Eric MacLain came to Knoxville for Tennessee's Junior Day unfazed by the recent past.
Sure, he and his family once felt jilted by Tennessee's approach to his recruitment. That's why the 6-foot-5, 270-pounder pulled his commitment to UT weeks ago.
The MacLains felt they should have been contacted sooner by UT's new coaching staff, especially since MacLain had been committed to UT since October 2008 - through three coaching staffs.
However, MacLain, who could play tight end or offensive tackle in college, came to UT this weekend intent on rebuilding relationships, not rehashing the past. That's why he met with new coach Derek Dooley early Saturday morning before Junior Day even began. Then, MacLain met with tight ends coach Eric Russell for nearly two hours.
The highly publicized miscommunication of the past wasn't the main topic of conversation.
"We really didn't address that too much," MacLain said. "We just focused on the future."
And a possible future at UT suddenly looks much more likely than before.
"I think they're definitely higher than they were a day ago, just being back in the comfort zone," MacLain said when asked where UT stands among other schools pursuing him. "I still want to get a good feel for other schools to find the best scenario for me."
MacLain will visit Clemson soon and said a summer trip to Virginia Tech is in the works. However, he'll always have strong ties to UT. His family once lived in the Knoxville area and he's long been a UT fan.
Now it's just a matter of feeling comfortable with UT's new staff. So far, so good.
"I think they're a great bunch of guys and actually getting to talk to those guys was great," he said.
MacLain left impressed with how smart the staff appeared. He also was excited about the potential for early playing time.
MacLain said UT's coaches told him that they'll eventually play two to four tight ends on most every play, once they get the proper personnel in place.
Whether or not MacLain is a part of the incoming personnel remains to be seen, but consider this weekend a good start.
"It was really a great visit," MacLain said.
In Sync: Offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson from Catholic left impressed with the new staff.
"I really liked it," the 6-5, 290-pounder wrote in a text message. "I really liked it and Coach Dooley has the characteristics that I am looking for and I agree with their fundamentals."
Kerbyson was offered a scholarship by UT last week. He also is considering offers from Duke, Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Kerbyson also took a recent trip to Clemson.
Kerbyson said UT's serious need for offensive linemen in the coming seasons will be a strong factor in his decision.
"It means I have more of a chance to play," he said.
Young Look: Bearden tailback Devrin Young also left impressed with the new staff.
"Great coaches," the 5-7, 162-pounder said. "I liked their plans."
The juniors attended the first half of UT's win over Kentucky in basketball, then ate in the luxury boxes at Neyland Stadium. Prospects also were shown game tape from Dooley's tenure at Louisiana Tech and given a rundown of UT's academic offerings.
"I like how they support you academically," Young said.
Even though Young came away impressed with UT, he said he believes there's only a slim chance he'll receive a scholarship offer.
"It's a 90 percent chance they won't," said Young, who has one scholarship offer - from Stanford, and has seen strong interest from Georgia Tech, Virginia, Illinois, and Arkansas.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Tennessee 60, Connecticut 57 men's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 27
Ayershall writes:
What a great weekend for these guys to come in and see UT. Vols kick UK's arse.
Mobbdeep4life writes:
Good to get some news about potential recruits and their impressions of the new staff. I had gotten tired of stories about Kiffin. Hearing the recruits say they were impressed by the new staff bodes well for UT football. Next up....spring football.
rockytopatl writes:
"UT's coaches told him that they'll eventually play two to four tight ends on most every play, once they get the proper personnel in place."
Huh? What kind of offense is that?
Two or three tight ends I can see on occasion. But four?
elbtenn#502977 writes:
Who's Kiffin?
elbtenn#502977 writes:
Yeah! what are the WR's gonna do?
DarthWilson writes:
Watch the running backs score I guess. Oku, Brown, or Poole behind a 9 man line. Scary.
Mobbdeep4life writes:
Nobody important......
MR_VOL writes:
Kiffin, is he a salesman at the Buy Here-Pay Here car lot?
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Finally an informative article we want to read and post on! Good info! I'm not surprised no one committed this early, they all have more visits and things to consider. Like coaching changes. How many HC changes do you think will happen between 02-28-10 and next Feb signing day? No hurry for any of these boys to committ.
Volie writes:
Gosh, your right. I don't like this coaching staff now. Thanks for making me really think...
CroKev writes:
Why comments from only 3 of the attendees? There must have been at least a couple of dozen invited. I'm glad to hear MacLain is moving back into the fold. Young sounded down but come on man, a full-ride to Stanford?! That's a couple of hundred grand from one of the top two academic universities in the world!
marinevol writes:
That got my attention too. Hopefully, he misunderstood, and they were saying that two to four tight ends would get playing time.
lakesidegator writes:
they'll go to uf.
pomp_and_circumstance writes:
Does this mean Hooker might possibly forgive Dooley for snubbing McClain? Some day? Somewhere down the line? The lesson is clear, Dooley, if you don't inform Hooker of your every move in advance, he will carry a grudge forever.
bocawayne writes:
I looked up all the listed attendees to the Junior Day and only 3 or 4 are listed in the Rivals Top 250 for 2011. I hope we are not adopting the "Diamond in the Rough" philosopy that Phil had in the end - it got him fired along with other bad decisions. We have got to stand toe to toe with Florida and Alabama in recruiting if we ever want to get back to the top of the SEC much less the Nation.
NeylandWest writes:
I'm not suggesting that an offensive set with 4 TE's wasn't mentioned, but please consider the source. KNS botches stories left and right. For all we know, Dooley told him that he wanted 4 TE's and would play 2 at a time.
KNS can't even copy and paste an article without someone telling them how to click.
798orange writes:
1/12/10-------Former Coach heads out of dodge.
2/28/10-------Dave Hooker realizes former coach is no longer here.
Good progress Dave, keep it up!
798orange writes:
No need to freak out---with Chaney as OC we will continue to throw the ball. Remember that Brees guy he coached? Dooley said he wants to be balanced and unpredictable.
tnsportsman writes:
Neyland West,
I bet you are right. I can see a goal line or 3rd & short formation with 2 TE's on the line and 2 TE's in the slots, but not every down. Watching flim on Dooley, I see the TE brings in the play a lot therefore causing more TE's to play.
Think there is a lost translation there?
Go Big Orange!
slov writes:
punt team.
CroKev writes:
Hey Rich, thanks for this! Of all the juniors that came, only 3 were on Rivals? Also, do you know when Rivals will actually start assigning stars? Finally, how many 'Junior Days' will
UT actually have? Sorry to overload you with questions but who else am I going to ask? - KNS?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Lots of time for rankings to change for juniors. Some of these guys may jump up big time after they attend a few more summer camps and get better known. Same thing about schools interested in them; they may get multiple big-time offers after the summer. I'm glad we seem to be making a good impression on these guys. As always, we'll get some and we'll miss on some. No worries about not getting early commitments, either. CDD is still something of an unknown quantity at this point. When everybody sees what kind of team he puts on the field next year, they'll have better info on which to base this very important decision.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
As was rightly pointed out later in the thread, we aren't sure that was what the staff actually said. Even if they meant it, I doubt they meant they would play four TEs a LOT. In any case, consider this: We know that UT is probably going to struggle with the OL this season. What if two of these TEs are subbed for tackles? They might not be able to bowl over D-linemen but they could probably pull to lead sweeps like nobody's business! They could be used as tackle-eligible receivers. They could line up in the backfield. CDD DID say he wanted to run the ball a lot, but he also said the offense would be multiple, depending on a lot of factors. Until we know for sure what he has in mind, let's maybe try to give him a little credit for thinking outside the box.
cwbytruckers writes:
you all have to remember that a star beside a recruits name means about as much as soup on a cold day. it can either make you feel better or burn your tongue. give these guys a chance and we will find out how hot they are. if you look back at the all american list you will see not many of them were all 4 and 5 stars when recruited.
givehim6 writes:
I was wondering about this also, only if thay put a TE on the line or have a TE line up at RB or something like that.
PepperGrinder (Inactive) writes:
post.
orangecountyvols writes:
Let's not get bent out of shape here in March, even before spring practice begins. Noone knows what's going to happen in September at this point............and surely don't need to depend on much of anything Hooker says.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.