Fans at the Tennessee-UNLV football game might have benefited from an atlas as much as a game program.

The Vols, as usual, have more than their fair share of out-of-state talent. Against UNLV, a quarterback from Oregon shared the position with a quarterback from South Florida.

Three different UT receivers - from Florida, Virginia and Oklahoma - caught touchdown passes. Two tailbacks scored as well. One is from Alabama. The other is from Tennessee. The leading rusher is from Arkansas.

The Vols' next great defensive tackle might be a Hawaii native who transferred from a junior college in California. Speaking of California, two of UT's top linebackers are from the Golden State.

Of the 85 scholarship players on UT's pre-season roster, only 20 are from Tennessee. The other 65 players represent 19 different states.

Georgia is the highest non-Tennessee talent producer with nine players on UT's roster. Florida is second with seven. South Carolina is third with six. The Vols have five players from California.

The University of Florida is the polar opposite.

Out of 84 scholarship players on Florida's roster, 54 are from Florida.

"It's very tough," coach Phillip Fulmer said of recruiting at UT. "We've got some of our sisters to the south that are junior recruiting because they have 18 commitments in mid-December or early January. We're still tying to fill our needs. It takes more at Tennessee."

Fulmer said Nebraska and Iowa share the Vols' plight. Both are schools with high expectations and low in-state population rates.

"My commitment when I started as the head football coach was to recruit on a national scale," Fulmer said. "That has been the key to us having the success we've had. I know it's truly our bread and butter. It has to be that way.

"Sometimes we have to project better than other people do. To watch that guy who's in the rough and getting to know him personally gives you an edge."

The perception among some UT fans is that Tennessee coaches fly across the country while Florida coaches drive across town.

"In certain years, it would be more difficult because you've got to travel more places to find players," UT recruiting coordinator Greg Adkins said. "You have to fly over other schools to get to ours.

"When you talk about the per capita athletes, you talk about Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Those are the states that produce the most players per capita. Certainly, that's an advantage."

While Tennessee might never produce enough talent to sustain a championship-caliber program, the state seems set over the next two years to provide a foundation of in-state talent rarely seen by college coaches. Fulmer is quick to point out that in-state recruiting is extremely important every year.

"The most important people are the people in the state," he said. "You have to get the people in the state."

The Vols have shown strong interest in, and may well sign 12 in-state players to a scholarship for the 2005 signing class. That's more than half of UT's expected signing class of 18-20 prospects. The 2006 class looks almost as strong. The Vols have shown serious interest in at least eight junior prospects.

UT will focus heavily on in-state recruiting for the foreseeable future. In addition to lessening travel time and expenses, signing life-long Tennessee fans that happen to be highly touted prospects has obvious advantages. UT fans have long sung the praises of the Tennessee player who gives it all for the program.

"The biggest thing I want is for in-state kids to feel like they are important because they are," Adkins said. "Since I've been here, I've made it an emphasis to give those kids every opportunity."

Adkins, in his second year, may well be the perfect man for the recruiting job at UT. Adkins feels the need and understands the importance of focusing on in-state talent. If the job calls for it, he has the organizational skills to set up his staff for a national tour.

"The organization is the most important factor because of time constraints," Adkins said. "Tennessee has been able to do a lot of things by recruiting nationally.

"It says a lot about what's been here in the past and what we have to sell. There might be other places equal in what we have to sell but I don't know that there's anybody better. Tradition, stadium, winning, and stability within our coaching staff are a lot of important factors. There's a lot to be said for that."

So what happens when nearly 100 young men with diverse backgrounds find themselves in a new place playing for a new team? UT hopes those players are more intent on team success than their own potential professional futures. Fulmer and staff impress upon players the traditions that make UT exceptional.

"That starts during the recruiting process," Adkins said. "Those are a lot of the reasons they choose UT. After they get here, we bring in people to talk about those things. They talk to them about what the game maxims really mean, who wrote them, and why it's important."

Junior linebacker Kevin Simon, a California native, has accepted UT tradition as if it were his birthright.

"It's all about camaraderie and coming together as a team," Simon said. "Part of that has to be the job of the juniors and seniors to include everybody and make everybody feel a part of what's going on. When you get good leaders in here, it's like a trickle-down effect."

Perhaps no player best exemplifies UT's ability to recruit nationally and meld players with different backgrounds like junior defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona

In order to sway the Hawaiian native to Knoxville, UT coaches had to travel to California to visit with Mahelona at Orange Coast Community College. Then, it was off to Hawaii to visit with his family. In only nine months on campus, Mahelona said he feels like one of the family.

"Tennessee showed me and my family so much love, that alone could have made my decision to come here, Mahelona said. "There's not a day that's gone by where I don't ask myself 'How did I end up at Tennessee?' I don't take any of it for granted.

"They have a solid foundation here with football and God. We pray everyday after practice. We pray together as a team. We have our own team pastor. I'd never heard of that. Being a part of a program like this is a great blessing."

Fulmer has seen some talented players focus on "me" instead of "team". After the 1999 season, Fulmer criticized some UT players for playing for "the name on the back of the jersey instead of the 'T' on the side of the helmet."

"We indoctrinate them in every way we can," Fulmer said. "We talk about team and commitment. The talent and the toughness are the bricks of what you do but the mortar is the loyalty and commitment to the program.

"I like where I'm coaching," Fulmer said. "I envy those (other coaches) from the standpoint that they are junior recruiting and spending more time with their families. They don't have to focus on it quite as much as we do but I understand Tennessee football.

"You go back and check the team from the 1938 Orange Bowl and those kids were from all over."