Patience is a virtue for Tennessee

[UTVolCountry]

Derek Dooley preaching patience when it comes to recruiting - ESPN

Derek Dooley notes obstacles Vols face in recruiting now, but says no reason to panic

HOOVER, Ala. -- Panic doesn't help.

That was Derek Dooley's message for Tennessee fans that are overly concerned that the Vols are slipping far behind their SEC brethren in recruiting. With seven commitments, Tennessee is in far better shape than it was on Sunday, when it had just two commitments and had a fan base shaking in their boots.

While no excuses will matter to the most rabid fans, Dooley has some good ones.

First, his program is awaiting a ruling from the NCAA about recruiting violations that occurred before his tenure. Second, the entire athletic department has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, such as firing popular basketball coach Bruce Pearl amidst more NCAA issues and the subsequent resignation of athletic director Mike Hamilton, who has still not been replaced.

"I think absolutely it has an impact," Dooley said of the bad press affecting recruiting. "It certainly makes it a little tougher from our standpoint because our challenge is getting guys from other states to come see us. I think once players come to our campus that we're able to look past some of those concerns and they see how we operate and how we do things, then we can get in the game.

"The hardest challenge for us has been some of the negative attention that swirled around our program prevented guys from even having an initial interested in coming to look at us. Certainly it provides a tremendous amount of fair ammunition for your opponents."

 

[amszete]

Best of luck to your program this year sir!

 

[UTVolCountry]

Thanks!

Good luck to your Hokies as well, sir. Not that they really need it, lol. You guys will probably win 10-11 games.