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Epps: Other schools toughening Vols’ recruiting challenge

By: Darren Epps

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We know what happened in Georgia. Rodney Garner left Knoxville for Athens, Mark Richt took over and Phillip Fulmer was no longer able to march down Interstate 75 without any recruiting resistance.

From Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team, six Georgia natives eventually played professionally. Fulmer has signed only six Georgia natives in his last three classes combined. The Bulldogs, though Tennessee continues to confound Richt on the field, are the ones winning titles now.

But Fulmer continued to find talent in Hawaii, Oregon and California, to name three, and Tennessee remained among the SEC’s elite. Backed by a comma-rich recruiting budget, Fulmer found talent elsewhere. He worked hard. The Volunteers continued to win.

More programs, however, are starting to invest in their football programs. The byproduct of this coaching-rich conference is exacerbated levels of recruiting.

Nick Saban, with an assist from Tommy Tuberville, is shutting down Alabama. Les Miles is closing down the New Orleans area. Butch Davis is protecting North Carolina, already getting a commitment from No. 1 defensive end Donte Moss out of Jacksonville, N.C. Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips even are keeping some talent in Kentucky.

And you start to wonder, is Fulmer running out of places to invade? It’s like some horror movie where the victim can’t escape because doors are shutting down all around him.

“It’s definitely making it much, much more difficult for him,” said Jeremy Crabtree, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “Mark Richt has the borders sealed down. New Orleans used to be a familiar recruiting territory for Tennessee, and it’s not fertile anymore. He used to be able to go to California. Then USC emerged.

“It’s not what Tennessee has done. It’s what the other people are doing.”

Factor in the cost of travel — will recruits stay closer to home so their family can afford to watch them? — and Tennessee might experience a more frightening realization than a few dumb fumbles: diminishing talent.

Tennessee’s last recruiting class ranked 35th nationally, by far the worst of Fulmer’s career. The previous class ranked third, partly due to an enormous 32-player class. (One of the five-star players in that class, Kenny O’Neal, is already gone.) The 2006 class ranked 23rd and looks worse by the moment.

So, you think, why doesn’t Fulmer just embark on a national hunt for talent? That’s not always the best tactic, according to Crabtree.

Several years ago, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops adopted a national recruiting strategy and watched his talent level decline. He was in unfamiliar high schools talking to unfamiliar coaches.

“He realized he was more successful recruiting the Lone Star State,” said Crabtree, referring to Texas. “In the national approach, he had a little bit more misses than successes, and he readjusted his philosophy.

“You’re seeing that at Tennessee, too. You can’t rely on a national recruiting base. You have to do the job in your back yard and cherry pick in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, maybe dip into Texas and sign some junior college guys.”

Fulmer, yet again, is getting kids to believe in Tennessee. His current class ranks 10th nationally, although the recruiting season is young and Tennessee is almost finished with 19 commitments. The Vols also lost highly touted California quarterback Josh Nunes to Stanford.

“It’s a pretty doggone solid class,” Crabtree said. “But a lot of kids are going to hear about the speculation with Fulmer. Schools are going to use that against Tennessee as they continue to struggle on the field and the fan base clamors for Fulmer’s head.”

That only adds interest to today’s game against Georgia. A loss would make Tennessee 0-3 in the SEC — season over. And Fulmer, more than ever, will have to search for new places to convince athletes they should travel far from home to play for a losing team. Of course, that can all change if Fulmer wins in a state that’s been so good to him in the past.

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