UCLA Weekend Dampens No Enthusiasm: Vols Pick Up Corey Miller, Brandon Willis, and DeMarco Cobbs

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 8:15 PM EDT in Tennessee Volunteers Recruiting Comment 23 comments

Let's get this party rolling!

Relentless.

Get used to the word. Not even a deflating loss like what was seen on Saturday can slow down the recruiting engine that Lane Kiffin has had installed. I would love to know what goes on behind the scenes with the recruits and the staff because, whatever it is, it works. There are now three new Vols commits, bringing the total to 21. And you're going to love these guys.

Brandon Willis, Defensive Tackle

Willis is a defensive tackle from Duncan, South Carolina. He's rated as a 5-star by Scout and a 4-star by Rivals, but perhaps his metrics are of more interest. He's 6'-4" and 255 pounds, and will clearly add weight to a low center-of-mass frame. He runs a 4.7 40 time and squats 500, and is thought to be quick and powerful at the line. Right now, he's all lower-body, which is unusual because the lower body is normally the more difficult half to develop.

Corey Miller, Defense End / Tight End

Corey Miller, also from Duncan, South Carolina, is most likely a D-end, but does play some tight end as well. He's 6'-3", 231 pounds and also runs a 4.7 - 40 and rates as four stars on both Rivals and Scout. His build is very lean and lanky, which makes him more of an edge rusher than a run-stopping end. Strength development will be key for him, as longer builds tend to have more trouble disentangling once an offensive tackle gets close in.

DeMarco Cobbs, Wide Receiver

This is the one that will probably excite UT fans the most at the moment. We've all heard of Cobbs, who is rated at 5 stars by Scout and four stars by Rivals. Another Oklahoma receiver, Cobbs was considered to be leaning heavily toward UT for a while now, as other Sooner State players like Gerald Jones have established goodwill between the program and the state. Landing Cobbs appears to answer two questions. One is that the commitment of Ted Meline did not cause Cobbs to look elsewhere, and the other is that Meline may indeed be headed to the defensive side of the ball. We'll have to wait and see how that plays out as they arrive in Knoxville, but that scenario seems more likely.

I'll have more to say later on, but time is pressing and I have to end here. The board will be updated later on, and we get to look forward to yet another exciting Recruiting Tuesday!

P.S. For what it's worth, we currently outscore Alabama on Scout with the same number of recruits and sit 3rd overall.

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If we have good players

Games like UCLA will not happen. We have talent in a lot of places, but not in a couple key ones. We’re getting it.

by Incipient_Senescence on Sep 13, 2009 8:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This will go a long way

to dampening the second-guessing of bringing Kiffin in. At the very least, this staff is excellent at grabbing talent. And the best part is that the players all seem to fit to each other, as best as can be projected. There’s a lot of speed and a lot of first-step quickness coming in.

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We'll see ya

In the NC, when We’re all “even” haha

by ucla13_usc9 on Sep 13, 2009 11:29 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Cody Riggs is delaying his commitment date from Oct 27 to after Dec 1st

He wants Kiffin to come to town and meet his mother. Was originally a UF lean.

My brother had a friend who talked to him at the game. Riggs was loving it and said how much tougher his decision had just become…

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 8:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cool.

We’re dangerously close to our limit now, too. I need to go through my numbers and check them out, but we may be within 2 of maxing out the 85.

Oh, and Scout is now listing Bray at 6’-7". If so, and if he keeps the overarm delivery, it’s going to be seriously difficult to block his passes at the line.

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think we will take the max 28

There will be some “attrition.” We’re at 21 commits right now. In my opinion we will still get…

2-3 OL:

Juwaun James recently decommitted from Alabama. Tennessee is the likely destination.
We are in play with James Stone, TJ Leifheit, and one other JUCO OL.

1 RB:

Giovanni Bernard, Michael Dyer, Eduardo Clements, maybe Lattimore?

1 LB:

Jeff Luc, if I may be so bold.

1-2 DB:

Riggs and maybe one other.

1 Signing Day Surprise:

Brunetti? Blake Sims?

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And it's worth mentioning that we can backcount 3 early enrollees

Which opens up room for 3 more.

I know it will put us over the 85 limit, but, again, I think attrition will occur.

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think, anyway. The 28 max is kind of confusing to me.

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 28 would be 25 + 3 backcounters, or 24 + 4 backcounters, etc.

I need to check this too, but I think there are about 5ish who will be here in January. I think we have 21 on the 2009 list, which would allow up to 4 backcounters. But I could be wrong on that too. It’s math that I shamefully haven’t gone through yet; these last half dozen commits caught me a little by surprise.

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're right

It’s 28 total, period.

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The hitch is the 85 limit.

We’re already butting up really close to it with the current recruiting class. We’ll have to see if we go into Saban territory, which 28 commitments may end up doing. I hope to re-examine the numbers over the next few days on that, but I think a lot depends on which juniors are planning early departures, other than Berry.

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think we'll definitely temporarily exceed the 85 limit.

But not for long.

by rblakeh on Sep 13, 2009 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

3 OL

For sure. I think we are solid on D-line now, and need to get several pulls on the OL.

_________________________________
Eric Berry is better at football than you

by kidbourbon on Sep 14, 2009 6:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This takes the sting away a little

One thing that finally became clear to me that I’ve been denying for 2 years is that our talent level really has slipped comparitevly speaking. And specifically speaking re: QB’s.

Tennessee WILL beat Georgia on the way to 9+ wins in '09!!!
Eric Berry For Heisman!!!

by VolBrian on Sep 13, 2009 9:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

C'mon guys!

It’s Kiffin

by ChattVol on Sep 13, 2009 10:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh, wow.

That’s hilarious.

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 10:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

For posterity and humor:

by Hooper on Sep 13, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks, hoop.

It was only a matter of time before they caught it and fixed it.

by ChattVol on Sep 14, 2009 7:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

interesting timing

damage control?

by Zoltar on Sep 14, 2009 2:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

not taking that bait.

RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!

by Pride of the Southland on Sep 14, 2009 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, we might not like his staying with Crompton the entire UCLA game, but you cannot argue with his recruitment success. I will give CLK the benefit of the doubt. The 2010 class is really shaping up. What we really need for next year are more offensive linemen. Don’t see too many of them yet.

by El Kabong1940 on Sep 14, 2009 8:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs