In-state recruiting top priority for Raleigh

At least he wasn’t on a John Deere tractor dragging the infield at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

That’s about the only thing Todd Raleigh didn’t tackle during his first few days on the job as University of Tennessee baseball coach.

He probably would have mended a few fences if needed — he had a history of that kind of thing at Western Carolina — but he had other things on his mind as a new era of Vols’ baseball gets under way.

Raleigh made it through a day of hand shaking and backslapping when he was named Rod Delmonico’s replacement during introduction ceremonies on Thursday.

He finally got settled in about 3:30 a.m. Friday and was back on the UT campus and ready to take care of business at 7:30 a.m.

“It was literally one of the craziest days of my life,” Raleigh said of day one on the job. “I was just trying to get back to a lot of people.

“I know I had well over 100 messages and there were just a lot of things going on. It’s still hectic, but I’m starting to get going on some things.”

Two things high on Raleigh’s priority list were on the agenda this weekend.

He continued talks with returning UT players and made some calls to former players to ask for their continued support of the program.

Secondly, he went to work on in-state recruiting.

“Tennessee has everything,” he said. “It’s the state school, the flagship school.

“We can recruit this state and there are enough good players in this state to win a national championship.”

He mentioned the fact Vanderbilt already has commitments from six in-state rising seniors. Tennessee has none.

“We’re going to recruit the state hard,” he said. “You can count on that.

“I know how many guys from the Knoxville area and from the state of Tennessee played in the NCAA Regionals. We’ve just got to get those guys and we’re going to work hard at that.”

It started Friday night.

After four hours sleep, 13 media interviews and countless phone calls, Raleigh was at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to watch a tournament of high school players organized by The Yard.

“We’ve got to go out and make ourselves visible and approach them,” Raleigh said. “We want to make this right.

“I can’t control anything that happened in the past — if anything did happen in the past — but we’re trying to get the best kids possible for the University of Tennessee.”

Maybe he was mending some fences after all.

Right or wrong, the 18-year Delmonico regime was at times viewed as unapproachable and standoffish among certain in-state recruiting circles.

Raleigh promises to change that perception.

“Let the kids make the choices,” he said. “If a kid from around here wants to go to LSU, so be it, but we’re going to make that approach and try to get them here.

“I think if you’re the state school, that’s what you’ve got to do. We’ve got to build this program from the inside out and that’s what we plan on doing.”

Former player perspective

Scott Schroeffel, a UT star of the mid-1990s, was in attendance at Raleigh’s announcement ceremony.

Like a lot of people, he just wanted to check out the new guy.

“It’s exciting for the university,” he said. “I’ve got a personal and historical relationship with Rod, and was sad to see him go. I guess I understand what the university expects from its athletic teams and what the city expects, but it’s exciting to see Todd here and what his thoughts are.”

He liked what he heard.

“I think his mentality will work very well with these fans,” Schroeffel said. “I think that was proven from Bruce Pearl and the energy he brought in (as UT basketball coach). It seems Todd’s going to bring that same style of energy. It’s exciting.”

Schroeffel also made it clear he thinks the Knoxville area is a veritable gold mine of potential recruits and local talent.

“After my playing time here, and after the minors, I coached for seven years here,” he said. “The boys here in this city — I’m talking the 10-, 11-, 12-, 13-, 14-year-olds — we competed and beat the best teams in Atlanta, the best teams and best players in Nashville, the best players all around.

“I grew up in Pittsburgh and we didn’t have this. Just like Jeffrey Lockwood (current UT star from Halls High School), I coached him for a couple summers. This is the star that’s gleaming in your eye as a young boy. The talent is out there. It sounds like Todd and Mike (Hamilton, UT athletic director) are focused on keeping the talent here in the state, which will help out a great deal.”