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| Jordan Williams |
"Coach Dooley in one word ... that's hard," said Saulsberry, a 6-foot-4, 252-pound defensive lineman. "I think it's too hard to come up with a word that describes Coach Dooley. He's just an amazing dude."
The relationship between Williams and Saulsberry goes back to elementary school. They will get another look at where their friendship and football career will continue on their official visit to UT this weekend.
"I've known Trevarris since the first grade," said Williams, a 6-4, 240-pound defensive end. "We first started playing football together in the fifth."
Added Saulsberry: "We have a brother-type relationship. We tell each other everything about everything basically. We don't really keep much from each other."
But the two had to spend their junior year of high school apart after Saulsberry transferred to Gainesville, leaving Williams at P.K. Yonge.
"It was weird, but it wasn't too weird because we weren't super close like we are now," Saulsberry said. "I'd been playing with him my whole life, and it didn't feel right to not see him at the opposite end [of the defensive line] from me."
Reunited at Gainesville, Williams and Saulsberry entered the recruiting process. Despite going to school less than two miles from Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, neither has received an offer from Florida despite attending a camp there last April.
"They said you guys don't deserve an SEC offer right now [in April]," Saulsberry said. "[New Florida] Coach [Will] Muschamp wanted to interview with us, but we just didn't want to because of how they treated us early in the process."
Williams grew up a Gators fan. His father, Keith, played defensive lineman for Florida in the 1980s. He said former Florida coach Urban Meyer recruited him some, but an offer never came.
He and Saulsberry both attended camp at Tennessee in the summer, earning an offer from the Volunteers with their play, though it almost didn't happen. Neither, especially Saulsberry, even really wanted to make the 500-plus-mile drive to Knoxville.
"I didn't really want to come up to Tennessee; it was my mom's idea," Saulsberry said. "I was just fighting it. I just went there, played hard and got the offer. My whole mindset was changed."
"As soon as I stepped on campus," Williams said, "I fell in love and just loved the coaches at the camp. Shortly after that, that's when they offered. Right then I was pretty much ready to commit, but my mom and my dad said, 'Slow down; you've got time; weigh your options.'"
Saulsberry, who also received offers from Iowa State, South Florida and Central Florida, committed to UT in August, and spent the next few months badgering his buddy.
"I was in Jordan's ear every day," he said. "Every day I was like, 'Jordan, what are you going to do about Tennessee?' I was persistent about Jordan coming to Tennessee with me. I guess I was aggravating [him] enough to get him to commit."
Williams did so in October, picking the Vols over Oregon.
"From the camp, deep down inside I was swayed, not just from the camp, but the entire package," he said.
Williams, whose stock has risen since his senior season ended, and Saulsberry, who said he can play anywhere on the defensive line, can't wait to begin their tutelage under UT line coach Chuck Smith. After this weekend, chances are they won't need as long to condense Dooley into a word, either.
"He's just honest," Saulsberry said. "He doesn't come at you with the lies that other coaches come at you with. He just tells you the truth. He's going to tell you how it is whether you like it or not, and that's what I like in a coach."\
Added Williams: "I would say [he's] a man who knows what he wants to do. Every time he talks to me he always has a plan. He has a set plan, and he's confident in his plan.
"He's confident about the future, and he's got me confident about the future."
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