National Signing Day: Sales pitches come to end

There doesn't figure to be a second chance.

The lessons about dealing with the crush for attention or the endless line of coaches can't really be applied again personally.

Justin Hunter won't get another senior year or be an Under Armour All-American in high school again. He can't perfect the art of being recruited anymore or get any better dealing with how hard it is to say no sometimes.

But at least part of the process helped the talented wide receiver decide to give Tennessee a yes, and it was of particular importance for any of the 25 commitments expected to officially sign with the Vols today.

Coaching changes like UT had last month are part of life in college football, which makes evaluating the entire package maybe more important now than ever.

"Well, that was tough at first because I really didn't understand," the Ocean Lakes (Va.) High School product said. "Now I know that coaches are going to be moving out and going to other schools, but it was real confusing at first. I didn't know what to do.

"So when (receivers coach D.J. McCarthy) left at LSU, I didn't know what to do and I just kind of waited it out then and made my decision to go to Tennessee. Then (former UT assistant Willie Mack Garza) left, but when Coach Garza left, I understood then."

That realization has been hammered home perhaps like never before at UT, which was rocked by the stunning departure of Lane Kiffin and most of his staff to Southern California.

The coaches remaining in Knoxville were left in limbo until Derek Dooley was hired. The players already in the program were trying to come to grips with a second new staff in 14 months, and eight early enrollees were struggling with the same issue. But even with all the uncertainty, arguably the group of people having the hardest time coming to terms with the upheaval were the most impressionable - the undecided recruits who spent months listening to overtures from coaches all over the country, a few of which scrambled the process by switching allegiances after the season.

For the Vols, that forced a number of players committed to consider other offers. Receiver Markeith Ambles reopened his recruitment after months of sticking with UT. Defensive tackle Brandon Willis was planning to enroll early and participate in spring practice with the Vols before bailing to North Carolina when Kiffin jumped ship, and several others also had to reevaluate their priorities.

But that also worked in UT's favor at times, particularly when Hunter decommitted from LSU and became the highest-rated player to give his word to Dooley - despite Garza leading the push to get him to sign with the Vols.

"(Garza) wasn't my position coach, so I was all good there," Hunter said. "The assistants were all so nice, but (UT) has a nice environment and the kind of environment I want to be around after I took my trip up there. I really had a connection with the coaches, and I believe they can get me where I need to be.

"But if I could go back in time and do it again, I would just tell myself to organize who you see first and everything and narrow your choices down that way so I wouldn't have had everybody mixed up. Sometimes I would have two coaches that were recruiting me waiting for me in the same office, waiting for me to get out of school, so I just would have organized everything to prepare for it."

That still might not have helped him get ready for everything that happened last month.

The situation at LSU was a bit of a surprise. Pete Carroll leaving Southern California for a job in the NFL also was unexpected, and the dominoes falling that led to Kiffin replacing him were even more of a shock.

That's all part of the business though, and Hunter and any other incoming Vols know that before reporting for work.

"It was fun, though, all the attention, you just have to make sure it doesn't go to your head," Hunter said. "The attention was real, real interesting. I have never had to handle anything like that before.

"It was just a lot on me, it was a lot of coaches coming in and out of school and looking at me, so it put a lot of pressure on me because it was hard to have to say no to like every coach. And at the end, I had to say no, but that's part of it."

Hunter won't have to do it over again. The lessons are learned, and the next class is already in session.