Category Archives: Football

Mid-April Recruiting News and Notes

After taking an unofficial visit to Knoxville the previous weekend for the Orange & White Game, USC WR transfer Velus Jones took an official visit this past weekend to Auburn.  An Alabama native who signed with the Trojans when current Tennessee WR Coach and fellow Alabamian Tee Martin was the position coach in LA, Jones has two remaining seasons of eligibility. Assuming he would be immediately eligible and then have two seasons to play makes Jones an attractive addition, both because of the relative lack of quality/experienced depth at the position for Tennessee in 2019 but also because he’d effectively function as a JUCO prospect with high level major conference experience.  Jones would also allow Tennessee coaches to keep Georgia transfer Deangleo Gibbs at the Nickel/Star position instead of at WR effectively functioning as a 2-for-1 addition to the roster.  Auburn’s entrance into the sweepstakes means that, should Tennessee want to add Jones, it’s no longer a layup and the Vols will absolutely have to fight to land him

Bigtime Vol DB target Brian Branch committed to Alabama over the weekend.  Branch, who’d been to Knoxville twice in 2019, committed to the Tide over the Vols and Oklahoma, where he’d just taken his official visit.  Branch’s main recruiter at Alabama is Charles Kelly, the former Vols Safety coach.  Kelly had been recruiting Branch to Tennessee as well and had a prior relationship with Branch’s high school coach.  Kelly is likely to be a thorn in Tennessee’s side during the 2020 cycle in particular, as he is a strong recruiter overall and has built good relationships with multiple prospects in this class especially in the state of Alabama where Tennessee is recruiting heavily – Branch won’t likely be the be the last time we hear from Kelly

LB Mekhail Sherman was one of a handful of Tennessee targets who were in Athens this past weekend for UGA’s spring game, as he took his first of five allotted official visits.  He joined the likes ofOL Paris Johnson, Tate Ratledge and Cooper Mays as well asRB Tank Bigsby; DL Zykevious Walker; OLB BJ Ojulari; TE Arik Gilbert; and DB Joel Williams as UGA visitors.  Sherman is notably a high school teammate of major Vol and fellow 5-star prospect WR target Rakim Jarrett which could play in Tennessee’s favor as the Vols are right at the top for Jarrett if not his current outright leader.  Sherman is an elite LB prospect and while he’s not been commonly mentioned name among Tennessee recruitniks the Vols are absolutely in the mix.  He’s scheduled to take an official visit to Ohio State this coming weekend, and Tennessee is among a group with Florida and LSU (where Jarrett is OV’ing this coming weekend) who appear to round out his Top 5.  The Vols do need to get Sherman to campus soon but he is somehow an “under the radar” prospect despite being a 5-star

With coaches getting on the road for the spring evaluation period, Tennssee handed out a few new offers for the 2020 and future classes.  Among those new offers were midstate DT Michael Reese. Although a new name on Tennessee’s board, Reese does currently have offers from Georgia Tech, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt.  He’s been to campus twice during the Pruitt era and at this point seems wide open.  Adding another DL prospect to the offer board, as well as another instate player, seems like a good idea.  It will be interesting to see how Reese, who’s currently listed at around 250 pounds, plays his senior season and in turn what happens with his recruitment

Having found success in the JUCO ranks in his first two classes at Tennessee, with Dominick Wood-Anderson, Emmitt Gooden, Savion Williams, and Darrel Middleton (though not so much with Kenneth George…can’t bat 1.000), Coach Jeremy Pruitt and staff seem intent on tapping that resource again in 2020.  Holding an early commitment from the #1 JUCO prospect in the country in DL Jordan Davis, Tennessee already had offers out to CB Art Green of Hutchinson; WR Kundarrious Taylor of Copiah-Lincoln (Davis’s teammate and fellow Memphian); and DL Perrion Winfrey of Iowa Western.  Tennessee’s newest JUCO offer is to CB Brian George of Highland, the country’s #2 overall JUCO prospect, making it five JUCO offers so far.  While Pruitt has made great strides in remaking the roster since taking over in December 2017, there are still holes to fill and talent upgrades to be made, and between upper-echelon high school talent, blue-chip transfers, and Junior College talent, he’s showing that he’s willing to use any channel necessary

Turning to basketball recruiting, Tennessee (and now other schools like Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest) has offered North Carolina-based 2020 PG Jalen Cone the option of reclassifying to 2019.  After an inhome visit with Coach Rick Barnes and assistant Des Oliver, the 60th ranked overall player in the 2020 class by Rivals has scheduled an official visit to Knoxville for the weekend of May 10th.  Cone is a 5’9 guard with explosive athleticism and the ability to score at all three levels while also being a distributor.  What’s interesting about this development of course is that with Jordan Bone’s likely early exit to professional basketball (hopefully via the NBA draft) the Vols could have a large hole to fill not just on the roster in general but specifically in the backcourt.  While incoming 5-star freshman Josiah James is ostensibly a PG, at 6’6 he could also function as a 1-through-3 guard/wing on offense and potentially even a 1-through-4 on defense due to his length and strength.  Therefore, the addition of Cone would not only give the Vols another playmaker in the backcourt but also give Tennessee a bigtime player on the roster for 3-4 years vs. just one more year for Bone.  That’s a trade that could be a slight downgrade for 2020 – Bone is clearly more prepared to lead a team in 2019 than Cone is, even if Cone might have more pure talent – but it could actually give Tennessee more flexibility in the backcourt by allowing Barnes the freedom to play different combinations of Cone/James/Turner/Bowden (vs having to play Bone strictly ay PG and for 30+ minutes) but will also make the 2020 roster more experienced by giving Cone that extra season.  Bone says he will take OVs to Yale (is he another Grant/Dobbs type?) and Baylor along with Tennessee, but Texas A&M and Virginia Tech will absolutely fight to get him to campus as well.  Bet on the Vols absolutely trying to lock him down on the Mother’s Day Weekend visit, a development that would have large implications for the 2019-2020 season and beyond

Post Spring Game Recruiting Wrap

Some quick thoughts wrapping up the spring recruiting period for Tennessee, which culminated with the Orange & White Game last weekend

  1. The large majority of prospects detailed in the weekend preview made it to campus as expected, with the notable exception of TE Arik Gilbert.  Gilbert appears to be, if not trending away from Tennessee per se, trending towards instate UGA at the moment
  2. Interestingly, Tennessee chose to bring in five of the visitors officially, including one already committed prospect in DL Dominic Bailey from Maryland.  On its face this seems like a strange and possibly poor decision by Coach Jeremy Pruitt, as the official visit is the most meaningful and therefore precious card a school can play.  And to do so in mid-April certainly is “shooting your shot,” particularly with prospects from places like Maryland, Michigan, and Texas who by definition have to travel quite a bit and on their own dime in order to make it back to campus.  Even if all five of the official visitors had committed to Tennessee, there is still right months until the Early Signing Period, a lifetime in recruiting.  And in fact none of them actually did commit.  That’s not to say of course that the weekend was unsuccessful, as undoubtedly the visits helped the Vols a great deal in each of the respective recruitments.  And of course no one really knows if any of the prospects essentially said that without and OV they weren’t going to visit and they wanted to come this particular weekend. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the strategy pays off with these recruits, and we really won’t know until the faxes roll in in December and then February
  3. The Vols did land one commitment over the weekend from electric Slot WR/CB Jimmy Calloway from South Georgia.  Potentially an early enrollee with offers from Oregon, Georgia Tech (and new Head Coach Brent Key formerly at Alabama) among others, Calloway fits the Pruitt mold of an explosive athlete who can play on either side of the ball and is comfortable with the ball in his hands.  Frankly, if Oregon wants a Slot WR prospect you can sign me up.  He showed out at a couple of spring 7-on-7 events (where he’s teammates with fellow Vol target EJ Williams, one of the aforementioned OV’s this past weekend) showing off great route running and dynamic playmaking ability.  Calloway looks like a case of getting in early on a kid by taking his commitment before other bigtime programs either have the chance to pull the trigger or even evaluate properly and depending on how willing he is to look around before December the Vols may very well find themselves fighting to hold on
  4. Once again Pruitt and his staff did an excellent job all winter/spring of getting recruits to campus, many multiple times.  As noted above Tennessee ended with a bang in what was an incredibly successful weekend in terms of the volume of bigtime recruits on campus, especially considering the other schools who were also holding their spring games
  5. As such, and combined with the work done last season getting these Class of 2020 kids to campus for camps and/or game in the Fall of 2018, Tennessee is set up nicely right now
  6. To begin with, the Vols have six really, really good commitments, including a stud QB (and peer recruiter) in Harrison Bailey, a stud JUCO DE in Memphis-native and former Alabama signee Jordan Davis, and 4-star DL Bailey among them
  7. At the same time, the Vols have positioned themselves at or near the top for a very impressive number of elite prospects.  Not just a handful, but legitimately upwards of thirty-plus 5 and 4-star prospects against whom Tennessee is deep in battles with the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Ohio State.  The Vols are simply fishing in much deeper waters than we’ve seen in quite awhile
  8. Notably, and in contrast to last cycle, Tennessee has also put itself in strong position with a large number of instate prospects it (and other power programs) covets.  In particular, DB Keshawn Lawrence, OL Cooper Mays, DL Tyler Baron, DL Jay Hardy, DL Trevonn Rybka and RB/LB Tee Hodge are instate kids for whom one could convincingly say the Vols lead, and Tennessee is seemingly 2nd behind Alabama in a two-team race for bigtime DE (and Bama legacy) DE Reggie Grimes from the midstate.  On the other hand, if Tennessee wants to be a real factor in Memphis this cycle, which is well known to be the case, the Vols are going to need to get the likes of OL/DL Omari Thomas, OL Chris Morris, and WR Darrin Turner on campus again relatively soon (while OL Marcus Henderson and ATH Jabari Small have been to Knoxville this spring)
  9. All recruiting eyes will be in Athens, GA this weekend when UGA holds its own spring game with little to no competition for prospects.  Tennessee targets expected to attend include OL Tate Ratledge; OL Paris Johnson (OSU commitment); LB Mekhail Sherman (Rakim Jarrett’s teammate); RB Tank Bigsby; DL Zykevious Walker; OLB BJ Ojulari; TE Arik Gilbert; DB Joel Williams, and potentially OL Cooper Mays.  Ratledge in particular will be worth watching as the elite OT is a Tennessee-Georgia battle and was just in Knoxville for the Orange & White Game

What Season Is This?

Isn’t this the quietest spring practice you can remember?

It lacks the shiny new things that tend to make the most noise this time of year – new coach, new quarterback – and even the new offensive coordinator isn’t really new. Tennessee’s freshmen most likely to make an impact are offensive linemen. There are plenty of things keeping April low-key that have nothing to do with Tennessee’s record last year.

Can we still call the expectations lowered? The Vols are 67-70 in their last 11 seasons, 4-8 in 2017 and 5-7 last year. Jeremy Pruitt made progress in year one, no doubt, but I don’t think anyone expects a leap back to the national elite in year two. The Vols still haven’t gone 9-3 in the regular season since 2007, and haven’t finished a season with less than four losses since 2004. If the Vols can find defensive linemen, we should see progress again this year. I’m just not sure we’re going to find defensive linemen in the Orange & White Game.

Lots of words will be written about the attendance by Monday. Maybe Pruitt will continue to implore fans to show up. The Vols have a wait-and-see fan base at the moment, and rightfully so. It’s how the Butch Jones era started too until he recruited his way out of it; Pruitt probably gets less credit for his first full class in that department because it lacked the in-state and legacy connections that were available to Jones in 2014, but the 2019 class is actually better in blue chip ratio.

But even if things are wait-and-see, this feels different than before. And I think that has a lot to do with Jim Chaney, Phillip Fulmer…and Rick Barnes.

Five years ago, we were hoping a coach who went 5-7 in his first year with a memorable win and some frustrating losses could turn things around. We knew who Jones was at Cincinnati. We were still getting to know Dave Hart. And the glory we were trying to return to was a little closer in the rear view.

We’re still figuring out who Jeremy Pruitt is. The first year results were one step in the right direction. But it’s not just knowing who Chaney and Fulmer are: the additional trust that comes with their stability is considerable. And this week, Tennessee made an enormous commitment to stability in men’s basketball.

The USA Today database of coaching salaries continues to be an excellent resource. As we wrote earlier this week, I wasn’t surprised Barnes stayed at Tennessee over going to UCLA, but was delighted to find the Vols would pay him UCLA money. This not only puts Barnes, for the moment, behind only Calipari and Coach K, but puts Tennessee’s athletic department on a very short list.

According to the USA Today database only seven schools pay their football and men’s basketball coach $3.5+ million dollars: Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia, and Utah.

Tennessee currently ranks 12th in combined head coach salaries:

TeamFootballBasketballTotal
Kentucky49.213.2
Michigan7.53.811.3
Texas A&M7.53.811.3
Alabama8.32.510.8
Georgia6.63.29.8
Duke2.579.5
Auburn6.72.69.3
Clemson6.22.89
Texas5.53.28.7
Michigan State4.44.28.6
Florida62.68.6
Tennessee3.84.88.6
Oklahoma4.83.28
Illinois52.97.9
South Carolina4.837.8
Virginia3.54.27.7
Ohio State4.537.5
Nebraska52.57.5
TCU4.82.67.4
Florida State52.37.3
Utah3.83.57.3
UCLA3.347.3
Louisville3.2547.25
Iowa4.72.37
Kansas2.846.8

If Pruitt gets Tennessee where Tennessee wants to go, he’ll make more than $3.8 million per year. So the Vols have room to grow on the athletic department leaderboard. But in the football/basketball marriage, Tennessee is in very good company.

Stability on this level in basketball creates trust that, even if Jordan Bone and Grant Williams go pro, the Vols can still be in the hunt. Barnes and these players earned that expectation the last two years, and Tennessee’s recruiting continues it going forward. Pruitt’s recruiting is getting there going forward; we’ll see how far they go on the field this fall.

But don’t be fooled by low attendance or what feels lowered expectations (which really just means reasonable expectations at this point in football). Tennessee is building a healthier athletic department. The Vols have more stability in more important jobs than at any point in the last 11 years. And as we just saw this week, when health and stability lead to more winning, Tennessee will pay for that too.

Out on the Weekend: Recruiting Preview of the Orange & White Game

This weekend Tennessee and Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt will finish its 2019 spring practice with a final scrimmage in what is mostly a showcase for the University and the football (and sometimes basketball) program.  As usual there will be plenty of recruits on hand, and for the second year in a row there will actually be a handful of official visitors as some recruits take advantage of that relatively new rule.

When it comes to competing for visitors this weekend, Tennessee is going head to head against the likes of SEC schools Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Missouri; ACC schools North Carolina, NC State and Miami; Big 10 powers Ohio State and Michigan; and Big 12 powers Texas and Oklahoma.  Obviously prospects that Tennessee is recruiting and would love to have on campus this weekend will have to make choices, and while where a prospect visits this weekend doesn’t necessarily mean a thing for where he ends up signing, the Vol staff will absolutely be trying to get some head to head “wins” against many of its primary recruiting competitors. 

As the weekend draws near, here’s what targets we know will be elsewhere:

OLB Reggie Grimes – Alabama

DB Javier Morton – Alabama

OL Paris Johnson – Ohio State (where he is committed)

DB Brian Branch – Oklahoma (Official Visit)

S Major Burns – Oklahoma (Official Visit)

TE Darnell Washington – Florida

OLB Brandon Williams – Florida

DE Desmond Evans – North Carolina

ATH Trenton Simpson – North Carolina

WR Mushin Muhammad – Texas A&M (Official Visit)

DE Will Anderson – Auburn

LB Rodney Groce – Auburn

LB Quandarrius Robinson – Auburn

And here’s who is currently set to visit Knoxville this weekend:

WR Velus Jones (Grad Transfer – USC) – Jones, who has two remaining seasons of eligibility, is an Alabama native recruited to the West Coast by new Tennessee WR Coach Tee Martin.  He’s got some familiarity with Tennessee on his own, having taken an OV to Knoxville in the 2016 cycle.  He hasn’t been incredibly productive so far in his career but is coming off the best season of his career in terms of catches and yards. Additionally, Jones has been the primary KR for USC, averaging just under 24 yards per return.

While it’s unclear if Jones is a grad transfer, assuming he would be immediately eligible and then have two seasons to play makes him an attractive addition.  Both because of the relative lack of quality/experienced depth at the position for 2019 but also because he’d effectively function as a JUCO prospect with high level major conference experience.  Another angle here is that given Tennessee’s absolute lack of projected WR depth in 2020 – currently being used as a major selling point for elite 2020 WR prospects – Jones would also allow Tennessee coaches to keep Georgia transfer Deangleo Gibbs at the Nickel/Star position instead of at WR (again, assuming Gibbs immediately eligible as well).  While Tennessee is very settled at both CB spots and one S position, they don’t have an answer yet at Star.  But in his limited practices on Defense so far Gibbs has shown out at the position – not surprising given his experience there at UGA and also simply the fact that he’s a high level prospect. 

WR EJ Williams (OV) – Williams is an elite WR who has already visited Tennessee once this spring.  As an early enrollee Williams appears to be looking to make a decision on the early side, and the Vols will get the first shot to make a big impression.  The AL native is also very high on Clemson and Alabama, with Auburn in the mix as well, so Tennessee is swimming in deep waters here.  Williams is clearly intrigued by fellow Yellowhammer State native Coach Martin and the Vols will hope to put themselves way ahead of the pack with this official visit

WR Kris Abrams-Draine – The former LSU commit and yet another WR from Alabama that Tennessee is chasing, Abrams-Draine (KAD) will be making his second trip to Knoxville this spring and his first visit anywhere since decommitting from the Tigers.  He’s a smaller WR at 6’0 and around 170 pounds, but with offers from Oregon, Florida, and of course LSU among others, the 4-star prospect has the perfect size/quickness combination for the slot.  After being committed to LSU for over a year it would seem unlikely that KAD is ready to commit somewhere else so quickly, but his return visit certainly bodes well for the Vols to remain a major player 

TE Arik Gilbert – Absolutely elite TE prospect who many are calling a once-every-10 year type of player.  Gilbert is teammates with Tennessee QB commitment Harrison Bailey – who will also be on campus.  UGA and Clemson are believed to be the frontrunners, with the Dawgs considered the leader and Alabama absolutely in the mix as well.  However, Gilbert has been on Tennessee’s campus multiple times and has a great relationship with Bailey which could be a trump card for the Vols.  Tennessee’s best hope is for Gilbert to take his recruitment the distance and give them multiple chances to get him back to Knoxville.  This will be yet another step.

RB (LB?) Tee Hodge – The Maryville product is fresh off a visit last weekend to Florida State’s spring game, and while the Seminoles have yet to offer they are still high on his list.  This will be at least the fifth time Hodge has visited campus since Pruitt took over and his second this year, so he’s very familiar with the staff and the campus.  Hodge was already big for a RB at 6’2, which Tennessee likes, but he’s recently put on a lot of (good) weight and is now at least 230 pounds.  He’s recently picked up offers from Penn State and Ole Miss to go with his Vol offer, and he seems to be blowing up a bit on the recruiting trail.  Given his size one wonders whether, like fellow Vol target Trenton Simpson, he might end up being a better LB prospect when all is said and done.  But either way it’s good for Tennessee to get him back on campus for the O&W Game and keep pushing forward in his recruitment

RB Deondre Jackson – The 3-star former Auburn commit will be making his third visit to Knoxville and second in less than four weeks.  He’s got offers from Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida to go with those from Auburn and Tennessee and brings a solid combination of power and speed with his 6’0 200+ pound frame.  With Ebony Jackson in the fold the Vols can afford to be picky with its 2nd RB spot, and Jackson is on a relatively short list of realistic targets that includes Daijun Edwards, Tank Bigsby (below), maybe Zachary Evans from Texas, and two others in Hodge and Simpson who could be better LB prospects than RBs

RB Tank Bigsby – The 4-star Bigsby, like Jackson, is a top-shelf RB prospect from Georgia.  LSU, Auburn, and South Carolina are considered the leaders right now, so Tennessee has ground to make up.  This will be Bigsby’s first visit to Knoxville so the Vols will hope to make themselves real players in this recruitment

OL Tate Ratledge – Arguably the top Offensive Tackle in the South and without a doubt one of the top in the country, Ratledge is simply an elite player at one of the most important positions in football.  Despite having grown up a Tennessee fan in a family of hardcore Tennessee fans, the Vols were third on his list as recently as 12 months ago.  However, the departure of Alabama’s Offensive Line Coach Brent Key appears to have knocked the Tide virtually off of his list, and at the same time Coach Pruitt, OL Coach Will Friend, and OC Jim Chaney (who Ratledge was close with when he was at UGA) have led a surge for the Vols.  This is a two-team race between the Vols and the (borderline) instate Dawgs, with uber recruiter Sam Pittman singlehandedly keeping UGA in it.  Ratledge has become close with Cooper Mays and Harrison Bailey, and that peer recruiting (by a potential linemate and QB, no less) along with the family ties could be hard for even Pittman to overcome.  However, UGA surely won’t go away in this one, and in fact Tate is scheduled to be at Georgia’s spring game the following weekend, and he’s no stranger to that campus either.  But make no mistake that this weekend will be a big one in this recruitment as the Vols look to continue that surge and solidify its spot at the top

OL Cooper Mays (OV) – Vol (and now UGA) legacy who has been on campus dozens of times.  Tennessee appears to be in great shape for Mays, who just last weekend one the OL MVP at the Charlotte Rivals Camp.  Tennessee would love to add Mays ASAP, as he’d not only be a strong foundational piece for the 2020 OL class but he’s also very close friends with top Vol targets Ratledge and DL Tyler Baron.  Scheduing Mays for an OV this coming weekend certainly gives off a ‘commitment watch” vibe, so this will be one to watch closely

OL Justin Rogers (OV) – Rogers is, along with Ratledge and Mays, one of Tennessee’s top 5 OL targets in the class.  The Detroit-area native was on campus last spring and then again for the Florida game this past season, making this his third visit to campus in a year.  The 5-star Guard clearly is high on Tennessee, though he does also really like OSU, Michigan, and UGA.  It’s an interesting play bringing Rogers in for an OV this early, as it’s his first of five.  But Tennessee did successfully pull this trick with Wanya Morris last year, so it’s hard to doubt Pruitt’s strategy here.  Like EJ Williams though, the key will be making such an impression that Tennessee pulls way out in front in this recruitment, enough to hold up for eight months until Early Signing Day

DB Kitan Crawford (OV) – The Texas native named a Top 3 of Tennessee, Texas and Baylor and is looking to make a decision fairly shortly.  He’s a Baylor legacy and a take for Texas, so on its face this seems like a tough pull for the Vols.  Hosting a kid from Texas on an official visit in April is a risky play, which suggests that this was the option presented to Tennessee and the staff decided to take it.  Crawford is a great looking prospect and since this will be his first visit to Knoxville so it will be interesting to see his reaction coming out of the weekend

OLB BJ Ojulari – A teammate of both Bailey and Gilbert, Ojulari will once again visit Knoxville, making it nearly a half dozen times in the last year.  Despite being the brother of current UGA player Azeez Ojulari, BJ is clearly very much open to the Vols.  The 4-star prospect also has offers from the likes of Alabama and Oklahoma and would be a perfect fit as a pass-rushing OLB in Pruitt’s defense.  The Vols will ultimately have to overcome both instate and family pressure, but they do have Bailey and familiarity on their side.  This weekend will be yet another step towards landing the kind of impactful edge rusher that is sorely needed for Tennessee’s defense

DL Deontae Craig (OV)– The Fort Wayne, IN native who attends the prestigious Culver Academies in Culver, IN received a Tennessee offer last summer and will be taking his first OV to Knoxville this weekend.  Despite an impressive offer list that includes Notre Dame (the current perceived leader), OSU, Michigan, and others, he’s a bit of an underrated prospect.  He’s an intriguing prospect due to his 6’5, 230 pound frame that has tons of room to add weight.  He’s also a high academic kid so his will likely be a different type of visit than some others.  It will be interesting to hear what Craig has to say after his first visit to Tennessee for what should be a bigtime atmosphere

DB Keshawn Lawrence – One of Tennessee’s top instate and overall targets, the 4-star S from the Midstate will be making his second visit to campus in two weeks.  The Vols seem to be surging here after seeing their stock dip a bit after former DB Coach Terry Fair, with whom Lawrence had a great relationship, left the staff.  New DC (and de facto DB Coach) Derrick Ansley – an ace recruiter – has made great strides with this relationship in a short period of time and that’s paying off with this visit.  A big development for the Vols here 

OL Richard Leonard – The Kentucky commitment from Florida will be making his first trip to Tennessee this weekend. He has instate offers from Florida State and Miami – both of which he’s recently visited – as well as Oregon, West Virginia and others.  His commitment doesn’t seem particularly strong right now, so the Vols will look to size him up, make a good impression so as to get themselves as involved in the recruitment as they want, and go from there

Commitments: Along with Bailey, DL Dominic Bailey, RB Ebony Jackson, and LS Will Albright will all be on campus

That’s obviously an outstanding list, including many of Tennessee’s top targets.  The Vol staff has done a great job all winter/spring of getting prospects to campus and as the culmination of that the Orange & White Game, especially considering the other schools fighting to get many of these same kids to campus, is a huge win.

Elite prospects who the Vols will be fighting to get to campus:

ATH Demarcus Beckwith

ATH Kristian Story

DB Joel Williams

DL Jaquari Wiggles

Memphis natives DL/OL Omari Thomas, WR Darin Turner and RB Jabari Small will be at Memphis on Friday night so their respective weekend plans are up in the air

Instate Prospects who Tennessee would love to have on campus

DL Jay Hardy

DL Tyler Baron

OL Marcus Henderson

DL Tre’vonn Rybka

LB Bryson Eason

LB Martavius French

ATH Elijah Young

Obviously more visitors will be added to Tennessee’s list between now and then, hopefully from the groups above, and the Vols will no doubt host prospects from the 2021 and even 2022 classes as well.  DE Dylan Brooks, the newly ranked #26 overall player in the 2021 class, is one who’s already scheduled to be in attendance.

Tennessee is already off to an outstanding start with the 2020 class with three of its five committed prospects ranked as 4-stars, the fourth likely to end up as a 4-star in RB Ebony Jackson, and he fifth an instate LongSnapper.  Coach Pruitt will certainly be hoping to add to that quality with at worst having made headway with multiple elite prospects and at best that progress as well as more commitments coming out of the weekend.

Rocky Top the Place to be on March 2nd

Knoxville is going to be buzzing on the weekend of March 2nd, as Tennessee will host Kentucky in a rematch of the Cats’ thrashing of the Vols two weeks prior.  Of course, both teams have two games in between now and then, with the Vols going on the road twice in very difficult games against LSU (Saturday) and Ole Miss (Wednesday).  Regardless of the outcome, however, the showdown will have big implications for both the conference as well as nationally in terms of NCAA Tournament seeding, so the CBS national broadcast will be showing a sold out (yet again) and hyped up Thompson Boiling Arena.

Coach Rick Barnes will be using this showcase for his program and will be bringing in a contingent of outright studs from the 2020 class as visitors.  Tennessee basketball has rarely if ever hosted this volume of talent for one weekend, and they’ll look to take full advantage of the opportunity:

C Walker Kessler is a 5-star and 247 Sports #12 player in the 2020 class and the Vols are going head to head with the likes of Duke, UNC, UVA, and Michigan.  As we wrote about here, Kessler fits the mold of what Barnes’s program is all about to a tee, and the fact that he’s taking an official visit is a strong sign of his interest.  The wrinkle in Kessler’s recruitment is the very distinct possibility that he could reclassify into the 2019 class.  Should he choose to do so, that would work to Tennessee’s advantage (though, perhaps not solely) as it’s been stated that UNC for sure does not have a spot for him in 2019 and that the same could be the case for Michigan as well.   Duke – who already has 5-star C Vernon Carey committed, might be reluctant to take him for 2019.  Additionally, while Tennessee does not currently have a 2019 spot open, the Vols appear to be recruiting Kessler with no reservations about making that work.  Kessler, as an official visitor, will no doubt be given the grand tour of everything from the brand spanking new and state of the art basketball facility as well as an in-depth view of Tennessee’s renowned skill development process to everything the University of Tennessee has to offer academically.  Barnes and Assistant Des Oliver were in to see Kessler at Woodward Academy on Wednesday. Expect the Vols to take a massive swing here that weekend.


Wing Keon Ambrose-Hylton – 4-star from Ohio who used to be at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights HS, 247 Sports #75 overall player, broke out last weekend at the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, showing high energy and high level defensive ability. “KAH” is evidently considering the possibility of reclassifying as well, and as an interesting wing prospect he could be someone the Vols turn the heat up on depending on scholarship availability and what Kessler decides in that regard. 

Wing Corey Walker is a 5-star and 247 Sports #23 overall player in the class.  At 6’6 or even 6’7, he’s got the kind of all-around game – able to play inside and outside on both ends of the floor with a shot that projects out to NBA three-point range – that is tailor made for Barnes’s system.  Importantly, he’ll be making his second visit in just 2 weeks, as he just attended the Tennessee-Florida game.  He raved about the visit and quickly set this follow up trip, leading a handful of prominent national analysts to log predictions in favor of Tennessee landing him.  What’s unclear is whether a decision is imminent, and it’s also unclear as of now if this will be another unofficial visit or if Walker will be on his first of two allowed official trips to Tennessee.  Obviously the Vols would be thrilled to land his commitment this early over the likes of local powers UF and FSU along with others like Louisville and Michigan.  This will absolutely be one to watch.

SG Jayden Stone is 4-star originally from Australia and 247 Sports #49 overall player.  He’s a smooth shooter playing his high school basketball in Birmingham with Auburn among others hot on his trail.  Stone has had the Vols in his top group for a while and this will be his first look at Tennessee.

PG Jalen Cone is a 4-star from North Carolina and 247 Sports #121 overall player (interestingly the #60 overall player by Rivals).  He’s very small (listed anywhere from 5’9 to 5’11) but very quick and a pure PG.  He visited Knoxville last September so he’s familiar with the campus, but this will be his first time in TBA.  Depending on what Tennessee’s needs at the position are – that is, does Josiah James come back in 2020, do they otherwise need someone like a grad transfer who can provide immediate help, etc, Cone could be someone they look at strongly.

Although in recent seasons Barnes and his staff have zeroed in on a handful of prospects to target going into the summer before the early signing period, at this point the board is bigger than it’s ever been.  And as noted it contains the kind of talent that befits the kind of program Tennessee Basketball has become.  Along with the group above, Tennessee is firmly in the mix for Wing Keon Johnson (247 Sports #32 overall…Vols lead); Wing Samson Ruhsentzev (247 Sports #60 overall); PF/C PJ Hall (247 Sports #69 overall…Vols could very well lead); SG Matthew Murrell (247 Sports #80 overall); and C Dylan Cardwell (247 Sports #147 overall). 

Pruitt Joining in on the Fun

Tennessee Football will also be taking advantage of the big game atmosphere in TBA and will be bringing in a large number of high-level 2020 (and probably 2021 and even 2022) prospects to campus to take in the spectacle.   While the below list is relatively small, it will certainly grow by quite a bit and already contains four 4-star prospects, three of whom are making return visits.

DL Jacolbe Cowan is a high 4-star from Charlotte making his 4th visit to campus since Pruitt has been coach, along with attending the 2018 opener vs. WVU.  He’s a bgitime player at a major position of need, and while he’s shown no signs of making an early decision he clearly like the Vols a lot.  Getting him back to campus again – especially for a weekend like this – is without a doubt good news

RB/LB Trenton Simpson is another Charlotte native, the 6’3, 220 pound Simpson will be making his 2nd visit in 6 weeks.  The 4-star now has offers from OU/ND/LSU among others and will be facing a similar decision as Quarvaris Crouch in terms of which postion to play, and while the Vols do like him at RB – especially due to his size – his ranking is as a LB which shows his skill level there.  While he may not be on commitment watch, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him pledge to the Vols

ATH Demarcus Beckwith is a 4-star Alabama native with offers from Auburn and Michigan among others.  Beckwith got his first offer from the Vols in mid-January and plays WR and QB for his high school team while also standing out on the hardwood.  He’s a big kid who projects to both sides of the ball with high-level athleticism and would be an interesting piece.

WR Kris Abrams-Draine is a 4-star LSU commitment has been on campus once already but seems intrigued by fellow Mobile native Tee Martin.  Relatively small at 6’0, 160 pounds, he’s got good speed and plays a position that will see Tennessee sign upwards of 4 players, so the outcome of this trip could influence where he is on Tennessee’s board and vice versa.

With a nationally televised Top 10 (at worst) matchup in Thompson-Boiling Arena, both Coaches Rick Barnes and Jeremy Pruitt – who seem to have formed a quick friendship and absolutely recognize the importance of a symbiotic relationship to their respective recruiting efforts – will be using the weekend to showcase the University of Tennessee to the kind of prospects that will continue and even elevate the run that Barnes’s program is on while accelerating the rebuild that Pruitt has well underway.  It should be a weekend that pays big dividends down the road for both programs.

Can Vols Start a Whitehaven Pipeline in Football and Hoops?

It’s common knowledge that Coach Jeremy Pruitt is making Memphis a huge priority in the class of 2020.  The Vols have targeted upwards of ten Memphis prospects in the class, and Memphians make up four of the top 7 prospects in the state according to 247 Sports.  Pruitt and Co. have already made inroads into the city, having signed OL Jerome Carvin and RB (LB?) Jeremy Banks in his first class (along with DL Emmit Gooden and Greg Emerson, from West Tennessee towns of Brownsville and Jackson, respectively) in his first class and following that up with the addition of OL Melvin McBride from Memphis’s Whitehaven HS in December.

Whitehaven will continue to be a popular stop for the Vols staff, as the Tigers have a LB trio that features two four-stars in Bryson Eason and Martavius French, who have offers from most of the SEC as well as other national powers like Oklahoma, along with well as Tamarion McDonald who is currently being heavily pursued by Ole Miss.  Eason and French were both on campus twice last spring/summer, and as the Vols continue to look to rebuild the LB position both of those prospects will certainly be purused.

It’s not just football, though, where Whitehaven has some real prospects in the class of 2020.  SG Matthew Murrell was recently bumped to the #78 overall prospect and is widely considered to be the best prospect in the city of Memphis regardless of class outside of University of Memphis 2019 signee James Wiseman, the #1 overall player in that class.  As we discussed here, Murrell fits the bill of what Coach Rick Barnes is looking for in terms of the culture of the program, and the Vols have already spent quite a bit of time recruiting him.  Notably, as we’ve also detailed, Tennessee has set itself up for a monster class of 2020 in terms of sheer talent it’s in deep with, and Penny Hardaway certainly won’t let Murrell go without a fight (see what I did there?).  Whitehaven’s basketball team features another player with a Tennessee offer in 7’4 C Jordan Wilmore.  Wilmore is definitely a project and given how Tennessee has positioned itself not just with so many bigtime players in the class but also with a handful of big men like PJ Hall and even recent visitor Dylan Cardwell, Wilmore is likely down the list currently.  But Tennessee did offer him in January, and Barnes does not hand out offers lightly, so while he’s raw he could definitely be one to watch.

McBride is a gregarious individual who no doubt will be doing some peer recruiting between now and when he enrolls in Knoxville over the summer, which won’t hurt in the least.  So as both head coaches Pruitt and Barnes spend time all over Memphis, expect there to be a Big Orange presence in the halls of Whitehaven HS for the next year as the Vols look to build a pipeline on both the gridiron and the hardwood. MartavʼnPYl

Tennessee is Recruiting For Championships in Blue Chip Ratio

Team rankings are exciting, but can also be deceiving. The better benchmark is SB Nation’s blue chip ratio: if you want to be in the national championship conversation, at least half of your signees need to be four-or-five star players.

Phillip Fulmer hired Jeremy Pruitt over easier and safer choices because he wanted to be in the national championship conversation. While the Vols were making slow but noticeable progress on the field in his first year, his first full recruiting class is already on the right side of the ratio.

With the additions of Darnell Wright and Henry To’oto’o, 13 of Tennessee’s 23 signees are blue chip prospects in the 247 Composite. That’s 56.5%. And that’s the best Tennessee has done in blue chip ratio in a long, long time.

Here’s the post-Fulmer era in blue chip ratio:

YearBlue ChipSigneesRatio
201913230.565
20188220.364
20175280.179
201610230.435
201516300.533
201416320.500
20134230.174
201210220.455
20119270.333
201012270.444
20099210.429

It gets a little less reliable in tracking the further you go back, but 2019 appears to be Tennessee’s best performance in blue chip ratio since Fulmer’s 2005 class (17 of 26 in Rivals, which would certainly qualify at 65.4%).

You can see where Butch Jones was putting the pieces together to be in the conversation in 2014 and 2015, both times without much on-field success to stand on yet, to his credit. But it’s also true those 2014 and 2015 classes were unusually high on in-state and legacy prospects. This year’s class includes four-star legacy Jackson Lampley and four-star RB Eric Gray from Memphis. But the other 11 blue chip prospects are from Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and California.

Jones never turned those recruiting classes into more than 9-4 seasons, and it remains to be seen if Pruitt can come closer to the championship conversation. But this class is worth more praise than a generic, “12th in the nation/not bad for a 5-7 team.” If what we saw finalized today becomes the norm, the Vols will have one of the most important pieces to the championship puzzle.

Tennessee signs 5-star OL Darnell Wright

It’s not as much of a surprise as Tennessee closing the deal on Henry To’oto’o today, but it’s every single bit as welcome: The Vols have signed 5-star offensive lineman Darnell Wright.

And with that, Tennessee put the finishing touches on one of, if not the, best offensive line classes in the country this recruiting season. That it was THE position of need is just icing on the cake.

Wright (5-star, 247 Composite .9944) is joined by fellow 5-star Wanya Morris (.9871), 4-star Jackson Lampley (.9124), and 3-stars Chris Akporoghene (.8602) and Melvin McBride (.8830). The class also includes 4-star tight end Jackson Lowe (.8947) and 3-star tight end Sean Brown (.8635).

More on the Vols’ class of 2019 later. Jeremy Pruitt speaks to the media about the class at 4:30.

Vols get To’oto’o too

So much for the lazy, ho-hum National Signing Day for the Tennessee Volunteers, who just landed high 4-star linebacker Henry To’oto’o over Alabama and Washington.

The Vols had been in play early until momentum seemed to shift last week and narrowed the race to Washington and Alabama. But in the last 24 hours or so, word began to spread that To’oto’o was indeed seriously considering Tennessee, and he made it official on ESPNU just after 3:00 ET this afternoon.

We’ll have more on To’oto’o’s commitment later and what it means to Tennessee’s class, but for now just know that he said it was the family atmosphere and the home feel that drew him to sign with Jeremy Pruitt and the Volunteers. The opportunity for early playing time and Pruitt’s experience with guys like Reuben Foster at Alabama didn’t hurt, either.

Vols Recruiting: Almost There

Some thoughts headed into the penultimate weekend before the February Signing Day

Pruitt Learning Danger of Reaching

As the final two weeks before the February National Signing Day wind down, Tennessee and its fans find themselves in a situation they have never been in before.  After signing 19 players in December and then adding two high profile transfers in former 5-stars DL Aubrey Solomon from Michigan and ATH Deangelo Gibbs from UGA, Tennessee finds itself with very few spots to fill and (fortunately) in great shape for some outstanding players.  OL Darnell Wright and LBs Henry To’oto’to and Chris Russell all look to be greater than 50/50 shots for the Vols and without a doubt having a spot reserved for them in Knoxville.  Those are without a doubt the top choices for Tennessee.

This is a much different position than Coach Jeremy Pruitt and Co. were in at this time last year, as the new staff scrambled to fill its initial class.  In the end, Tennessee signed a handful of potential impact players like LB JJ Peterson, DL John Mincey and Kurrott Garland, and S Treveon Flowers.  However, after swinging and missing on multiple 5-stars like two California-based DBs that signed with Southern Cal as well as LB Quay Walker (UGA), Tennessee frankly reached for a handful of late signees in DB Kenneth George and WR Cedric Tillman and then grad transfers RB Madre London and QB Keller Chryst.  Tillman in particular at least has the measurables to project as an SEC-level contributor at WR, and one could make a case that Chryst was needed given the lack of depth behind Jarrett Guarantano.  And let’s be clear, especially in this case hindsight is 20/20, as Guarantano ended up having a good year and stayed healthy enough to where Chryst’s appearances could 100% have been taken by Will McBride without making a difference in a single win or loss in 2018 for Tennessee. 

However, because of these personnel decisions – and including the later addition of CB Bryce Thompson to the 2018 class and then the two new transfers Solomon and Gibbs, all no-brainers and potential program changers – Pruitt and Tennessee find themselves likely unable to take some really good players that would like to be Vols:

Memphis DL Kristian Williams in particular is pretty obviously waiting on the green light from Tennessee, and though he has some good alternatives he seems likely to wait until Signing Day before inking with anyone else.

For however Tennessee feels about current DL commitment Leddarrius Cox – and while that’s unclear the real interest from Auburn and Ole Miss shows he’s at least an SEC-level DL – he would like to sign with Tennessee.

Then there’s DB Jammie Robinson, who at worst has Tennessee in the mix with Auburn, South Carolina and Kentucky but absolutely could potentially choose Tennessee as his leader pending scholarship availability.

Even 5-star WR George Pickens, an Auburn commitment who’s still looking around, might not be getting the full-court press from Tennessee that he otherwise would given the lack of spots and the potential that he might not qualify.  That remains to be seen of course as he is so damn good.

And finally there’s South Carolina JUCO DL commitment Jahkeem Green (more on him below) who also has some grade concerns but is likely a plug-and-play DL for either Tennessee or South Carolina should he get into school.  Volquest.com broke the news that he’ll be OV’ig in Knoxville this weekend, but again with the lack of room it’s to be determined how hard Tennessee can really push.  That said, there is some real fear from the Carolina side here.

The good news is that the 2019 class will feature exactly zero reaches, and there isn’t one signee or transfer who you’d definitively trade out for one of the guys left on the board not named Wright/To’oto’to/Russell. It’s quite simply a very good-to-outstanding class that massively upgrades the talent and depth across the 2019 roster as compared to a year ago.  Further, should Tennessee end up being able to monkey with the numbers in order to fit more than three signees into this class, the other good news is that the players above are absolutely high quality players that no one will be looking back at in January 2020 lamenting Tennessee taking them.

Similarly, as we first floated a month ago, it seems like the potential for Anthony Harris blueshirting – should he qualify – is very likely. Harris is a bonafide stud while he could play on either side of the ball as a S or a WR the electric athlete has the kind of size and ball skills that Pruitt covets in the secondary. Were the Vols to go that route with Harris and add him to the 2020 class numbers along with Solomon and likely anyone else they add past three more signees, they’d simply be adding another bigtime player to the roster, in stark contrast to reaching for warm bodies.

Pruitt playing chess while Muschamp plays checkers

With the news that Tennessee is bringing in the aforementioned JUCO DL Green, this is yet another prospect for whom Pruitt is playing games with South Carolina coach Will Muschamp.  First Pruitt snuck in and stole future All-SEC CB Bryce Thompson out from under Muschamp’s nose.  Then, in this cycle Pruitt offered ATH Xavier Leggette, who South Carolina was hoping to blueshirt but was forced to sign in December for fear of Tennessee taking him.  Finally, with Green, Carolina was hoping that his longtime commitment would keep others from offering him while they figure out his academic situation and potentially sign someone else with that 2018 spot.  However, Pruitt could once again – at worst – be forcing Mushcamp’s hand.  At best, because Green is an outstanding JUCO DL with the ability to play at a high level right away in the SEC, Tennessee can use this fact, along with the recent departure of Carolina DL Coach Lance Thompson and the Vols longtime interest (they offered last summer), Tennessee can figure out the numbers enough to sign him and get him into school.

Thoughts on Chris Russell

There’s been lots of speculation about Dyersburg, TN LB Chris Russell, for whom Tennessee entered the picture late relative to Arkansas and who also took an OV to Texas A&M last weekend.  The wildest of that speculation is that some think he’s a lock to Arkansas and that Tennessee is in 3rd.  I don’t buy it for a second.  Here’s why:

Parents like Tennessee: Check

Lives in a very pro-Tennessee town: Check

Vol staff not taking him for granted and working him very hard: Check

Final OV: Check

Easy path to early playing time: Check

While I understand why Arkansas in particular is a factor here, as they boast a well-respected DC in John Chavis and have also been recruiting him longer than just about anyone, I’m willing to predict that – unless Russell commits to Arkansas this weekend and cancels his OV to Tennessee for the following (and final) weekend – he signs with the Vols.