Author Archives: DylanVol

Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,

But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

At no other position did Jeremy Pruitt and Co. swing, and ultimately miss, bigger than at Defensive Back, specifically at Cornerback.  With a massive need at Corner in particular, Pruitt went after two 5-star Californians who ended up at USC (Isaac Taylor-Stuart and Olaijah Griffin) and a previously underrecruited TCU commitment who ended up at Alabama (Eddie Smith) along with Taiyvon Palmer (NCSU) – and missed on all of them.  To make matters somewhat worse, Tennessee also lost four prior CB commitments, two of whom were not “losses” per se in Brandon Cross and Tanner Ingle but the other two – Trey Dean and Jaycee Horn – ended up at SEC East Rivals Florida and South Carolina, respectively.

Tennessee didn’t come out of this class empty handed at the position, however.  That said, the Defensive Back position more than any other will immediately put to the test the evaluation and development skills of Pruitt, Sherrer, and Defensive Backs Coach Terry Fair.  That’s because the three DBs who are part of this class, two of whom are ticketed for blueshirts, were most certainly not household names or guys who are considered to be elite-level prospects.

Trevon Flowers was the most highly recruited of the three, and the Vols flat out beat Clemson and Dabo Swinney for the Tucker High School prospect from near Atlanta.  Flowers signed to play shortstop for Kentucky back in December but decided he wanted to pursue college football after playing football this season for the first time since 8^th grade.    The Tucker football coach was quoted as saying “He can be as good as he wants to be. We’ve got guys who have played for us here playing in the National Football League. He’s as talented as anyone we’ve coached here. The sky is the limit for him” so there’s clearly talent there.  And Pruitt is apparently a huge fan, with thoughts of Flowers playing as early as the 2018 season somewhere across the secondary.  Some think he’s unlikely to end up at CB but he’ll certainly get a shot to see if he can play there – if not he’s likely ticketed for the Nickel/Star position.

Joseph Norwood came out of nowhere late in the process and ended up a 4-star on 247 Sports and went from likely signing with MTSU to realizing a lifelong dream to play for the Vols.  Another kid who didn’t play a lot of football prior to this season – and all of that was on offense, Norwood displays serious physicality and good ball skills (and a very long, thin frame) in a way that reminds a lot of people of recent Vol Rahsaan Gaulden. He’s anther multi-sport athlete – a 23-foot long-jumper and star basketball player. He’s raw and probably is only a Special Teams player in 2018 (potentially be a really good one) but has an incredibly high ceiling.  He’s a blueshirt so didn’t officially sign with Tennessee on Wednesday but will show up in the fall

Brandon Davis is the second blueshirt DB in the class and is another example of Pruitt and his staff combing All State teams (he made the Louisiana Sports Writers 5A All-State Team) and multi-sport athletes (he’s a legit MLB prospect).  He also has the requisite length that Pruitt wants in CBs, checking in at 6’0.  For a better evaluation, check this evaluation out – it came before his senior year. It’s also notable that Davis had an offer from CSU and Terry Fair, and it’s also likely that WR Coach David Johnson knew about him, as he had a track record of bringing kids to Memphis who were really good players though they were underrecruited. Davis could potentially jump to MLB depending on his draft spot, but given that Tennessee won’t have used a scholarship on him until he enrolls there isn’t a lot of risk

Despite Pruitt’s protestations to the contrary, DB was in fact a real need in this class.  Whether those needs were met despite missing out on guys who were considered to be blue-chippers and instead signing more under the radar players remains to be seen.  There is some talent in the secondary on the existing roster – CB Shawn Shamburger and S Nigel Warrior are legit high level SEC talents.  Micah Abernathy might not be an NFL player but has played better than he showed last year previously in his career and he’s an uber-high character kid and locker room glue guy.   Assuming Todd Kelly Jr. comes back he’s another guy who has played a lot of football at Tennessee and made a lot of plays in his career.  But outside of those four there just isn’t anyone who is remotely proven and there aren’t ton of bodies. And notably three of them are Safeties. Guys like Marquill Osborne (a former 4-star), Baylen Buchanan and Theo Jackson have played some at Tennessee, just not a lot and not particularly great.  Redshirt freshmen Cheyenne Labruzza and Terrell Bailey have talent but not experience.  So again, Pruitt/Sherrer/Fair have some pieces to work with and there’s hope here that simply having better coaching will get the Secondary to play at a higher level than it did last season.  If the Front Seven is as improved as I think it can be – again, due to some real talent and better coaching – that would make for an overall defense that plays well enough to allow Tennessee to have a much better season than it did in 2017 regardless of what happens on offense.

This is it.  The final weekend before Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s first signing class puts pen to paper.  And not surprisingly there is still a ton up in the air with merely days to go, which makes this final weekend (and the inhome visits that are happening leading up to it) so important.  As we discussed earlier in the week, Tennessee’s board has continued to narrow as prospects have fallen off the board – some publicly committing elsewhere (e.g., WR Warren Thompson to FSU, OL Ryan Winkel to Arkansas, DL Jordan Miller to Miami), some trending away from the Vols (DL Malik Langham, CB Eddie Smith, WRs Antoine Green, Tre’shaun Harrison and Geordon Porter, RB C’bo Flemiser) and some being told there is no room at the inn (WR Trevon Johnson).  That leaves Tennessee with an increasingly small list of targets that they’re zeroing in on.

Tenneessee’s Official Visitors

As of a few weeks ago this list included DL Malik Langham and the aforementioned Green and Johnson.  But as the weekend has gotten closer those have been cancelled and the official visitor list consists of just three targets:

RB Jashuan Corbin – A former commitment to both Tennessee and then FSU Corbin is now down to Tennessee, and Texas A&M, with TCU likely only an option if neither the Vols nor the Aggies have room.  Pruitt and staff were inhome with Corbin on Monday laying the groundwork for the official visit, and this one looks like it’s trending the Vols way.  The question right now from a Tennessee fan’s perspective is whether or not Corbin ends up being a take for the Vols. What’s interesting is that it’s unclear if that is contingent upon a final decision from current Vol commit Anthony Grant. Grant, whose commitment is obviously still shaky (and it’s notable that the very well-informed Jesse Simonton from Volquest.com continues to maintain that he doesn’t see Grant signing with the Vols) is visiting FSU this weekend and has both UNC and Virginia Tech firmly in play.  Is that one spot either his or Corbin’s?  Or would Tennessee take both, with Grant projecting at a few other positions besides RB?  Or might it not matter if there ends up being room and Pruitt just wants the best available players – and Corbin is a helluva playmaker?  The goal for Tennessee this weekend is to make Corbin absolutely want that spot if it’s there, which makes this visit a big capper to a big week between the two parties

CB Isaac Taylor Stuart – In contrast to quite a few prospects like DBs Eddie Smith, Taiyvon Palmer, and Treveon Flowers (below) who have seen their recruitment skyrocket in the late period as teams reevaluate their needs and the remaining prospects after the first ever Early Signing Period, “ITS” has found himself in a strange position of being a 5-star CB who appears to have fewer real suitors and options than he had just a month ago.  That’s not to say he’s not every bit of the prospect people thought he was then – he’s without a doubt an elite talent whose 5-star status was solidified at January all-star events.  But with schools like Alabama – where he had a great visit just this past weekend – seemingly focusing elsewhere, Tennessee now finds itself in a prime position to swoop in and land the California star.  DB Coach Terry Fair, who has quickly built a nice relationship with ITS along with TE Coach Brian Niedermayer, was inhome on Monday, and secured an official visit, and now Volquest is reporting that the entire family will accompany him on the trip to Knoxville.  That’s obviously a great sign, and the guess here is that both the prospect and the family are blown away.  Whether that proves enough come next Wednesday will remain to be seen, although I wouldn’t rule out a commitment while they are in town

CB/S Treveon Flowers – As noted above, Flowers has seen his recruitment change dramatically in the Late Period, though for slightly different reasons.  The Atlanta-area prospect signed to play shortstop for Kentucky back in December but after asking out of that he’s gotten offers from Tennessee and yesterday from Clemson.  He visited the Tigers yesterday and assuming they push they will be major factors.  However, the Vols will get the final shot this weekend.  I speculated a couple of weeks ago that Flowers was lower on the DB board, but that was when Eddie Smith was penciled into this class and Olaijah Griffin (more below) was thought to be more likely to leave California than he is right now.  Obviously Clemson offering raises his stock quite a bit, and after playing only one season of high school football his coach was quoted as saying “He can be as good as he wants to be. We’ve got guys who have played for us here playing in the National Football League. He’s as talented as anyone we’ve coached here. The sky is the limit for him,” so there’s clearly talent there.  I do think he’s still lower on the staff’s board in terms of if they had their druthers, but as we all know you can’t always get what you want, so you might see the Vols go hard for him this weekend

Major Vol Targets Visiting Elsewhere

WR Jordan Young – The Tennessee commitment who Pruitt and Co. pulled out of nowhere and then became a 4-star prospect with offers and interest from tons of other schools, Young hosted Willie Taggart and some FSU staff last night and agreed to take an official visit to Tallahassee this weekend.  However, the Tennessee offensive staff is set to visit with him today in an effort to at worst solidify his already strong commitment and at best shut down his recruitment and cancel the FSU visit.  We’ll see – Young appears to be an outstanding talent and it would be a shame to lose him, but I ultimately think the fact that Tennessee found him first will make all the difference.  That said, the Vols would certainly rather that visit not take place

ATH Anthony Grant – As noted above Grant will be at FSU.  I think it’s notable that Pruitt never went inhome with him despite hosting him on an official visit – a decent sign that either a) Tennessee doesn’t think he’s coming, b) as Austin Price from Volquest astutely posited, they don’t mind if he goes elsewhere but didn’t want to be seen as “dropping” a prospect from the always-loaded Buford High School outside of Atlanta, or c) both.  Again, with numbers tight Grant’s decision will be one to watch as it could mean someone else on the board gets a spot.  I don’t think he’s going to FSU – UNC or VT seem more likely –  but FSU has room and Willie Taggart could definitely blow him away

WR Jacob Copeland – Seemingly down to Tennessee and Florida with Alabama running out of room for the talented Floridian (and former Gator commit), Copeland will be at UF this weekend.  Going into that visit Tennessee gave it all it could, sending in Pruitt and the entire offensive staff on Wednesday night.  Copeland visited Tennessee six weeks ago, seemingly a tactical error on Pruitt’s part as when he didn’t commit/sign with the Vols in the Early Signing Period (and few really thought he would) despite a great visit and a deep relationship that Pruitt has cultivated over the course of Copeland’s entire high school career, Tennessee was forced to play defense for the rest of December and January.  That could prove to be too much, as many think Copeland will end up signing with the Gators.  Copeland likely has a spot until he tells Tennessee “no,” so until then he’s one to watch

LB Quay Walker – Arguably the most important target left on the board, Walker continues to be relatively quiet as his recruitment winds down.  That said, every other school trying – Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn – thinks Tennessee is at worst tied for first here, while no one can agree who the other top contender is.  I’ve maintained for a while now that Tennessee’s combination of coaching relationships, JJ Peterson, and the allure of immediate playing time is going to win out.  Tennessee appears to have a lot of momentum right now with a trip to Georgia upcoming, and Pruitt also will be going inhome with Walker tonight to try and extend that and create a lead that is insurmountable.  Ideally Walker would commit tonight (and I don’t think that’s beyond the realm of possibility) and cancel the UGA trip.  But worst case seems to be the Vols’ increasing their momentum heading into the weekend.  Walker is UGA’s lone official visitor so they’ll no doubt roll out the red carpet and try to convince him to stay home and be the next Roquan Smith (a not-attractive proposition, mind you) so Tennessee will be sweating this one out for sure.  What will be interesting to hear is how much commination Walker has with Vol coaches while on that visit – that could be a tell-tale sign as to how serious he is about UGA and whether or not Tennessee is indeed the true leader here

DL Otito Ogbonnia –  The one true NG prospect, and one of only two DL left  on the board, Ogbonnia is a an extremely sharp young man who had a great visit to Knoxville last weekend.  He’ll visit Nebraska this weekend and then decide between the Vols, Huskers, and UCLA with Texas Tech (where two of his siblings attend) also somewhat in the mix.  Hard to read where this one is headed, but DC Kevin Sherrer and DL Coach Tracy Rocker saw him this past week so there is no doubt that Tennessee is trying very hard here.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a decision before Signing Day

TE Glenn Beal – The Vols appear to be in a good spot here for the Jumbo ATH who could play TE (his preferred position), DL or even potentially OL.  He’s teammates with new CB commitment Brandon Davis (a blueshirt candidate at the moment) and Tennessee is battling down the stretch with Texas A&M and Ole Miss, and to a lesser degree Alabama though apparently they would like to try a way to fit him in.  He’s that good of a prospect. Beal is scheduled to visit Florida this weekend, but I don’t consider them real players.  To make matters more complicated it seems like he would love a chance to go to LSU if the Tigers have room, and they may not know until Signing Day and what their other top targets do.  So unless he publicly commits somewhere or LSU pushes hard before Signing Day I think this one will be a mystery until someone receives a fax from him

CB Tyson Campbell – Likely still a longshot, Campbell had an excellent visit to Knnoxville last weekend and will be at hometown Miami this weekend along with ostensible DL target and high school teammate – and Miami commitment – Nesta Silvera.  Campbell wasn’t even in the picture as of two weeks ago, but Pruitt went inhome and convinced him to take an official visit and appears to have gotten enough positive feedback to have sent the entire defensive staff to see Campbell on Wednesday night.  It feels like this is going to be one where Tennessee comes out of nowhere and makes up a ton of ground only to fall short in the end (UGA is the likely landing spot) but it also seems like the one recruitment where Tennessee could pull off a massive Signing Day coup

Major Vol Targets Staying Home

There are really only four more realistic targets (and those run the spectrum in terms of true likelihood), and these prospects are not visiting anywhere this weekend:

DL John Mincey – Mincey is down to Tennessee and South Carolina.  Both sides seem to have some confidence and Pruitt, Sherrer and Rocker were inhome with him on Wednesday.  South Carolina coaches (sans Muschamp) will be in his house tonight.  South Carolina has more buzz right, for what that’s worth, but this one is far from over.  Mincey has great size for a 3-4 DE and would be a nice pickup for sure

CB Olaijah Griffin – Griffin has gone from saying Tennessee was his big leader as recently as New Year’s weekend to most people thinking he’s more likely than not to stay home and sign with USC.  Tennessee has fired all of its shots here and though Griffin has stayed relatively mum for a few weeks there does not seem to be a lot of momentum for the Vols right now.  Things could change though as Griffin clearly likes the Vols a lot, and even though he also really enjoyed a trip to Alabama last weekend and they are perhaps a darkhorse Tennessee is still the likely choice should he decide to leave the nest and head East to play real football in the SEC.  We shall see…

CB Taiyvon Palmer – Another post Early Signing Period fast-riser, Palmer went from a Duke commitment to having offers from the likes of Clemson, Alabama, and Tennessee.  However, after an outstanding visit to Knoxville last weekend this appears to be a Tennessee-NC State battle.  I honestly can’t understand why, even removing my orange-tinted glasses, but word from Volquest.com is that Palmer is leaning to the Wolfpack.  Palmer is a good player with a very strong academic background and would be a nice add to a class that need Cornerbacks in the worst way.  Tennessee will keep trying to sway him so we’ll see if they can be successful and of course what happens with the other CBs on the board (ITS, Campbell, Griffin, Flowers – though he might be more of a Safety)

OL Dylan Wonnum – Always a longshot, the South Carolina legacy was convinced to make an official visit to Knoxville two weeks ago.  He visited Columbia last weekend and though he’s still considerd a strong Gamecock lean he hadn’t shut the door completely on the Vols as of early this week as Pruitt and Friend went inhome on Tuesday.  Again, he’s probably going to sign with South Carolina, but Tennessee will probably keep trying to communicate with him as long as he’s willing to listen

With 8 days to National Signing Day, there is a still a TON up in the air to determine how Tennessee and new coach Jeremy Pruitt will finish off its inaugural signing class.  As we recently discussed, the Vols had started to consolidate its board not too long ago, but as expected new names have been added and old names have been removed (some on the part of UT, some on the part of the respective recruit).  Although how many total players the Vols can take in this class is not entirely clear, and the number of ways this class could ultimately look like is nearly infinite, what is for sure is that Pruitt and his staff have set themselves to close very strong one way or another.

Quick Weekend Recap

This past weekend Tennessee hosted five official visitors and one interesting unofficial visitor.  Official visitors included American Heritage High teammates from down in Florida CB Tyson Campbell and NG prospect (and Miami commit) Nesta Silvera; Auburn NG commitment Coynis Miller; fast-rising CB Taiyvon Palmer; and NG Otito Ogbonnia.  The unofficial visitor was CB Brandon Davis from River Ridge, LA.

In what can only be a good sign for the kind of prospect Pruitt and Co. are chasing, once again there were tons of Vol targets in Tuscaloosa, including TE Glenn Beal (Brandon Davis’ teammate); WR Jacob Copeland, and DBs Eddie Smith, Olaijah Griffin, and Isaac Taylor-Stuart.

Other major Vol targets visiting elsewhere included (but were not limited to):

DL John Mincey, OL Dylan Wonnum, and WR Warren Thompson were in South Carolina

LB Quay Walker was at Auburn

Notre Dame hosted C’Bo Flemister

Texas A&M hosted Jashaun Corbin

Big Week (and Weekend) Ahead

With the penultimate official visit weekend in the books and the Dead Period set to begin Sunday, Pruitt and the staff will be working overtime to set themselves up to be able to fill their remaining spots with the best players possible all the while trying to fill as many needs as they can.  The entire staff will be spread out across the country making their last inhome visits and then will reconvene in Knoxville for one final official visit weekend. Below is a look at the remaining board by position with a quick update on where the Vols stand:

OL

I give Pruitt and Friend credit for not taking reaches at the OL spot despite clearly needing more depth here.

With Ryan Winkel having decided against a blueshirt offer to Tennessee in favor of Arkansas, Dylan Wonnum is the lone remaining OL target. An absolute take if the Vols could land him, Wonnum is a South Carolina legacy (his brother is an emerging star on the DL) who is fresh off an OV to Columbia.  Interestingly, while he considered a strong Gamecock lean he has not publicly committed.  Pruitt still has his inhome available, so if he takes it that will make it clear that Wonnum is still strongly considering Tennessee and if not then vice versa.  Chances here are still slim, but Wonnum is good enough to spend the time chasing

RB/WR

I’ve combined these two positions because it seems like there is likely only one spot between them. The Vols would absolutely like another bigtime playmaker, but with the needs elsewhere and an unfortunate gap between those who they would take and those who are truly interested at this point, they may not add anyone else:

RB C’Bo Flemister is fresh off a really good visit to Notre Dame, and while Tennessee has slow played him the Irish have made him an absolute priority.  On the other hand, former FSU commitment and once (and future?) UT commitment RB Jashaun Corbin is getting plenty of attention from the Vols.  He’s got a final three of TCU, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, and while he is coming off a really good visit to College Station Aggies coaches are very worried about UT and his upcoming OV (not to mention Pruitt having been in his house on Monday night).  With Anthony Grant still shaky (although Pruitt can use an inhome visit if he chooses), and without a doubt a less explosive player on offense than Corbin, it seems like the staff is putting the press on the South Florida star.  This weekend will be big here.

Corbin’s cousin WR Antoine Green is a prospect the former staff absolutely loved and was deep in the mix for.  He’s also a player who has seen his recruiting profile heat up significantly in the Late Period, with UGA, OSU, FSU (where he was once committed) and UNC hot on his trail.  Volquest.com  has consistently reported that Green is perhaps the 1B to Jacob Copeland on Tennessee’s WR board as well.  He’s been scheduled to visit Knoxville this weekend but that one is absolutely up in the air.  One would think that the staff, including Pruitt, would have tried to get inhome with Green while they were down in the area with Corbin and of course be trying to sell the package deal, but there has been no public confirmation of that, so his thinking is a bit of a mystery.  What is well known is that he is a Tar Heel lean at the moment – in fact, there was a report that he was back in Chapel Hill last weekend on unofficial visit.

WR Jacob Copeland rounds out the top of the RB/WR board, and with Alabama perhaps running out of room this looks to be a Tennessee/Florida battle for the former UF commitment.  Copeland took his Tennessee OV 6 weeks ago and that looks like it might have been a miscalculation on Pruitt’ss part given the fact that his prior relationship with the star pass catcher meant he didn’t have to play as much catch up as he did with someone like fellow December official visitor CB Olaijah Griffin.  However, Pruitt does still have his inhome available and will use it this week before Copeland official visits Gainesville.  Pruitt without a doubt will sell Copeland on being the stud WR in his initial class as well as playing the relationship card strongly.

Three other WR prospect who officially visited Knoxville in January – Geordon Porter, Tre’shaun Harrison, Warren Thompson – all appear to have faded by the wayside.  Porter looks very likely to stay on the West Coast after taking an unofficial visit to UCLA this past weekend, while both Harrison and Thompson still claim to have Tennessee in their respective Top 3s but are equally unlikely to sign with the Vols.  Harrison is a FSU/Oregon battle while Thompson – who the Vols would still love to have – seems down to FSU and South Carolina.  It wouldn’t shock me to see both sign with the Seminoles

TE

The Vols don’t “need” another TE, but Glenn Beal is a good enough talent to take if you can get him.  In fact, both Alabama and LSU are recruiting him as a DL (not his preference for now) and some analysts have suggested he could be an NFL OL.  He took an official visit to Alabama this past weekend after visits to Texas A&M and Ole Miss that followed a trip to Knoxville.  LSU is lurking here and if they have room (not a big chance) Beal would likely jump on a hometown offer from the Tigers.  But as it stands, the Vols are real players here and might end up being the last man standing as he doesn’t appear to be a priority for the Tide, A&M might run out of room, and Ole Miss is not as attractive as Tennessee.  The recent commitment of his teammate Brandon Davis (below) certainly helps Tennessee’s cause here.  That said, Beal will probably be a Signing Day surprise for someone

DL

With longtime targets Malik Langham and Coynis Miller and no longer options and new offer Jordan Miller committing to Miami on Monday night, the DL board has certainly thinned quite a bit.  At this point there are really only three real targets in DE John Mincey and NG prospects Otito Ogbonnia and Nesta Silvera (a Miami commitment).  With Silvera a longshot despite what by all accounts was a good official visit this past weekend (and admittedly his silence post-visit doesn’t give one a ton of confidence either way) it would be fair to say that it’s just Mincey and Ogbonnia on the board.  Mincey appears down to Tennessee and South Carolina and is fresh off two really good visits to his respective finalists.  Pruitt still has his inhome visit this week (unclear if Muschamp has used his) and while both sides seem to have some confidence they each also have a potential numbers crunch to deal with, so this one could get dicey either way.  Ogbonnia is a true NG prospect who also excels at the shot put and would like to play both sports in college.  He’s an extremely sharp young man who had a great visit to Knoxville this past weekend, and has the kind of strength that could possibly allow him to play immediately at Tennessee.  He’ll visit Nebraska this weekend and then decide between the Vols, Huskers, and UCLA with Texas Tech (where two of his siblings attend) also somewhat in the mix.

LB

The one, the only, the quixotic Quay Walker is the sole LB Tennessee is chasing.  No one will tell you anything definitive about this recruitment, but since his official visit to Knoxville in mid-January Tennessee has been the one constant.  He’s visited Alabama – where he is still technically committed – and Auburn, with a visit to Georgia coming up this final weekend.  The Vols a handful of very important things others simply cannot offer: multiple coaching relationships (Pruitt, Sherrer, Rumph), a strong friendship with a fellow recruit (JJ Peterson), and immediate playing time.  Pruitt also will be going inhome with Walker this week, no doubt trying to at best land a commitment and cancel the UGA trip but at worst maximize the Vols’ momentum heading into the weekend.  All three other finalists will no doubt go down swinging hard, and the visit to Athens will absolutely be sweated out by the Volunteer staff, but the call here is that Walker signs with Tennessee

DB

The Vols need Defensive Backs, especially Corners, in a big way, and they’ve set themselves up pretty well here and now need to close.  With the recent commitment of Brandon Davis, who is likely to be either a blueshirt (so eligible to play in 2018) or a greyshirt (not until 2019) they do have one, but the need is much greater.  The board features five-stars Tyson Campbell, Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart along with Eddie Smith and Taiyvon Palmer, and frankly the Vols need to hit on at least two of these to consider it a success.  The problem is that eight days before Signing Day, while the Vols are in deep for all of them, no one would call Tennessee the leader for any of them.

Griffin is down to USC and Tennessee, plain and simple.  However, Vol fans have seen this movie before and know that it generally ends with the Cali kid staying local.  Tennessee will keep pressing here as much as they can, and DB Coach Terry Fair was in with the Griffin family yet again on Monday night.  Pruitt has used his inhome, so it will be up to Fair and Brian Niedermayer to spend as much time as allowed with Griffin to try and convince him to play his college ball across the country.

Smith was a CB many (including myself) had penciled into this class, but things have gotten squirrely in the last few weeks.  After unabashedly calling Tennessee his leader following his mid-January visit to Knoxville, Smith took a good visit to Mississippi State and then saw Alabama not only offer but seriously turn up the heat.  Pruitt tried to use his inhome with Smith to prevent a visit to Tuscaloosa but was unsuccessful and the trip to Alabama might have been too much to overcome.  It sounds like the Vols will keep trying here but it could be too little too late.

Every action causes a reaction, and Alabama’s focus on Smith (and big move for bigtime CB Patrick Surtain) has caused Tennessee to move in on Taylor-Stuart.  “ITS” had a great visit to Alabama but it sounds like the Tide is not reciprocating, which is giving the Vols an opening.  Fair was inhome on Monday night and secured an official visit for this final weekend.  Pruitt still has an inhome available, and although Jesse Simonton from Volquest suggested earlier in the week that he might not use it (with a major caveat that things were “fluid”) my guess would be that with things trending the wrong way with Smith and potentially Griffin Pruitt makes the trip.  Without a doubt ITS would be a huge add to the class.

Palmer is one of the biggest risers of the Late Period, garnering offers from Clemson, Alabama, and Tennessee among others.  He had an outstanding visit to Knoxville this past weekend and is down to the Vols, NCSU, and Nebraska.  A great student who was a former Duke commitment (and has offers from places like Georgia Tech, Cal and Notre Dame as well), Palmer is a 6’0 CB prospect from the Atlanta area that certainly fits what Pruitt is looking for in a CB.  Pruitt will be inhome this week trying to close the deal, but NCSU in particular is right in this one.

Campbell was on campus this past weekend, and though he had a good visit most think he is an extreme longshot.

The next eight days are going to be a wild ride, and who Tennessee is willing to take with its limited spots and who wants in could change dozens of times.  But as noted at the beginning, the work that Pruitt and Co. have done have stacked the odds very high that the Vols close with a strong number of very good prospects.  It certainly will be fascinating (and anywhere from breathtaking to heartbreaking) to watch.

As we noted in the weekend preview, the Vols were set to welcome an interesting set of visitors to the Hill this past weekend.  As we also discussed, many of Tennessee’s top targets were on official visits elsewhere.  Schools UT is fighting with for certain prospects saw action as well, so there is a lot to recap from the weekend:

Tennessee Visitors

ATH Anthony Grant was on campus and by all accounts had a really nice trip.  He was told by the staff that they are recruiting him as a RB, although it seems that it’s clear to him that moving to defense is at least a real possibility.  He’s a kid who doesn’t seem prone to being overly emotional, and while he is definitely enamored with UT as a school and the football program in particular he clearly isn’t ready to shut it down.  He got an offer from FSU late last week and will OV to Tallahassee this coming weekend.  Many people, particularly Jesse Simonton from Volquest.com, have maintained that Grant won’t end up a part of this class for he Vols, and between his continued interest in the three ACC schools on his list (VT, UNC, and now FSU) and the incredibly limited spots left for Pruitt and Co. that is a reasonable take.  But he remains committed for now so it’s anyone’s guess where he ends up

DE John Mincey, who last week decommitted from Arkansas, came into his official visit feeling the Vols and exited with an even stronger affinity. He’s a large young man who would likely at least initially be a SDE in the Pruitt/Sherrer defense, with the chance to grow into a player who can move inside.  While he’s still scheduled to take visits to South Carolina and then Florida State before Signing Day, I have a strong suspicion he might have told Pruitt and the staff that he’s going to be a Vol while on campus.  Whether he becomes a public commitment and shuts his recruitment down before taking those trips is to be determined, and will be something to watch this week.  He’d be a big add to the DL class, that’s for sure

ATH Tre’shaun Harrison, a former Oregon commitment and 4-star WR/DB, was on campus with his parents and predictably was blown away by what he saw in Knoxville.  He doesn’t do much talking to the media though, so it’s unclear if coming out of the visit the Vols are true players in his recruitment.  That said, with FSU (along with the Ducks) considered to be real contenders, leaving the West Coast is certainly an option.  I think we’ll be able to get a real feel for where Tennessee thinks it sits if Pruitt and/or other staff make the trip out to Seattle to see him

OL Dylan Wonnum moved his originally scheduled visit to South Carolina and scheduled a trip to Knoxville instead.  Because his brother is at Carolina he is definitely considered a heavy Gamecock lean, but the Vols have worked themselves into the picture and got a much desired official visit.  He’s an incredibly quiet kid who notoriously does little media, so it’s nearly impossible to tell where the Vols are with him coming out of the visit.  That said, with the departure of OL Coach Herb Hand from Auburn the Vols are likely at least #2 going into his visit to Columbia, so they will likely keep swinging and see what happens with the very talented lineman

Neither S Nikko Hall nor S Trevon Flowers made it in this past weekend.  It appears Tennessee and Hall, who we noted in the weekend preview had an odd offer list, have agreed to move on from each other.  Flowers, an intriguing prospect who signed to play shortstop for Kentucky back in December but has decided he wants to play football too (which means he must sign a football scholarship), was in Lexington as the Wildcat staff tries to hold onto him.  He’s now planning on visiting Knoxville this coming weekend and will be one to watch

Tons of News in Tuscaloosa

Alabama hosted three of Tennessee’s top targets this past weekend in commitment LB JJ Peterson, LB Quay Walker (a Tide commitment himself), and DL Malik Langham and by all accounts did themselves some good with all three.  What that means in the next two weeks or so is still yet to play out.

Without a doubt though, Saban and Co. put themselves firmly in the driver’s seat with Langham.  The Alabama native had the Tide right at the top of his list going into the visit and he admitted on Sunday that they are his leader.  It could be considered a minor victory for the Vols (and Florida, with whom he still has a visit scheduled this coming weekend, and Auburn, who offered on Friday) that he didn’t commit publicly and end his recruitment completely.  But there is zero doubt that anyone else trying to land Langham has a pretty big hill to climb.  I wouldn’t be shocked if Langham never ends up visiting Rocky Top officially, but obviously the Vols won’t give up on the talented defensive lineman until he tells them to leave him alone as proven by Tracy Rocker being inhome with him on Monday night.

As one might expect, both Peterson and Walker had great visits.  Between the National Championship parade and the normal peer recruiting that takes place on a visit, one can imagine that both had a great time and that each of them felt like they could see themselves playing at Alabama.  That said, other than Walker commenting that it took some time for him to get comfortable with neither Pruitt nor Derrick Ansley on staff anymore, neither of them have talked much publicly about their visit or where their respective recruitments stand coming out of the weekend.  Therefore, anyone talking about it is simply giving their generally uninformed opinion.  Mine is that Peterson, with whom Pruitt still has his inhome visit (not to mention the Propst connection), is going to stick with the Vols.  As far as Walker goes, as long as he keeps taking visits – and he is still scheduled to see Auburn and then UGA before the final dead period – his commitment to Alabama should still be considered shaky at best.  If he were truly convinced it was the place for him – and if that convincing was going to happen one would think this past weekend was the time for it – why wouldn’t he come out and say it?  Frankly, this is in my opinion the same situation as Grant and Tennessee.  Therefore, my opinion stands that this is going to be a UT-UGA battle at the end, and unless UGA runs out of space (see below) they are going to stay in the fight.  My hope is that between his relationships on the UT staff with Pruitt, Sherrer, and Rumph along with his friendship with JJ Peterson and the immediate playing time Tennessee can only offer will win out.

Along with Langham, Peterson and Walker, Alabama also hosted stud CBs Tyson Campbell and Patrick Surtain along with Julius Irvin, who they had just offered.  And while Campbell still appears to be a strong UGA lean, Surtain and Irvin are now very much in play for the Tide.  Further, not only is Alabama is scheduled to have CBs Kelvin Joseph (soft LSU commit) and major UT targets Isaac Taylor-Stuart and Eddie Smith (and maybe also Olaijah Griffin) on campus this coming weekend, but they added to their recent CB offer spree (they offered former UGA commit Richard Wildgoose last week) by offering former Duke commit Taiyon Palmer. 

Point is, Alabama has a TON of CB lines in the water, and where they stand with most of them is unknown.  They’re likely to land some, so if you’re Tennessee you’re hoping that it’s guys like Campbell or Surtain or Irvin or Joseph or Palmer – not Taylor-Stuart or Smith or Griffin.  Lots to play out here, and lots of implications for the Vols at arguably the most important area of need

Other UT Targets on the Road

Both CB Olaijah Griffin and NG Coynis Miller were at Oregon, and the fact that there hasn’t been news on either of those visits is likely indicative of how little chance the Ducks have with either prospect.  Miller scheduled to be in Knoxville this coming weekend and UT is viewed as the one school that could realistically flip him even though he currently has an OV set up to Florida the first weekend in February.  Tracy Rocker was in to see Miller on Monday ahead of the visit, so clearly the Vols are hoping to set the stage for a big weekend.

Griffin hosted Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt inhome on Monday night. After naming UT and USC his co-leaders coming out of his official visit to the Trojans last weekend, Tennessee is clearly trying to regain the momentum in this newly-minted 5-star CBs recruitment.  He’s currently scheduled to see Alabama and then Auburn before Signing Day, but those visits are likely up in the air.  Ideally Pruitt crushed the inhome and convinced both Olaijah and his family that Tennessee is the best place for him and to commit and shut it down.  The more likely scenario is that the inhome reestablished the Vols as his leader with many more twists and turns to come

Arguably Tennessee’s top two remaining WR targets took OVs elsewhere, with Texas A&M hosting Jacob Copeland and UGA hosting Antoine Green.  And a third, Warren Thompson, was scheduled to be at UNC but it doesn’t seem like he actually went – he’s one UT would love to land but at this point still seems FSU-bound.

While the Vols trail Bama and maybe Florida for Copeland, his visit to College Station didn’t see to move the needle for the Aggies.  However, the Green visit to Athens is very interesting, as he is near the top of the WR board for the Vols.  Where he sits for Georgia is less clear, and they are still working hard to land Tommy Bush (who was in Oxford this weekend) at WR while working with very as few as three spots.  As everyone knows UGA is a big player for Quay Walker, and despite what sounds like a really good visit to Tuscaloosa for Campbell most still think he remains a heavy Georgia lean.   Notably, UGA also had DB Mario Goodrich on campus this past weekend and by all accounts made a lot of headway.  What Kirby Smart does with his numbers will be fascinating and could have an impact on the Vols, so it will be something to continue to monitor

Top CB target Eddie Smith was at Mississippi State for his Bulldog OV.  He seems to have had a nice time, and spent most of his visit with well-regarded CB coach Terrell Buckley, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of confidence out of Starkville.  Smith still appears to be favoring Tennessee heading into his OV to Alabama, and as noted above the Tide has dished out multiple CB offers in just the last few days along with being in play for aforementioned guys like Surtain and Irvin in particular.  So it remains to be seen where he is on Alabama’s board, not to mention that Tennessee could simply have too big of a lead to overcome

Texas hosted LB/DEs Michael Williams and Caleb Okechukwu.  Williams received his Texas offer right before the visit and Okechukwu during, and Williams popped for the Longhorns on Monday.  I am a fan of the jumbo athlete’s game and think he would have made a nice chess piece in Pruitt’s defense, but it was it was unclear after his visit to Knoxville the previous weekend how much interest either side had.  Okechukwu’s recruitment has been pretty quiet after earning a bunch of offers with his performance at the Under-Armour game.  And while he received the Texas offer and had a really good visit to Austin, he remains uncommitted and will be in Knoxville this coming weekend.  With Langham looking more and more like a big Crimson Tide lean and with Williams off the board (and Texas likely no longer having room), Okechukwu’s chances of landing at Tennessee look better than ever.  We’ll see how that visit goes this weekend…

TE Glenn Beal was at Ole Miss this past weekend and this recruitment continues to get wilder.  He had a good time in Oxford and Ole Miss could be a factor depending on how things fall with Beal’s remaining suitors.  The thought that he was an Aggie lean last week after his Texas A&M visit seems to have fallen by the wayside, and after visiting the Black Bears he’s now planning to visit Alabama and then Florida.  There is also a thought that if LSU has room Beal would love to end up there and will keep that option open until the very end. At this point I think the odds of him ending up a Vol are pretty low given Beal’s interest in so many other schools this late in the game combined with UT’s needs elsewhere and the number of realistic options on the board, but it does seem like the staff wants to keep recruiting him so we’ll see

No news yet from JUCO DL Emmit Gooden’s visit to Louisiana Lafayette, but Volquest is reporting that he’s less and less likely to end up a Vol.  To me that means he’s not likely to qualify at an SEC school