once things heated up with Richmond things with Allen began to cool from a Tennessee perspective and Jones didn't even visit with Allen down the stretch essentially taking the Vols out of the race for the Maryland offensive tackle.
An interesting note on Ugo Amadi. Though the sublime cornerback already is enrolled in classes at Oregon, he likely would have been a Vol had he wanted to commit months earlier --- or had the Vols' board of top targets not changed so dramatically.
Some reported that Texas A&M was a factor for junior college cornerback Justin Martin down the stretch but the reality is Martin's visit to College Station, Texas, wasn't much more than a courtesy visit for Martin as he certainly has a great respect for John Chavis.
What little drama there was around the Vols signing class is a testament of just how close the group became. Whether it was Alabama, Florida or Georgia that continued to make plays for PrestonWilliams or the many others, most of the Vols' commitments and eventual signees stayed the course with Tennessee.
In terms of what the Vols are getting overall in this class, Tennessee's staff feels they have absolutely started the rebuilding of the lines of scrimmage for the Vols. While it's not fair to ask the Vols to rely the amount of freshmen they did last year, they certainly don't expect to have the luxury of redshirting a good portion of this class as a large number of them will have to play immediately.
Some of that will be out of need, but it's also a testament to their talent. A good number of people we've talked to this week on campus have indicated they see the ceiling being higher in the 2015 class than with the 2014 class.
As for the talk surrounding Mike DeBord, we know from a first-hand account that DeBord told someone, "Look, I hired Butch Jones and he busted his ass every day for me. It's time for me to bust my ass every day for him,"
The ability to move the offense --- and the won/loss column --- forward remain keys in this environment.
We still expect a formal announcement of a 2017 game opposite Georgia Tech in the relatively near future. The Vols and YellowJackets will participate in an action-packed weekend that the SEC is set to formally announce at a later date, but look for multiple games to kick off the opening of Atlanta's new football palace.
With the class of 2015 now wrapped up the staff will turn it's full attention to the class of 2016. Tennessee is off to a great start in the class with seven commitments and four 4-star commitments early on.
Expect the class to be around 20-22 spots as we're a year out, but as we've seen with Butch Jones the numbers are never really a firm thing.
The needs? Wide receiver will be a huge priority for the staff and the Vols will take at least three wideouts and depending on how numbers shake out don't be surprised if Tennessee signs four next year.
We've mentioned a lot of names early on but Donnie Corley and several more are clear early targets.
Safety is also a top priority and Ikenna Okeke is a name to remember.
As always, the line of scrimmage will continue to be a place the Vols concentrate on and offensively they are off to a really good start with tackle Ryan Johnson already in the fold.
Texas jumbo athlete Kellen Diesch is someone Tennessee likes because of his frame and athleticism and he'll be on campus in a few weeks for the Vols' Feb. 21 junior day. Tennessee seems to be in really good shape early on as his Diesch's parents are big Tennessee fans. But, don't be surprised if he continues to pick up more offers moving forward.
Other important offensive linemen early on include Taleni Suhren.
On the defensive line it starts instate with guys like Tariq Tisdale, the two West Tennessee defensive ends are priorities Steve Stripling[/B] has known since early 2014 and has built a good relationship with. Tennessee and Mississippi State are the two early frontrunners for Gooden. Tisdale seems to like the Vols early on, but several others like Ole Miss and Mississippi State are involved as well.
Tennessee will also likely want to add at least one more corner to its group and Patrice Rene who we wrote about over the weekend. The Canada product is someone Willie Martinez has really started to recruit hard recently and could emerge as someone to keep an eye on.
On either side of the ball, either at cornerback or wide receiver, instate athlete Rontavius Grove is someone to keep an eye on as well.
We will be bringing you a lot of coverage over the weekend on the class of 2016 so on both Saturday and Sunday look for a closer look into the Vols' recruiting efforts already underway.
And a big reason the Vols are already and have been hitting the ground running with the class of 2016 is because of the advanced scouting done in the recruiting department. A lot of people have seen the names Bob Welton, Dana Morrison, Matt Hibbs and others this week, Matt Wilson, the Vols' Recruiting Personnel Administrator, has shown to be a very valuable asset in the early scouting department and has really helped the Vols looking forward to 2016, 2017 and beyond.
HOOPS
Tennessee dropped an ugly one at home this week to Mississippi State, one that the Vols certainly would like to have back. Tennessee had an awful night on the defensive end and for the first time this year Donnie Tyndall kind of seemed to question his team's discipline.
The bottom line is that this team is still vastly overachieving, but dropping that one to the Bulldogs certainly brought them back to earth a bit. It hurts even more due to the team heading out for a two game road swing to Georgia and Vandy that will be tricky.
As always, people want to know what's going on with the NCAA and Tyndall, and as we've been having to relay for awhile now, there's just nothing new to report as the coach has still not received a letter of allegations from the NCAA.
Remember, Tyndall will have have 90 days to respond to the letter before going in front of the Committee on Infractions, so even if the letter arrives next, we're looking at the middle of May before a resolution. Assuming this thing drags on for a little while longer it could end up being July before the case is heard.
Unless the allegations are just so damning in nature there's no choice but to part ways with him, then it's our belief that Tennessee will stick with Tyndall at least until the committee meets.
This is just speculation on our part, but in that timetable, Tennessee might be more inclined to take some harsh penalties in order to keep Tyndall in order to avoid conducting a coaching search in the middle of summer. That would be a tough situation to say the least.
On the recruiting front this staff is certainly acting like they're going to be around awhile and continue to try and build towards the future. Increasingly, that future looks like it could include a healthy does of junior college talent in the late signing period.
Al Pinkins was back down in the southwest this week where he has been putting in some major junior college evaluation work in the last month. This week swing man Shawn Smith[/B] got a long look from Tennessee.
On Thursday the focus was on point guard Rob Gray[/B] at Howard College. Gray, who is originally from Forest City, N.C., has been getting some heavy attention from the Vols lately. He's definitely a player to keep in mind going forward as the staff looks to address what looks like an enormous hole at the point guard spot.
Lastly, some good news on the five-star front in 2016. Top Vols' target Abdulhakim Ado is expected to be an unofficial visitor for the Vols' game against Kentucky on Feb. 17. That's a nice development and will be third time he's been on campus since the fall.
This post was edited on 2/6 12:34 AM by P_Fortenberry
