Good Morning, My Friends,

Is there any doubt that we are into Summer now? What a round of Hot and Dry weather we have had the past two weeks. On the Hill things are happening. The New Kids have moved into the Dorms for the start of their careers as Volunteers, Baseball heads into Post Season play this week, and I think that folks feel good about the path that this young coach has this team going down. It is nice to see him beating Vandy for some local kids and that he is winning in the nation’s best college baseball conference.

The main reason for these notes is a couple observations that merit consideration. There were “Howls” when the traditional Spring/Summer Big Orange Caravan was changed into another format. Basically, more places would be visited but not by the Coaching Staffs it would be Cheer Leaders, Mascots, and Other Student Spirit groups. I wondered why? Since then several things have come up that shed some light on this. First, the Vol’s Summer Football Camps are being held earlier. Last year several kids the Vols wanted went to earlier camps and got early offers at other SEC Schools Georgia in particular. That did not sit well with Jeremy. The other thing I have noticed, and it is driven by the “Early Signing Period” is the number of early Summer Official Visits by both High School and JUCO prospects. It is important for the JUCO kids who need and want to be early enrollees. I think that in the JUCO Realm, the Vols are targeting and monitoring kids coming out of high school with potential that are headed into the JUCO Ranks. It looks like they see some OL and DT potential there. It is a lot easier to get those kids on campus before the start of their last JUCO season and at the same time they are getting their first visit.

So, to me the reason for the change is/was Recruiting, Recruiting, and Recruiting. Football Camps and Visits and Basketball AAU events and Visits.

Time to go work on the yard. I hope all of you had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Go Vols!
Bill