Kahlil McKenzie Excited About Future Of Vols

When one of the top rated players in the nation says something special is happening at a program, you should probably take notice.

Kahlil McKenzie, fresh off a visit to the school he’ll sign with on February 4, is as excited as ever about the future of the Tennessee Volunteers.

McKenzie is right that something special is brewing on Rocky Top.

Butch Jones is assembling his second straight ridiculous recruiting class (and his first one, way back in 2013, was pretty good too, just ask Josh Dobbs, Cam Sutton and Jalen Reeves-Maybin), which includes some of the top defensive linemen in the nation in McKenzie, and the already enrolled Shy Tuttle.

Knoxville hasn’t seen an infusion of talent like this since the golden age of Phillip Fulmer.

Some Vol fans, during the Derek Dooley era, probably wondered if they’d ever see Tennessee return to glory.

It was an understandable concern.

Under Dooley, the Vols suffered through three straight losing seasons (which was extended to four when Butch Jones went 5-7 in his first season).

While that might not be the sign of a permanent demise for most programs, that’s exactly what it seemed to be for Tennessee.

You see the Vols hadn’t suffered through consecutive losing seasons since the 1910-11 seasons.

Essentially almost every UT fan on the planet had no idea what back-to-back losing seasons felt like. Let alone three straight (and later four straight).

So yeah, I can see why fans wondered if this is just who the Vols had become — a perennial, almost .500 team.

Butch Jones, however, has no desire to be mediocre. The excitement and workaholic attitude he’s brought to Knoxville has completely revitalized the way the football program feels.

Jones is exactly what Tennessee needed. You really couldn’t have drawn it up any better — a young, vibrant coach that can recruit the hell out of any football player and completely embraces everything about the state of Tennessee (save the Commodores out west).

And why does Jones recruit so well?

Because he connects.

For example, take a look at this quote (via The Denver Post) from Derek Wolfe (played for Jones at Cincinnati):

"Wolfe: Butch is always talking to players. After practices or games, he’d go out of his way to talk to guys. He could be doing something else, but he enjoyed being with us. You want to play for a guy like that."

Jones cares deeply about restoring Tennessee, but he cares more about people.

And that’s why he’s been successful so far at Tennessee.

Jones doesn’t have to pretend to be a kid’s friend to get him to come to school to Tennessee. Of course there’s a certain amount of “selling” that goes on in recruiting, but Jones’ greatest selling tactic is simply being himself.

Recruits respond so well to Jones because he’s genuine. The players that Jones is recruiting to Tennessee aren’t acutely aware of Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer.

They’re not coming to Tennessee because of the program’s past. They’re coming because of Tennessee’s future.

And that future is looking very, very special.

Kahlil McKenzie knows it.

It can’t be much longer until the rest of the SEC knows it.