Today On Rocky Top: Chris Low On Butch Jones Recruiting & More

Oct 20, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers tight end Mychal Rivera (81) runs the ball against Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Robert Lester (37) during the first half at Neyland Stadium. Alabama won by a score of 44 to 13. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

From ESPN

"It’s hard to imagine that first-year Tennessee coach Butch Jones could have done any more to this point (without actually coaching in a game) to galvanize the Vols’ fan base.In the latest ESPN recruiting rankings, Tennessee has moved all the way up to No. 2 nationally and is tops among SEC teams. The new No. 1 team nationally is Florida State.Remember the big question about Jones when he got the Tennessee job? Everybody wondered if he would be able to recruit well enough in the SEC, and even though we’re still more than six months away from national signing day, I’d say he’s gone a long way toward answering that question.And let’s face it. If he’s going to get the Vols back into the SEC championship equation after four losing seasons in the past five years, it’s going to take more than one stellar recruiting class to get there.But the folks on Rocky Top love his start, as well they should."

From Bleacher Report

"Thanks to Butch Jones, Tennessee recruiting is experiencing tremendous success, but that likely won’t be enough to garner the Volunteers the No. 1 class when all is said and done.That’s not to say that Tennessee won’t have a stellar class or that Jones hasn’t put together a program-changing group of recruits, so keep that in mind. As it stands, according to the 247Sports team rankings, the Vols do have the nation’s top class.The odds that Tennessee finishes No. 1 are small, though."

From The Montgomery Advertiser

"While growing up, Trinity pitcher Zach Reid’s favorite ballplayer was Colorado Rockies’ hard-hitting first baseman Todd Helton.“I remember watching (Helton) one day, and my dad was like, ‘Do you know where he played in college? He played at Tennessee,’” Reid said. “And I was like, ‘They must have a really great baseball program.’ I’ve always thought really highly of (Tennessee) and thought it was a great place.”Now Reid gets his chance to don the orange and white just like his boyhood idol. The rising senior committed last week to play baseball for the Volunteers."

From Rocky Top Talk

"Ten years ago Tennessee and Alabama played a football game that refused to end. More than any of the other hundreds of games I’ve seen in my 31 years, this one taught me and is still teaching me how and why these things can matter so much.I grew up with a kid who shared my first name, so we all took to calling him by his last. Bobbitt was in my grade in Alcoa City Schools, and from the time we met him one thing stood out above all others: he loved Alabama. As elementary school children in East Tennessee, such a thing didn’t make sense to us. We kept waiting to see if it was a phase. But it never passed and never left. We were in sixth grade when Alabama won the 1992 National Championship, seventh when I had to remind him the game actually ended in a tie and not an Alabama victory. We were freshmen when Peyton Manning and Joey Kent changed everything on play number one."

From Go Vols Xtra

"At the NCAA outdoor track and field championships last month, sophomore Tyler Porter cleared a bar to tie for seventh place in the men’s pole vault.That was the highlight for the University of Tennessee at the national championship. The only highlight.Porter earned 0.75 points for the Vols. The Lady Vols didn’t score, just as they didn’t score at the NCAA indoor championships in March."

For more on the Vols, make sure to follow us on Twitter @AllforTennessee