To say that conditions for Tennessee recruiting were less than ideal would be laughable. Like gut-busting.

New head coach Derek Dooley had 19 days on the job before Signing Day on Wednesday. He had two official visit weekends, one of which saw snow and ice complicate travel throughout the Southeast. And the Vols didn't have a full staff of coaches during that stretch either. Heck, they didn't have a defensive coordinator until Wednesday.

But Dooley, fresh off inking a class that ranked No. 9 in the country according to both ESPN and Rivals.com, didn't expect ideal conditions when he decided to become a football coach.

"I don't do anything that I don't expect challenges," Dooley said. "If you think everything's going to go smoothly in this profession, you may as well not be in it. I mean, what are we going to do the first interception we throw?"

Certainly adversity isn't over for the Vols. A talented group of seniors move on, including five of UT's top six offensive linemen, tailback Montario Hardesty, defensive tackle Dan Williams and linebacker Rico McCoy. And of course safety Eric Berry, who opted to turn pro after his junior season as well.

But Dooley took a clunker of a situation heading into Signing Day and made it run like a Porche.

He landed one of the highest-rated groups of wide receivers in the country, helped by a late push to land five-star Da'Rick Rogers.

But he was clear Wednesday that Tennessee's fortunes won't be won or lost on one recruit or one recruiting class.

"I do believe this: There's no way that I could sit here and project how good these guys are going to be two to three years from now," Dooley said. "Today is when the work begins. How we coach them, how we mentor them, how we support them, how we development them mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally -- there's so many factors that go in to how well these guys wind up performing. I think it's a little bit jumping the gun to get so excited on signing day even though I know it's a great event for the fans."

One of Dooley's early victories at Tennessee was convincing all eight mid-term enrollees, who began classes the day after Lane Kiffin's abrupt exit, to remain enrolled. Included in that group was quarterback Tyler Bray, offensive lineman Ja'Wuan James, as well as defensive end Jacques Smith.

The challenges didn't end there -- and there will be more challenges along the way -- but one thing that was never a problem, Dooley said Wednesday, was selling prospects on Tennessee.

"I'm still trying to find if there's anything wrong with this place. Are you kidding me?" Dooley said. "What is not a sell? The university is a great university. The support here is better than anywhere in the country. The league we're playing in. The resources that our program has, the resources that our athletics director commits to the program. What is not to sell?"