Vols were in pads for the first time today, and Dooley believed things went well. Obviously it is important for the guys to get used to playing fast in the gear they wear on gameday, so it was an important transition.

Look like the face of a powerhouse SEC football program?

I’d say no.

Well how about his record? It must be impressive.

11-14… Same as Kentucky’s Joker Phillips. Yikes.

Is this guy truly the right man for the job?

At this point I am not sure, but here are some reasons why you should want Dooley to succeed regardless of whether you think he is our program’s savior, or a Magoo.

It’s Football Time in Tennessee! Camp is here and the practice notes are pouring in! We at CBC know there is a ton of websites offering updates on all the happenings of the program, but sometimes it can be a pain to sift through all the same stuff to glean some info. Our goal is to provide some highlights that we have read or seen on video from practice to give you a heads up on what is happening with the team.

With recruiting heating up much earlier this year, we at CBC decided to address some recent commitments that have been getting some attention, but not in a good way. The Vols currently have 15 commitments, and 3 of those were previously unranked in terms of star value by the major recruiting websites. To be fair, there are over 1 million kids currently playing high school football and this number grows every year, making the job of evaluating every recruit very difficult. Nevertheless, many Vol fans were upset by the acceptance of such “unworthy” players. Many questioned our coaches ability to recruit top tier talent and wanted us to be in play for the best players in the nation. Let me put this bluntly… That is not where we are as a program right now. If you are a 17-year-old kid with offers across the nation to play, Tennessee is not even on your radar. The staff, however, has managed to do a FANTASTIC job in light of the recent years of mediocrity and could easily have us back in good favor with big name recruits if they see production on the field. In the mean time, I imagine coaches are watching more film and evaluating more kids in order to fill the needs until UT is back in the national spotlight. Thus, we have 3 kids who nobody has ever heard of, unless you’re from their hometown. In an attempt to become more familiar with them, and to ease some people’s doubting, we will take a look at each of these kids individually, and assign them their rightful amount of stars.

Paul Harris

I am excited about all of the guys in today's piece, and cannot wait to see them don the Orange & White next year. While there are prospects that decommit every year and more than likely there will be a couple we've talked about this past week to do so.. right now, you're a Vol, so you're family. Today we are taking a look at Part 2 of the Vols Recruiting Breakdown.

Greetings, my fellow Vol fanatics!

After a long hiatus, Checkerboard Chatter is back and rolling, as we are only 37 days away before it is officially Football Time in Tennessee! But if you can’t already smell it in the air, folks, then you probably have really bad allergies, a deviated septum, I don’t know, something wrong with your schnoz. That glorious smell my friends… is the smell of the recruiting trail being set ablaze all across the nation. While you can take the majority of these 18 year olds’ verbal commitments in the month of June or July with a grain of salt, it’s still great exposure and great momentum for a program. With that being said, the Vols have 15 commitments thus far for 2013. We will take a look at the first 8 commitments in part 1 of this recruiting breakdown.

I don't know about y'all, but this NCAA Tournament action is only wetting my whistle for more NIT basketball.  Obviously, my previous statement was typed in jest, but I can honestly say I am eagerly anticipating watching ESPN this upcoming Monday (03/19) at 7 PM ET as the Vols host the MTSU Blue Raiders in second round action of the NIT.  

All UT fans across the state and nation know that this Volunteer team has vastly improved throughout the course of the season.  All areas of the team have gotten sharper, and this includes the guard play.  That being said, it's no secret the backbone and strength of this Volunteer bunch is in the post.  The Vols' best player this year has clearly been Junior Jeronne Maymon.  Maymon leads the team in scoring (14.2), rebounding (7.9) and field goal percentage (.573).  He scored at least 12 points in every SEC contest this season.  The only question mark about Maymon right now is his health as he's listed day-to-day with a dinged knee.  There is hope he will play Monday night, but nothing is guaranteed.  In addition to the big Junior from the Badger State, the Vols trot out Freshman sensation Jarnell Stokes.  Stokes may be young, but he's a man in the paint at 6'8" 250 lbs.  The All-SEC Freshman performer averages 9.3 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per contest.  Like all NCAA teams, the Vols probably shoot too many three pointers at times, but they do have the ability to send the pumpkin into the post for the "big nasties" to put it in the basket.  Both Maymon and Stokes are a perfect fit for Coach Cuonzo Martin and his "bring your lunch pail" mentality.

If you have been living under a rock since Wednesday morning and have not yet seen the tearful Jim Irsay/Peyton Manning press conference, then I recommend you watch the theatrics here.  It is truly the end of an era in Indy and for the NFL.  No matter what colors and logo #18 trots out of the tunnel wearing next season, it's going to be weird not seeing Manning with the familiar horseshoe on his helmet calling the plays for the Indianapolis Colts.

Many moons ago (probably 15 years or so) Burger King served tacos.  Yes, that Burger King.  The tacos didn't stay on the menu very long because, well, I think I was the only human ingesting the delightfully crafted Mexican delicacies.  I was able to talk a select few skeptical friends into trying the tacos because I believe you could get two for 99 cents so what was there to lose?  Whenever a friend tried the tacos (at my persistent urging), he went into the tasting with a preconceived notion that the tacos would be awful.  I don't think anyone I got to try the tacos even finished a single one.  I am starting this post with this story because it's something that most people I know today do not know about me.  Heck, most folks reading this post probably didn't even know that the King once had tacos on his menu.

After a surprisingly drama-free Wednesday, the recruiting season, for the most part, is over for the Vols. It’s a good thing I’m not a betting man, because I missed on every recruit’s decision yesterday. However, even though the Vols only went ¼ yesterday out of their remaining targets, that one is a big one. After a hot and cold recruitment, 5-star WR Cordarrelle Patterson announced early Wednesday morning that he would be a Vol. This addition goes a long way to giving even more depth to an already great WR haul this class: 5-star Patterson, 4-star Jason Croom, 4-star Pig Howard and 4-star Drae Bowles. Not to mention the two future NFL first rounders we have coming back. However, while this is exciting, it’s not the biggest NSD story in my opinion. As I mentioned in my last post, the main key to making this class a successful one was not landing all 4 prospects yesterday, but keeping the current ones that were committed. Outside of losing Otha Peters on Tuesday, Tennessee had every verbal commitment sign their LOI yesterday. Many, including myself, were concerned about the likes of Pig Howard and especially LaDarrell McNeil. But both had their LOI faxed in fairly early on yesterday.