Dooley minimized risk with signing class

His second class as Tennessee head coach, first in which he had complete control, certainly needed to provide a talent laden roster with quality across the board, but it also had to do so while maintaining its maximum quantity. "We couldn't afford to have a lot of high-risk guys in this class," Dooley said. "Everybody has got some deficiency somewhere, but it's no different than investing your money. When you build a class, we're investing in people. It's important that we minimize the amount of risk."
SEC regulations allow teams to sign 28 players per year, but NCAA rules permit that only 25 receive scholarships for a given season. Because UT had just 24 players sign and qualify in 2010, it was able to back-count one of its early enrollees from the 2011 class to 2010, a move that will allow the Vols to have 26 new players on scholarship for the upcoming season.
It would be a minor SEC miracle for the Vols to have 26 of the 27 players they signed to National Letters of Intent in uniform for two-a-days.

"I was very conscious early on what their academic makeup was and their character," he said. "I was constantly monitoring that. I think it's fair to say on more players than I normally do. As we get a commitment and another commitment and another commitment, it affects where the next guy is. "You're trying to shape together a class that has a good makeup and has diversity. It's got some risk. It's just a process."