Just thinking with the advent of recent volunteer success in Leta de la lwizyan, Dooley is going to be licking his chops to get back to his old stomping grounds. With his high school connections and a big orange flag to wave, how many recruits does he carry off to the promise land?
I think he will have to deal with what LSU doesn't want until he can show that he push Tenn farther than LSU when it comes to national prominence. The Vols football program is stalled right now. In a couple of years, it may be back on track, but I see him recruiting heavily from Tenn and the surrounding states before coming over here and taking the top kids out of Louisiana.
He sounded like a good used car salesman. He gets to offer them a ride in a Porsche instead of a Beetle. I was just thinking he smiles a lot and knows a lot of coaches.
RIght now Dooley is licking his chops to be so close to the fertile recruiting grounds in Alabama. Tennessee has always been a virtual thorn in the back of Alabama. He is an energetic coach and has a personaility that will win over a lot of Alabama high school football talent. He's highly motivated to succeed and that spells trouble for Alabama.
:geaux: I think Ga., S.C, Ala. and N.C. have more to worry about than LSU at present. Dooley will target some La. players for sure, but IMO he'll have to target players in state and areas closer to home, the Vols traditional recruiting base first and foremost. Tennessee has always recruited players in La. regardless of whose coaching there and will continue to do so, just like other SEC teams do. Dooley isn't any better recruiter than other coaches in the SEC and will have to prove that he can be successful at this level (SEC) before he becomes a more serious threat. I'm not worried about a wholesale raid on La. talent from Dooley and Tennessee. IMO, Saban, Chizik and Nutt are the greater threats at present. :LSU231:
Auburn is pulling in a ton of big name recruits. One might think it's the magnetism emanating from the cheese man, thou possible, I'm leaning toward the openings available right now. With the situation even more needy in Knoxville it stands to reason these recruits still trying to figure it out are looking hard. Attrition hit Tennessee hard even with the max 28 players they will be below the 85 limit. If I were Dooley, I know where I would go shopping.
:geaux: I think he's got to hold on to what they've got and salvage the kids who are still committed first. And he'll obviously try to pull the kids who de-committed back in to the fold. If he does that he's not going to have that much room left. In addtion, he's still basically an unproven commodity. An overall losing record at Tech is not going to be that impressive in trying to commit kids from La. to go to Tenn. He also needs to prove he can put the Vols football house back in order, which I think he will do. He will be successful at Tenn., IMO, but I don't ever see him coming down here and cherry picking the talent in La. Like said in previous posts he'll possibly get some kids that LSU didn't pursue, but I don't see him taking any LSU commits. Let's see how he does next the next year or two and then see if he's a force in recruiting down here. I'm not worried about him at present. :LSU231:
Just what I was thinking. Add to that the few LA kids that Saban does get for Bama may now go to Dooley and UT.
I agree short term he's in damage control mode. Long term, any coach would be happy to stand on familiar ground, especially such fertile soil. The de commits are going to be interesting to watch. I don't get a sense Bama has the room or time for too much of that. Wow, this has been a super fun month and it ain't half over! Excuse me everybody that just slipped out.
