The present might only be a footnote...

As Vanderbilt continues to pick up impressive verbal commitments, such as one on Wednesday from 6-foot-2 cornerback Karl Butler, a lot of excitement is brewing in Commodoreland. Players like Butler, like Kyle Woestmann, like Jonathan Krause, Nash Nance and Davis Dudchock, give creedence to those that felt like Vanderbilt was really starting to get better prospects into the program, especially after coming off the success that was the 2009 recruiting class.

However, Vanderbilt fans and the rest of the SEC might not be even able to comprehend what might very well happen next. Currently, the Commodores have 12 talented public commitments, but underneath it all, we at VandySports.com believes they could have as many as 18 prospects committed to the program at this time. While the identity of some of these prospects would seem to be just pure speculation at this time without the prospects own verbal confirmation, the prospects we suspect are definitely prospects that would ring high in Commodore fans ears and possibly even make them dance in the streets with excitement. Prospects at important positions, who have been targets for quite sometime, have not only given VU an extended "time of day" but some are seeing that Vanderbilt is building a winner at possibly the last, great, untapped program in all of Division 1-A football. Case in point, Vanderbilt plays in the best conference in the nation, graduates close to 100 percent of it's players, is putting more and more players into the pros and now, is competing on the football field with every other powerhouse in the league. Basically, Vanderbilt has the ingredients to be the next great, success story out of "nowhere". Vanderbilt has the chance to be the program to rise out of the abyss and capture something that very few programs truly can: be something new and exciting.

While pundits around the nation, jot down their preseason predictions, with a large dose of history noticeably behind most of their picks, they will use the same old line as "Vanderbilt just can't get the horses to win a championship in the SEC". But, in the underground, beneath it all, on the level that is rarely seen by outsiders to the recruiting world, a lot of highly talented prospects are starting to believe that if they went to Vanderbilt, the program would have the horses to compete for a championship. VandySports.com knows that three Top 50 players are definitely giving Vanderbilt more than just "the time of day" right now and all three may pull a "shocker" to the nation and decide to don the Black and Gold in 2010. Also, some of the top rising juniors around the nation, have started to turn a serious eye to the Commodores due to the buzz that the program has started to make with some of the big time prospects from the current class.

While Vanderbilt is still going to have to deal with its past history in the public from time to time, and even some long suffering Commodore fans wouldn't even be able to fathom the possibility of a Top 50 or better kid signing with Vanderbilt, the fact is that with each passing day, Vanderbilt recruiting is getting that much stronger. Just like last year, when February comes around, the VU coaching staff might just have to shove away some impact level prospects that simply missed the cut line for committing. Turning away the very type of kids that the program would've begged for just over 5 years ago.

Years ago, a motto was said at Vanderbilt, "Have fun, expect to win". Now, the motto that many fans and media alike don't hear is "We're building for a championship". The recruits are hearing this message every day and some are starting to take strong notice to it.

In the next few months, there might truly be a new dawn in Vanderbilt football, both on the football field as well as in the future. The 2009 Commodores expect to not only get back to a bowl game this year but get to an even better bowl than the one they played in the year before. And, if things continue to build underneath the surface, soon, we could see some mega surprises in store for the 2010 class.

Regardless of how things ultimately turnout, the message appears to be coming loud and clear: "This is a new Vanderbilt and we are not here to lose anymore. We are also not to just here for bowl games, we are here for a championship."