Tennessee closed strong on National Signing Day, moving up to No. 14 according to the 247Sports composite as of 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.

A tired but pleased Butch Jones described the class to the media. After leading the SEC in games played by first-year guys the last two seasons, Tennessee may not have as much early playing time available.

But Jones insists he’s still selling Vols recruits on the opportunity to see the field early, and perhaps it’s a false assumption to assume strong 2014 and 2015 classes will make it tough for this class to contribute immediately.

Jones didn’t draw many intriguing conclusions, but overall depicted a glowing characterization of this smallish class, which includes 21 players. Here’s what he said:

“We wanted to get players that could be multi-positional and players that brought great special teams value, and we feel that we were able to accomplish that,” Jones told Paul Finebaum.

“We’re in a relationship business. You look at the addition of Bob Shoop, first of all, his reputation speaks for itself, so it’s instant credibility when he sits in the living room with these recruits.”