Hooker: Spring all about visits, not commitments for Fulmer

Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer isn’t judging the recruiting progress by the number of commitments.

Good thing. The Vols only have one pledge for 2009 after excelling in early commitments for the past two years.

Now, Fulmer is all about planting seeds, not necessarily harvesting commitments. That has meant more spring visitors than he can remember in his long tenure at UT.

“We’ve always brought some guys in,” Fulmer said. “We probably brought more in (this spring) because we’re doing a better job of identifying the guys that we’re going to recruit. Everybody’s in tune to getting them in early.”

“Everybody” means UT’s coaches. And the fact that Fulmer said they are more in tune is a veiled reference to an improvement in staff chemistry from the last regime.

That, however, doesn’t mean UT has a better coaching staff. Offensive and defensive coaches often don’t get along, yet still win championships.

Part of the reason UT doesn’t have more commitments rides on new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson and his relatively obscure reputation. Clawson’s image will grow if he has success in the SEC.

Prospects want to see Clawson and staff in action before they commit. That means, in some cases, the Vols can only lay groundwork and hope for a productive September, both offensively and, subsequently, in recruiting.

That could start even sooner, beginning this weekend with the Orange and White Game. Sure, Fulmer wants to showcase his offensive weapons to fans. But he’s also handcuffing his defense to show prospects just what they can be a part of on offense.

There’s certainly reason to believe that Clawson’s offense is tailor-made to skill position players. Clawson promised to get playmakers the ball in open space and so far this spring he’s done so.

Senior tailback Arian Foster lauded the new attack this week for its versatility. Foster is far more of a threat out of the backfield than he was a year ago.

Redshirt freshman Ahmad Paige is another example. No longer a small receiver stuck on the line of scrimmage, Paige is now able to showcase his athletic ability with screen passes — just another example of how Clawson plays to his team’s strengths.

Every receiver should benefit from Clawson’s reliance on slants. The slant should give elite athletes the ability to catch the ball in stride and make defenders miss downfield.

There’s also Clawson’s willingness to experiment, even in the midst of installing a new system. The G-Gun, with sophomore receiver Gerald Jones at quarterback, returned this week and figures to see some snaps today.

Sophomore safety Eric Berry even got his shot at quarterback in a package that some reporters are calling the Wild Berry. Don’t expect to see that package today, but it will certainly be an option if Clawson needs a spark this fall.

All are selling points for potential offensive recruits. Problem is, they’ll want to see all the above in action before they pledge their services.

Fair enough. Just don’t wait too long. Fulmer laments the fact that recruiting seems to accelerate with each and every turn of the calendar. Decisions must be made quicker.

That doesn’t play to UT’s strengths as a program with limited in-state talent, which leads us to the one knock on UT’s recruiting efforts to this point. Even with a new offense, it’s hard to figure out why the Vols don’t have one in-state commitment.

The speed of the recruiting game shows no mercy, not to Fulmer and not to any high school prospects.

“If they don’t do something early, they may be left out,” Fulmer said. “It’s all happening faster.”

Visitors: The Vols are expecting a handful of visitors for this weekend’s events.

UT has some work to do to land Dallas Lee, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive lineman from Buford (Ga.) High School. The Vols appeared to be the leader until Georgia recently increased its recruitment and Florida State made a delayed scholarship offer.

Lee’s recruitment is eerily familiar to Terrance Parks’ recruiting journey. Like Lee, Parks was also primarily considering UT and Georgia until the Seminoles showed up.

Park then committed to FSU despite a close friendship with Berry, a former high school teammate.

Tailback David Oku from Carl Albert High in Midwest City, Okla., is traveling with Gerald Jones’ family. Oku and the Joneses are extremely close.

The 5-10, 175-pounder is also considering Florida State, Illinois and Michigan among others.

Dave Hooker covers recruiting. He can be reached at hookerd@knews.com.