University of Tennessee Athletics
Keeping The Lifeblood Flowing
February 04, 2015 | Football
Feb. 4, 2015
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
There is no draft, no free agent signings or trades to be made. The hard work that coaches and the staff of a program put in over weeks, months and years is magnified because once signing day arrives, that's it. Those are the guys that your program is going to take into battle for the next four years.
Fans often see National Signing Day as a beginning, and it is for so many reasons. Future players may not formally start their careers until later this summer, but they are members of the Volunteer family from the moment the fax machine buzzes.
This was the second year I've been a part of the War Room, pretty much the ultimate inner-sanctum of Tennessee football. It is an experience that still makes my inner fan go crazy, while still holding in the emotions as I do my job.
The location changed this season, from a drab meeting room in the football office to the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio. In the new setting, the coaches and staff gathered around the giant screen to watch and participate in the broadcast of NSD.
It started at 6:55 a.m. with Butch Jones walking in, head held high, proclaiming "It's National Signing Day, let's do it!"
And do it, the Volunteers did. Zach Stewart, a four-star offensive lineman from Coalfield High School just down the road in Oliver Springs, was the first player to send in his paperwork. From there, the Vols were off and running.
Each time recruiting operations director Dana Morrison walked down the stairs with a confirmed letter and another brick for the display, the room went silent in anticipation. Jones would announce the newcomer to the group to thunderous applause.
Often, the player would be on the phone with his position coach as the paperwork was approved. One common thread in all of those conversations should come as no surprise to anyone who has listened to Jones' message the last three years. Every call ended with "Welcome to the family."
They welcomed five-star defensive lineman Kahlil McKensie at 10:10 a.m. It was a letter that was expected from the longtime commitment who helped UT solidify its class with an all-out effort on social media. Still, it was a big moment when the fax machine fired up for a player that coaches called a "game-changer" both publicly and privately.
Another game-changer arrived minutes later. Drew Richmond held his formal announcement for National Signing Day, but the wait was worth every second for the Vol coaches.
Jones honored a promise to Richmond by donning a bow tie to walk in the room to announce that he was officially a Volunteers. The display of a jersey with "Richmond" across the back caused the room and the fans gathered outside the studio to explode with excitement.
Player by player, brick by brick, the big board filled with names and the War Room table filled with bricks representing each of them. And with those names and bricks, the foundation for the coming years of Tennessee football was built.
For the coaches, signing day is a finish line, at least for 2015. While they're crowded around the table to celebrate and congratulate this year's class, coaches are also on the phone with the next generation, a cycle that never stops. A lifeblood that keeps flowing strong. And Big Orange.
