2. How will they do in recruiting?
Even with all the coaching turnover, the Vols have been lucky enough to keep most of their assistant coaches that are considered to be the best recruiters on the staff. Robert Gillespie and Tommy Thigpen are still on staff, but Zach Azzanni has left for the NFL.
The Vols didn’t lose as much recruiting firepower as they could have, but what did they gain on the recruiting trail with their new hires?
Charlton Warren and Brady Hoke have reputations as solid recruiters. Hoke was lauded for his recruiting ability while at Michigan especially, and Warren was instrumental in bringing in some talented players to North Carolina. Vol fans will have to wait and see how their recruiting abilities translate to Tennessee, but those two at least are perceived as upgrades in terms of recruiting.
But how will Canales and Wells do on the recruiting trail?
Canales has coached at a Power-5 school for only five of his 30 years of coaching. He’s not used to recruiting to the big time football schools, but that doesn’t mean he’ll do it badly necessarily. He’s just as much of an unknown as Wells is. Although Wells was reportedly crucial in the Vols’ late push to try and add five-star defensive lineman LaBryan Ray. But both are relative unknowns with their new positions at Tennessee.
The Vols need a boost in recruiting after a somewhat disappointing 2017 recruiting class. How will these new hires do when they hit the road to find the next group of future Vols?
