Phillip Fulmer never wants to go through another recruiting season like this one.

It's not that he was disappointed with the end result. The Vols signed a class of 23 players Wednesday, counting the return of defensive lineman J.T. Mapu from a Mormon mission.

He just wasn't thrilled with having to sell a program coming off a 5-6 season.

"We certainly fought through some ups and downs as we fought the recruiting battles from a different position than we've been in since I've been a football coach," he said. "That's after a sub-par season, so that presented some challenges."

As always, there were hits and misses.

Tennessee didn't "close" as strongly as Fulmer would have liked — losing previous commitment Michael Goggans to Auburn — but he said he was happy with the assembled talent.

"It was a good close, but not a great close, because we lost one (Goggans)," he said.

The Vols finish the 2006 recruiting season with a class ranked anywhere from No. 15 to the mid-20s by various national services. Scout.com ranked Tennessee 24th in the nation and seventh in the SEC.

"Officially, this puts an end to 2005 as far as I'm concerned," Fulmer said. "It's frustrating and it was challenging.

"What you find out is how great your fans are. We all believed it was an aberration last year and we're ready to get back on track. Obviously, to sign this many good players, a lot of other people believed that as well."

As far as those recruiting rankings go, Fulmer said he couldn't care less.

"I don't worry about the rankings," he said. "A lot of people are making a lot of money off that right now, and that's OK, that's the American way, I guess.

"But you can't ever tell. You just really don't know how they're going to do when they get to college.

"I had five star guys who were flops and I've had two star guys who developed into some of our best players."

Fulmer specifically pointed to 2003, when the Vols' class was rated 18th in the nation.

"That's Turk McBride and Arron Sears and several other guys who are really, really good football players," Fulmer said.

It's all about waiting and seeing.

"I say this every year and it's good to say it now," Fulmer said. "The proof will be in the pudding over a period of time.

"It will depend on their maturity, their development, how they handle the college atmosphere and all those things."

The last-minute loss of Goggans hurt, but not enough to depress Fulmer.

"I'm going to celebrate the ones we got," he said. "When you recruit 60 guys and you're only going to sign 20 or 22, you've got lose somebody, right?"

Areas of need were filled, mostly in the offensive and defensive lines.

Fulmer raved about the potential immediate impact of Jacques McClendon in the offensive line and Walter Fisher in the defensive line.

McClendon, a 6-foot-3, 325-pound lineman out of Chattanooga Baylor, was the Vols' highest-ranked recruit.

With the Vols' losing three offensive linemen to graduation and Rob Smith to the NFL draft, McClendon is a player expected to get in the mix immediately with "unlimited potential" according to Fulmer.

Fisher (6-3, 265) was a junior college All-American at Coffeyville Community College and could help ease the loss of Jesse Mahelona to graduation and Tony McDaniel to the NFL draft

"He's on campus and working and looks like one of those guys who can help us out immediately," Fulmer said.

The Vols' got off to a slow recruiting start with the transition of a revamped offensive coaching staff, but Fulmer saw the Vols bounce back throughout January.

"There were some struggles early and right before Christmas and even right after Christmas," he said. "Then we started to gain some good momentum and finished up very well."

Getting Ramone Johnson (6-4, 305) out of Chicago, Cody Pope (6-5, 270) and Darius Myers out of Hargrave Military Academy, helped the Vols on the offensive front.

Tight ends Lee Smith of Powell and Luke Stocker of Berea, Ky., will help as well.

Fulmer called receiver/athlete Brent Vinson of Hampton, Va., "one of the most-dynamic" players he had ever seen on tape.

Getting quarterback Nick Stephens signed out of Flower Mound, Texas, was another bonus.

"It's a good group of guys I think we can work with," Fulmer said. "You really can't evaluate a class until it's a couple years down the road, or three."

Hard Work: Fulmer thanked his staff for the hours and travel involved with working overtime the past couple of months.

Specifically, he mentioned one marathon 24-hour experience had by offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Greg Adkins.

"He flies the red-eye from San Diego to Chicago, and gets in about 4 in the morning," Fulmer said. "Ramone's father goes to work early but goes to work out before, so he asks Greg to meet him.

"Greg works out with him, he gets breakfast and goes to the school and has great visit with the kid.

"Then he goes to Iowa City to watch Dorian Davis play that night. It was a heck of a day."