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The Volunteers recruiting landscape is not as fertile as it once was

by Tony Basilio

I owe the University of Tennessee football team an apology. So, here goes: I'm sorry for the way I conducted myself following Tennessee's thrilling 51-43 five overtime thriller at Alabama.

Instead of enjoying the victory, I got sucked into paralysis by Big Orange analysis. The advent of talk radio/Internet/other forms of interactive, electronic media have lead to incessant whining by fans after wins! Wins! That's the trap I fell into on our post game show, which airs on West 105.3 after UT games.

We came on the air after that awesome football game and began picking apart Tennessee's victory. We weren't celebrating a win at Alabama, but crying about how Tennessee didn't look stylish enough doing it! So, it's time to come clean. It's time to admit a couple of things.

First things first. College football is a wonderful game. How else do you explain how a contest between one bad football team and another mediocre football team can elicit such great highs and lows? These were not heavyweight football teams battling. One was long ago (two years) eliminated from post-season contention while the other is clinging to faint hope akin to finding weapons of mass destruction.

Which brings me to the real point. With all due apologies to Springsteen, we need to quit acting as a fan base like we are still in the period I call the "Glory Days." The Glory Days were 1995-'01, when Tennessee was feared and stacked with talent at all positions. This was a time when lame teams like the one Alabama put on the field Saturday would curtsy at the greatness of Tennessee football. Those days are gone. Perhaps forever.

It isn't so much what Phillip Fulmer and his coaching staff have done in the past couple of years to usher in a new age, but changes other schools have made. Key coaching changes in the region mean that for the first time in the Fulmer era, Tennessee no longer has the luxury of going into adjacent states or regional states for that matter and recruiting top players. It isn't happening anymore. It might be time for all of us to adjust our expectations in the face of reality. Reality. Here goes.

The Carolinas were once fertile ground for the Vols. Tennessee's national championship team was stacked with the likes of Darwin Walker, Shaun Ellis, Albert Haynesworth, Jeff Coleman, Dominique Stevenson and other Carolina kids. Lou Holtz's arrival at South Carolina, which occurred at the end of the Glory Days, has meant the end of the Palmetto State gravy train that UT was on. Things are no less challenging for the Vols in North Carolina. A state that produced several stars of the Glory Days, including the likes of Leonard Little, Phillip Crosby, Shane Burton, Shawn Bryson, Keyon Whiteside, Bobby Graham, Steven Marsh and Deangelo Lloyd, is now virtually locked down by the presence of NC State's Chuck Amato. The former recruiting coordinator at Florida State, Amato lead NC State to its first-ever top 10 recruiting class last winter.

Want more reality? Look to the Peach State. Cosey Coleman, Deon Grant, Jamal Lewis, Steve Johnson—all starters in '98—hailed from Georgia. Would any of those guys come to UT now? It would be a stretch to think that UT will ever recruit that type of athlete en masse from Mark Richt's backyard anytime soon.

Let's keep moving further south. Welcome to the Sunshine State. Travis Henry, Horace Morris and Omari Hand all helped to boost Phillip Fulmer's winning percentage in the Glory Days. The days of going into Florida and cherry picking may be gone. For one thing, a solid recruiter in Ron Zook now is employed at UF. Steve Spurrier had a disdain for recruiting and didn't work hard at it. Miami is now flying high compared to where they were when Fulmer took over at UT. The two years before Fulmer got the UT job, Miami was National Champion and No. 3 the following year. The Canes in the abyss of probation disappeared from the AP Top 5 from '93 through 2000. Get the correlation? This greatly helped Tennessee get players out of that state! No more.

It's not just these key places where recruiting has gotten tougher. Virginia Tech and Virginia have locked down the state that's given UT players like Todd Kelly, David Martin, Charlie Garner and Kelley Washington through the years. Houston Nutt has been successful in Arkansas at keeping more kids home. Mississippi State is about to hire the first African American head coach in league history! What kind of impact will that have on recruiting in state that's given UT players like Will Overstreet, Parys Haralson and Billy Ratliffe?

Louisiana was once fertile recruiting ground for Tennessee. What would you call a state that once gave you the likes of Peyton Manning, Jarvis Rheado, Corey Gaines, Nilo Sylvan, Raynoch Thompson and Robert Peace? Do you think that caliber of player is going to leave that state with the rebirth of LSU football under Nick Saban? Dream on.

How about other places that were once great to Tennessee like Texas and Oklahoma. Tennessee did an unbelievable job getting WR Robert Meachem out of Oklahoma last winter. Do you think that will happen annually with the kind of exciting, cutting edge football that is played on both sides of the line of scrimmage in Norman under Bob Stoops? Raymond Austin, Diron Robinson, Jonathan Brown and Marcus Nash all were Oklahoma boys. In the Longhorn State, where John Mackovic and RC Slocum were once over the top two schools, say hello to Mack Brown and Dennis Franchione. Both coaches will make it tougher for Tennessee to get the likes of Mark Levine, Willie Miles, Jason Parker, Brandon Stewart and David Leaverton in years to come.

It is with heavy heart that I apologize to the Vols, who deserve a huge pat on the back for a great win at Alabama. Yes, a five-overtime win over a 3-6 Tide team is a great win. Especially in the present era of UT football. One I'm afraid will continue for the immediate future. It's time to quit projecting this Tennessee team onto the Glory Days and enjoy college football in Knoxville for what it is. The best thing going today. Please accept my apology.

Tune in and talk sports with "The Tony Basilio Show" each weekday from 3-6 p.m. on the network (670 WMTY-AM, 850 WKVL-AM, 1140 WLOD-AM, 1290 WATO-AM, or 1400 WGAP-AM).