3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Thanks for the questions this week.  The Vol Bloggers are going to take a few weeks off from the mailbag, and will put it back up a few weeks before the season.

AkronOhvol asked: If you were asking questions at media day this week, which coach would you most want to interview? Least? Where does coach DD rank as an interview compared to Phil, and Kiffin?

Home Sweet Home says — Most like to interview: Les Miles, because with Douche under sanctions out West he’s the most likely to say something silly/foolish/dumb. Spurrier is a close second because he seems to just tell it like it is.

Least likely? Easy…the one and only Gene Chizik. zzzzzzzz…

Auburn went today, so had I been a reporter down there all week, I could have used the Chizik’s to catch up on the sleep that had been deprived of all week.

ESPN’s Joe Schad tweeted during Dooley’s time at the mic that he “delivers Nick Saban messages but in a more charming way.” Every time I’ve listened to the man at a microphone, he’s been impressive. So maybe that’s the only similarity between Douche and Dooley: they both can win the press conference. Outside of that, Dooley is very much the Anti-Douche, which I know we all love.

So Dooley might be the most impressive of our last three coaches in the interview department. He can make you say, “Wow, that guy is impressive” without saying something dumb (Douche) or boring you to a point of dozing off (Phil). I’ve never seen Dooley speak in person, but a friend of mine who works for a local TV station here in Knoxville and goes to all these things has told me it’s even more impressive in person.

I haven’t gotten a chance to see how he handled today, but based on everything on Twitter, he killed it. Tim Tucker, the UGA beat writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said Dooley’s was the second-best behind the hoot that apparently was Vanderbilt’s interim coach yesterday (that nobody probably saw). I think it’s Dooley’s hair…

If you missed it, you can check it out on SECsports.com, and ESPNU is re-airing today’s pressers later tonight.

FootVol Fan asked: Does Fulmer take the Vandy job? If not, has he coached his last college football game?

Home Sweet Home says — I just don’t see the appeal for Coach Fulmer to take that job, FVF. I’ll put it this way: who is going to come out of retirement to coach Vanderbilt football? With all due respect to Vandy, what’s appealing about that job?

You don’t have an actual athletic department, and you’re clearly the weakest program in the nation’s toughest league. You’ve academics dictating more or less who you can recruit, and the ceiling there is about 5 wins. Yes, they made a bowl two seasons ago, but that team went 4-2 in regular-season games decided by a TD or less, an incredible stroke of fortune for a program that’s known for not winning close games.

I’d also doubt Fulmer would want to take a job within the SEC as well. He is still a Tennessee guy, after all.

SFCKLG asked: With the possibility of Crowder & Downs signing with UT, do you think that CDD will start looking at Northeast Tennessee & Southwest Virginia for future talent in the years to come? Virginia Tech seems to always recruit a prospect or two out of the area, so why not the Vols? Are there any prospects coming from this area for 2012 & 2013?

Ghost says – That’s a good question and as much as I love and follow recruiting, I try to stay in the current year. There are enough kids to follow from year to year that I have a difficult time keeping up. However, this time last year, center Mack Crowder and tight end Brendan Downs were not high on many teams’ radar, either. It just isn’t an easily scoutable area, and even though Dobyns-Bennett is normally a powerhouse, there aren’t traditionally very many great programs up there. It would be big if Tennessee could pull a kid like Jason Witten out of there every year, and based on most reports, Crowder and Downs will make it another good year for us up there this season.

Since I didn’t know of many [read: any] prospects out of that area for next year, I decided to ask Hampton Vol who is a prominent poster on several message boards and really knows and follows recruiting. He said he believes there is a “99 percent chance” Crowder will be a Vol by Saturday and nearly as good a chance that Downs switches his commitment from Duke to UT. In my [Ghost's] opinion, he is a Luke Stocker clone that — like Stocker — needs to add weight when he gets to college. The best player coming out of that area for next year is OL/DL Tyler Hayworth, who is a lock to get a UT offer. Also, I’m not sure he’s big enough, but RB Chris Sensabaugh — whose brother Gerald plays for the Dallas Cowboys — is a player to watch out for as potentially getting some offers.

Beyond that, I don’t have any answers for you. Believe it or not, I placed calls to newspapers in Bristol, Elizabethton, Johnson City and Kingsport and couldn’t get a soul to call me back [though the people I spoke to were very friendly]. If I hear of any additional names, I’ll put them in the comments section. I did, however, speak with Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Jesse Smithey, and he gave me a couple of names to look forward to out of the Knoxville area for 2012. He said Powell running back Dy’Shawn Mobley has been impressing at some Division I camps, and he’ll be a D-1 prospect. Also, he noted an offensive lineman from Maryville named Brandon Guy who has been starting for a couple years who may become a guy UT would be interested in.

alabamafan asked: What are the chances that UT wins the Oregon game? What are the SEC’s chances in all the big out off conference games?

BDLC Says — I think the Vols have a better shot now than they did with Jeremiah Masoli was still Oregon’s quarterback.  This will be an interesting game, since Oregon routinely claims that Autzen Stadium and its mere 52,000 fans is one of the most intimidating places to play.  Wait til they step into Neyland Stadium and its 100,000 faithful.  If somehow our inexperienced offensive line can control the line of scrimmage, keeping Oregon off the field, I believe we have a good shot at the Ducks.

There are several great OOC Games in the SEC this year.  I do not believe that Bama will come out of the regular season unbeaten, but I do believe they will easily handle their matchup with Penn State.  The game might be tight through halftime, but Bama’s elite talent will end this game in a blowout.  Florida will easily dispatch Florida State.  I am looking forward to the following games:  Arkansas vs Texas A&M, LSU vs UNC, and Auburn vs Clemson.  I believe Auburn and Arkansas will defend the SEC well in those match-ups, but LSU will continue their downward spiral with a loss to UNC.

AkronOhvol asked: SI has named the SEC the least likable conference, comparing the SEC to the Yankees. Personally I love it! Any comments on being hated by everyone else?

BDLC says – Is hatred the most sincere form of flattery?  Well, I think so.  I do enjoy the fact that other fan bases hate the SEC, and I just wish the Vols could contribute to that hate.