Tennessee to crank up the Woo Machine for Jesse Scroggins this week

As the TFP's Wes Rucker has noted, Tennessee's QB situation is getting more dicey by the day:

The Volunteers are the only Southeastern Conference program with no quarterbacks still enrolled from the last three signing classes, and they have none publicly committed for 2010.

On the "none publicly committed for 2010 front, Tennessee is reportedly telling Lakewood, CA four-star QB Jesse Scroggins that he's their #1 option at this time.

The Vols' wooing of Scroggins will continue in earnest this week when Scroggins arrives in Knoxville for a visit Thursday through Saturday. First, though, Scroggins will camp at Florida beginning on Tuesday. I suggest that each functional part of the Kiffin Chimera call Scroggins every hour on the hour while he's in Gainesville now that it's public knowledge that calling a recruit while he's on another school's campus isn't against the rules. You know, to remind him to be suspicious of Meyer's claims that he's going to change the offense for Scroggins. Shoot, put Jevan Snead on the phone, if necessary.

Anyway, we seem to be in decent shape with Scroggins at the moment. He's excited about both trips, of course, but the trek to Tennessee will be "a homecoming of sorts," as his mother has a lot of family in the Memphis area and being closer to them is a net positive, although "closer" is most certainly a relative term.

Scroggins loves the Chimera, saying they "have been great over the phone," and he's looking forward to meeting them in person. When he does, he's almost certain to hear more of the domino pitch -- that he's indeed their #1, and that if he commits, "other great athletes will follow." He's also well aware of the vacuum at the QB position for the Vols beginning in 2010. Well, hopefully not beginning until 2010.

Scroggins holds offers from both Tennessee and Florida, and although he does not yet have an offer from Southern Cal, but he will be camping there on June 22.

Tennessee beat Florida for Nu'Keese Richardson on signing day, but the battle for Scroggins is even more important considering the QB situation, including the fact that Barry Brunetti -- who left Knoxville high on Tennessee with an offer -- is now in love with West Virginia.

Scroggins says that his plan is to commit to a school sometime in August, but I'd expect the Chimera to attempt to persuade him to see how big of a domino he is and commit to Tennessee earlier than that so that they can start focusing on surrounding him with elite players from all over the nation. Whether they're successful or not, they'll at least know more about where they stand after this weekend. Unfortunately, we fans may not know anything due to the prohibition against coaches commenting on recruits and the new rule prohibiting the media from being present at camps. If Tennessee offers Chase Rettig next week, take that as a sign that the Chimera doesn't feel as good about Scroggins after his visit as they were hoping, as Rettig appears to the Plan B at the moment.