KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Butch Jones hasn't coached his first game at Tennessee, but he already has a taste of the rough-and-tumble world of Southeastern Conference football.
Jones' staff rallied late to get Tennessee a recruiting class ranked in the top 30 nationally Wednesday by most services, yet those same services also had this class in the bottom half of the SEC.
Only nine of the 21 recruits in this class picked Tennessee before the Vols hired Jones away from Cincinnati on Dec. 7. Eight players who committed to Tennessee under former coach Derek Dooley switched to other schools after he was fired. Eight of Tennessee's signees were previously committed elsewhere.
The class includes quarterback Joshua Dobbs and defensive ends Jaylen Miller and Malik Brown, all of whom didn't choose Tennessee until Wednesday.
Jones said he got a text message from friend and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, in which Dilfer said Tennessee signed the best quarterbacks in the country. Besides Dobbs, UT also got Riley Ferguson.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
