Today On Rocky Top: Grading Tennessee’s 2015 Recruiting Class So Far

From Bleacher Report

"A few months after making a program-changing recruiting class official, Tennessee football coach Butch Jones is off to yet another strong start to the 2015 cycle.The Volunteers’ 11 commitments currently sit ninth nationally, according to the 247Sports rankings. The class boasts a healthy balance of players at positions of necessity and a couple of elite playmakers at spots where talent in this class is a luxury.Jones told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview that the Vols were going to “be in the mid-20s” as far as numbers in this class, even after signing a hefty 32 players in 2014.As far as biggest needs?“It gets back to the realities of where we’re at—needs everywhere,” Jones said. “We’re still down an entire recruiting class in the offensive line position. Being in a line-of-scrimmage league, it starts with the offensive and defensive lines. That’s critical.“Our needs are across the board. We’re not to a point yet where one need is bigger than any other.”Read more at Bleacher Report"

From the Daily News Journal

"The 16-plus seasons Phillip Fulmer served as Tennessee’s football coach earned a rightful place in the College Football Hall of Fame.That’s what going 152-52 with 15 bowl appearances and one national championship will do. Indeed, it was the best of modern times for Volunteers football.Fulmer’s firing following the 2008 season by former UT athletic director Mike Hamilton was polarizing then and remains so now, considering the mess that followed with successors Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley. Second-year coach Butch Jones is providing glimmers of hope again, but a return to the kind of prominence the Vols enjoyed under Fulmer is still several years away at best.These days, Fulmer is enjoying retirement, although he remains quite busy managing an investment firm along with former Vols player Mike West."

From The Tennessean

"Tennessee softball pitcher Ellen Renfroe and the Lady Vols battled on Sunday with their season on the line, but Oklahoma had all the power inthe late innings.In the rematch of last year’s Women’s College World Series Championship Series, the Sooners ended Tennessee’s season with an 8-2 victory in the decisive Game 3 of the Norman Super Regional.The defending national champions hit five home runs, and Oklahoma junior Lauren Chamberlain went 3-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs."