When Steve Spurrier talks, people listen.

"Jonathan's pretty hard-headed about Tennessee," said David Crompton, the father of Tennessee commitment Jonathan Crompton, a star quarterback from Tuscola High School in Waynesville, N.C. "But if he calls you'd owe it to yourself to listen."

It's unknown if Spurrier will follow up where Lou Holtz's recruiting left off. The ol' ball coach was officially named South Carolina's coach on Tuesday. If he follows the Holtz recruiting plan, Spurrier likely will ring up Crompton.

Spurrier's history of offensive mastery at Florida makes the Gamecocks more attractive to skill-position players, particularly quarterbacks and wide receivers. For the Cromptons, there's also a personal lure.

The Gamecocks are one of the schools still strongly pursuing Jonathan despite his commitment to UT in June. The Cromptons were willing to listen, but the way Holtz demoted his son, Skip, from offensive coordinator never set well with David Crompton.

LSU, Alabama, and North Carolina State are the other schools _aggressively recruiting Crompton. Florida's once-persistent phone calls have stalled as they look for a new coach.

"He hasn't put any effort into looking at other programs for a long, long time," David Crompton said about his son.

David Crompton said there's a sense that Jonathan is a step closer to UT now that his high school season has come to an end. With a playoff elimination last week and a school holiday, the pair visited UT's coaches Tuesday.

"Driving home he said, 'Dad, every time I'm down here, it shows me more that this is where I'm supposed to be,' " David Crompton said.

No Go: LaMarcus Coker has decided against visiting Auburn in mid-December. The Antioch tailback scheduled the trip earlier this month. Coker committed to UT in December of 2003.

UT coaches couldn't have been comfortable with the idea Coker visiting The Plains. The Vols have lost two tailback commitments to Auburn since Tommy Tuberville became coach there. Coker, following in Carnell Williams' and Ronnie Brown's recruiting footprints, couldn't have been a pleasant thought for UT coaches.

Are they happy with Coker's decision to cancel his Auburn visit?

"I hope so," Coker said. "Tennessee is one back away from a national championship. I'm going to go up there and be a difference-maker."

Coker said he will not take any official visits this fall other than to Tennessee.

Coker's shoulder injury is not as serious as first thought. Coker said doctors believe it likely will not require surgery and the damaged cartilage will heal on its own. Coker suffered the injury as Antioch was eliminated from the playoffs this month. Coker missed five games this season because of a pulled hamstring suffered in Antioch's third game.

Coker is a consensus top 100 player in the nation. The News Sentinel selected him as the third-best player in the Tennessee.

Visitors: UT plans to host five official visitors this weekend when the Vols play Kentucky.

Derrick Williams (6-foot, 185 pounds) headlines the group. Williams is one of the country's top-rated players. The wide receiver from Greenbelt, Md., is considering several schools. He has yet to pick a leader.

Jeff Cottam (6-7, 255) knows Knoxville well. He has visited his brother Brad often. Brad is a freshman tight end at UT. Could UT have two Cottams at tight end in their plans for 2005 after this weekend?

Brandon Logan (6-1, 200) from Lexington, Ky., will get a look at his home-state Wildcats and UT in one weekend. Brandon's brother, John, is a Kentucky freshman wide receiver. Brandon is a linebacker.

Raymond Henderson (6-5, 252) and Travis Beckum (6-5, 220) from Oak Creek, Wis., are walking the recruiting trail together. Will they select the same school? Possibly. Beckum is a wide-receiver/linebacker. Henderson is being recruited as a defensive lineman.

Recruiting Trail Mix: McCallie defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk (6-4, 250) has committed to Duke. Ultimately, the Chattanooga star did what he said he would likely do all along: pick a school based more on academic merits than football. UT is focusing on wide receiver prospect O.J. Murdock from Tampa, Fla. So far, the 6-0, 180-pounder has expressed mutual interest.

Dave Hooker covers recruiting and may be reached at hookerd@knew.com