Category Archives: Recruiting

8 Days a Week: State of Play as Things Begin to Focus

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.

Vols Get Pledge from 3-Star Cornerback Brandon Davis

New Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt is swinging for the fences on several elite, playmaking athletes as the days tick off toward national signing day.

But, due to the Vols needing depth at key positions, they’re having to make sure they’ve got some high-upside players filling the class as well. That’s where Louisiana defensive back Brandon Davis comes in.

The John Curtis High School product is perhaps the least-recruited prospect in UT’s class thus far, but the Vols thought enough of him to take a commitment from him on Monday. The 3-star cornerback had offers from teams such as South Alabama, Colorado State, Nicholls State, Louisiana-Monroe and Liberty.

 

No, that isn’t exactly a murderer’s row of college powerhouses. But he pops on film despite being undersized at 5’11”, 160 pounds, and he’s a two-sport athlete who could wind up in the MLB Draft rather than on the college gridiron.

Is it possible UT got a steal from a guy who is the No. 1,728-ranked player in the nation, according to 247Sports? He told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that UT coaches told him they see him as being a Tyrann Mathieu-type prospect who can roam all over the field, play a lot of spots and be a versatile playmaker.

So, why didn’t other teams feel the same way? Davis told Callahan he believes there’s a viable reason.

“The reason why is because I didn’t go to any camps and because of baseball,” he said. “I play (two) sports, so it was kind of hard for me. But the film’s not going to lie.”

The Vols have some huge fish left in this class, hoping to land guys like Olaijah Griffin, Quay Walker, Jacob Copeland, Tyson Campbell, John Mincey, Eddie Smith and others, but there is another prospect considering UT who may give the Vols a harder look with Davis in the fold. He’s a teammates of star defensive end/tight end Glenn Beal, who is considering Texas A&M and could also wind up at LSU if the Tigers offer.

If the Vols could get Beal, it would make the Davis pickup even better.

There are still a lot of factors remaining in Davis’ recruitment. Could he get drafted high and wind up in the minor leagues? Is he a potential blueshirt candidate at UT? Will he be a guy who comes right in and plays? Whatever the case, Davis is a guy who’s expected to be in Tennessee’s class.

This is the second commitment in two weeks for UT, who landed 4-star receiver Jordan Young last week; another late-riser who will wind up one of the Vols’ highest-ranked commitments in the class. Davis won’t, but that doesn’t mean he’s a player who won’t wind up competing.

After all, some of the defensive back pledges under the last coaching regime — guys like Brandon Cross and Tanner Ingle — weren’t highly recruited, either.

That leaves about 6-7 spots in this class with a lot of guys remaining on the board. How will the Vols finish? Right now, it’s about as up-in-the-air as any class in recent memory.

Is Tennessee Consolidating Its Board with Two Weeks To Go?

When new Coach Jeremy Pruitt and his new blockbuster recruiting staff first took over, they threw a whole lot of offers out and cast an incredibly wide net.  Taking advantage of existing relationships across not just the South but also as far as California, Tennessee hasn’t been afraid to go to head with programs like Alabama and USC and other blue bloods or be told no by elite players with whom they are simply too late.  Pruitt created a large board from which to work from and signed a very highly regarded early signing class, especially when one considers he had less than two weeks to work.
At the same time, as we enter the stretch run to National Signing Day, it looks like we’ve seen them move on from a good number of guys they initially showed interest in:
S Nikko Hall
DL Caleb Okechukwu
DB Rayshad Willliams
WR Brandon Aiyuk
CB Richard McCreary
RB Mo Washington
RB Tavion Thomas
RB C’Bo Flemister*
DL Emmit Gooden **
* This one is less clear, but there is no doubt that Tennessee has slow played him to a degree while Notre Dame is showing him much more love –  I wouldn’t be shocked to see him commit to the Irish weekend
**Gooden continues to have academic questions surrounding him, and with the limited spots available I don’t think the staff can afford to take him despite its relatively recent offer
In contrast,with only 5-6 spots scholarships to give, the staff has made it clear by its actions – in-home visits and scheduled official visits – that the following 18 are high priorities (some more than others, of course):
WR Jacob Copeland
WR Geordon Porter
WR Antoine Green and his cousin, RB Jashaun Corbin
WR Tre’shaun Harrison
WR Warren Thompson
OL Dylan Wonnum
OL Ryan Winkel
TE Glenn Beal
DL Coynis Miller
DL Malik Langham
DL John Mincey
DL Otito Ogbonnia
LB Quay Walker
CB Olaijah Griffin
CB Eddie Smith
CB Isaac Taylor-Stewart
S Trevon Flowers
This list will continue to thin more and more the next two weeks as Tennessee gets a better feel for whom they have a realistic chance -for instance, it seems like they have little traction with WRs Thompson and Harrison – and others simply come off the board or others take their spot.  Ogbonnia and Flowers are two in particular who will be in Knoxville this weekend, and the staff will get a chance to size both of them up and at the same figure out where each fit into their plans and vice versa.  But the above is probably a good working list for the next two weeks, although this staff has proven they will continue to beat the bushes such that another player could jump onto the board.
Stay tuned, it’s going to be a wild ride…

January 22nd: Official Visit Weekend Recap

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

“Diamond in the Dirt” Jordan Young is a Vol

 

Three days ago, Jordan Young was a barely-known, unranked wide receiver who was toiling in obscurity in broad daylight. At 6’2″, 185 pounds, he certainly had the size, played in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, scored 17 touchdowns as a senior for Heritage High School and also was a Class AAAAAA state champion in the 110-meter hurdles.

So, how was Young coveted so minimally by the who’s-who of college football?

The loss of everybody else in the nation was Tennessee’s gain as coach Jeremy Pruitt, lead recruiter Tracy Rocker, offensive coordinator Tyson Helton and Co., found out about Young and hosted him on a visit to UT last weekend.

He committed Friday via his Twitter account.

Honestly, his name was “just another name on the list,” hardly thought of behind studs like Quay Walker. But he came to Knoxville, loved what he saw, and his film got out.

In no time, he went from being unranked and not even having a profile page to a 4-star prospect and the No. 190-ranked prospect in the country according to 247Sports. When he committed to the Vols on Friday, Rivals gave him 3 stars. After Young didn’t play the camp circuit, he was going to slide under the radar.

But Tennessee found him and got a commitment from him. Now, Ohio State, Miami, Florida State, Auburn and others are beating down Young’s door, trying to get him to visit. The Vols will have to hold off some of the top teams in the country for his signature, but it’s obvious Young is smitten with Tennessee.

And that’s big news for the Vols.

He runs a 4.43, high-points balls like nobody’s business on his film and has all the measurables you could want from a receiver recruit. Given UT’s massive need for impact players at his position and the Vols’ position with Jacob Copeland and uncertainty with Geordon Porter, it’s a major pickup for UT.

He will team with Alontae Taylor to give the Vols a formidable duo at a position of need.

How good could Young be? Barton Simmons — 247Sports’ director of scouting — was so blown away by his film, he ranked him that highly based off it. He told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that Young could be a “game-changing” pickup and that he has a 5-star ceiling and could have been higher had the service had ample time to evaluate him.

That’s some lofty praise from somebody who doesn’t hand out candy like gum from the church lady.

He told Callahan earlier in the week that Helton told him UT believed he was a diamond in the dirt.

This late in the game, the Vols are taking some major swings with Pruitt at the helm. They’re trying for 4- and 5-star guys and high-ceiling prospects who maybe don’t have the ratings or the offer sheets of some others. Needing to fill out the class with 6-7 more players and needing instant-impact players everywhere, that’s why Pruitt is going big. But, if they don’t pan out, he wants some developmental guys next.

Young is one of those rare late finds who could wind up being one of the stars of the class. That’s how big this commitment is. Now, hopefully, Tennessee can fend off some of the sport’s biggest and best programs to keep him in the fold.

January 19th Weekend Preview

After a very successful first official visit weekend after the dead period, Tennessee is set to open its doors again this weekend to an eclectic set of visitors.  At the same time, many of the Volunteers’ top targets will be officially visiting elsewhere, so there will be tons to follow:

ATH Anthony Grant will be taking his official visit to Knoxville as a very soft commitment.  Back in December I made a case for why he should be a priority for the staff and while they haven’t gone balls to the wall with him, and don’t seem to know where he would play, they have obviously made it clear they want him.  He has OV’d to Virginia Tech in December and UNC this past weekend, and both are recruiting him very hard.  It’s good news to me that he’ll be on campus: he’ll get to meet the coaches and both sides can size each other up.  I think in the end he won’t be the 2nd RB in this class – if he does end up a Vol my guess is he starts out in the secondary and C’Bo Flemister continues to be an option at RB depending on needs/options at other positions

S Nikko Hall from California has moved his visit up to this weekend after a visit from Terry Fair this week.  Hall is an interesting player in that he’s a high level athlete who can play both sides of the ball but is being recruited to the defensive backfield by Tennessee.  However, his offer list doesn’t reflect his relatively high rating, as right now the other programs fighting for him include Iowa State, Illinois, and now Nebraska – an odd list for a California kid in particular.  That said, the Tennessee staff certainly seems enamored with him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they press for a commitment and he obliges while in Knoxville this weekend

ATH Tre’shaun Harrison, a former Oregon commitment, took an official visit to Utah this past weekend.  He will OV to Tennessee this coming weekend and then to Oregon and FSU (Willie Taggart, again).  He’s a 4-star player capable of playing both WR and DB, and he’s another West Coast kid who’s likely to be blown away by what he sees in Knoxville.  The interest on both sides is a bit unknown at this point, but there’s enough from Harrison to fly thousands of miles to check it out.  We’ll know more on this one after his OV is over.  Taggart used inhome on Monday of this week, so if the Vols make an impression this weekend and want to keep recruiting Harrison hard they will have that advantage over the Seminoles

DE John Mincey, who last week decommitted from Arkansas, has set his official visits to Tennessee this coming weekend, followed by South Carolina and then FSU.  However, per GoVols247, Tennessee is the team to beat going into the weekend.  Should the Vols push for a commitment they might be able to lock him down.  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) and is a guy who you probably take as soon as you can get him.  The status of fellow SDE prospect Malik Langham, who is scheduled to visit instate Alabama this weekend and might be leaning towards the Tide

OL Dylan Wonnum has moved his originally scheduled visit to South Carolina and scheduled a trip to Knoxville for this weekend.  His brother is at Carolina and he is definitely considered a heavy Gamecock lean, but the Vols have worked hard to get him to campus after starting from scratch and will have a chance to show him the kind of opportunity he would have with the limited numbers on the Vols OL

S Trevon Flowers is a new prospect on the board for the Vols (and just about every other program).  He signed to play shortstop for Kentucky back in December out of Tucker High School near Atlanta, meaning colleges couldn’t offer him. However, the UK baseball staff lifted that ban and he’s since received offers from Tennessee and a handful of smaller programs to this point.  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.  I think right now Flowers is lower on the board than more than a handful of other defensive backs, but getting him on campus gives Pruitt and Co. another option should they need it

Eyes on Athens and Tuscaloosa

Georgia: After a bunch of twists and turns with his visit schedule, Quay Walker will officially visit Georgia this weekend instead of Alabama.  Most people think that UGA is the other major contender for Walker besides Tennessee at this point, so this visit will be keenly watched.  The other thing to keep an eye on in Athens is whether Tennessee commitment and good friend JJ Peterson comes with Walker to Athens.  Peterson is scheduled to be at Alabama this weekend, but so was Walker as of 24 hours ago, so who knows.  I think Tennessee coaches would love for Peterson to accompany Walker this weekend so he can stay in his ear about the Vols – and also, as importantly, so he wouldn’t be in Tuscaloosa – but that’s TBD at this point.  Either way, Walker is a major target for both UT and UGA and this visit could go a long way towards his final decision

Alabama: Despite signing three high level DBs in December, Alabama is still looking for more.  This weekend they will host CBs Tyson Campbell (heavy Georgia lean) and Patrick Surtain along with newly offered DB Julius Irvin.  Along with the three bigtime DBs Alabama is scheduled to have on campus this weekend, they are also scheduled to have Kelvin Joseph (soft LSU commit) , Isaac Taylor-Stuart, Eddie Smith, and a new addition to their board – Olaijah Griffin – officially visit the following weekend.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  From a numbers perspective it seems like Alabama could only take one, maybe two more DBs.  And not only did they just offer Irvin yesterday but they also offered former UGA commit Richard Wildgoose – doesn’t make you think Bama feels good about where they stand with any of their main DB targets.  But, if you assume Bama won’t strike out completely and if as a UT fan you’re thinking strategically, you’d prefer them to land either Campbell (to steal from UGA, though that would make the Dawgs bigger players for Isaac Taylor-Stuart) or even better some combo of Joseph/Surtain/Irvin/Wildgoose (with Campbell to UGA).  That would likely take Bama out of the running for all of Griffin/Smith/Taylor-Stuart, leaving Tennessee as major players and the only school with room to take all three.  Either way, a lot left to shake out with Alabama’s recruiting in the secondary, with major implications for Tennessee.

If Peterson doesn’t go to Athens that means he’s in Tuscaloosa.  The Tide were long considered his destination before Pruitt’s move to Tennessee, and they are clearly not going down without a fight.  Most think UT is in good shape here regardless, but if you’re Tennessee you’d much rather have him not take that visit to Alabama

Bama will also host major Vol DL target Malik Langham.  As noted above, some think Langham might be on commitment watch this weekend while he’s told others he will definitely take his next two visits to UF and Tennessee (both of whom just had their respective head coaches inhome, perhaps trying to convince him not to commit this weekend?). He’s one to watch in particular, as his decision (or lack thereof) could influence what Tennessee does with the aforementioned John Mincey

Other Visits to Watch

Texas will host LB/DEs Michael Williams and Caleb Okechukwu.  Williams is fresh off a great visit to Knoxville and is likely down to the Two UTs now that Texas offered on Wednesday.  He’ll likely make a decision soon after this weekend, and whether he has a spot at Tennessee remains to be seen (I’m a huge fan).  There are rumblings that he is more likely to go with Texas than with the Vols, but we’ll see.  Okechukwu’s recruitment has been pretty quiet after earning a bunch of offers with his performance at the Under-Armour game.  Where he sits on Texas’s board, or Tennessee’s board (he is set to visit Knoxville on 1/26) is unknown

Mississippi State will host CB Eddie Smith.  Smith appears to be a big Tennessee lean heading into his final two OVs to State and Alabama, and you can bet the Vol coaches will be doing everything they can to get him to go ahead and commit instead of taking either of them

Oregon will host both CB Olaijah Griffin and NG Coynis Miller.  Griffin is fresh off a very good visit to USC and then an inhome visit from Terry Fair, and the Vols and Trojans are firmly co-leaders at this point.  This seems like a recruitment that will take many twists and turns but at its core will come down to whether he wants to stay home (USC) or strike out on his own, in which at this point Tennessee would be the odds-on favorite despite any potential dalliances with schools like Alabama or Auburn, etc.  Similarly, Miller is unlikely to end up out West but is taking the visit due to his relationship with new Ducks HC Mario Cristobal.  He’s scheduled to be in Knoxville the following 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

A handful of Vol WR targets will be spread out across the country, but none of the hosting schools appear to be the top contender for any of them.  Texas A&M will host WR Jacob Copeland (Bama, UF, UT), UNC will host WR Warren Thompson (FSU, UT, maybe UF), OSU will host WR Antoine Green (UNC, UT – likely not a take for OSU), and Colorado State will host WR Brandon Aiyuk (no Vol offer – if I were him I’d take that Rams offer while it’s hot)

Ole Miss will have two UT targets on campus in TE Glenn Beal and DL Fabian Lovett.  Beal as everyone knows named Tennessee as his leader before his OV to Texas A&M, after which he is thought to be a heavy Aggie lean.  The fact that he has not yet committed (at least publicly) and that coaches from Tennessee and other schools keep visiting him tells me that he’s still open and that UT in particular is still trying here.  I don’t expect him to end up at Ole Miss.  Lovett is a MS native who was a Mississippi commitment until Dan Mullen left for swampier pastures.  The Vol staff has been working for a while to land an official and he’s now scheduled to be in Knoxville next weekend.  Ole Miss is a legit threat for the instate 3-4 DL though, so there’s a chance he commits while in Oxford.  But Florida is also a real contender thanks to Mullen and Lovett is currently set to visit Gainesville the first weekend of February

Louisiana Lafayette will host JUCO DL Emmit Gooden, who got a UT offer on Sunday night.  Gooden has to be considered an academic risk at this point (hence the visit to ULL), but if UT gains real confidence he can qualify they will pursue him heavily and I would expect him to end up a Vol

January 15th: Official Vist Weekend Recap

Although so far there have been no public commitments, without a doubt the first visit weekend out of the dead period was a huge success for Coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols.  Another sold out home basketball game in which Coach Rick Barnes and his crew took care of business didn’t hurt, and from social media one could tell that the current players were very involved as well.  The Vols either came out of the weekend as stated leaders or having massively improved their position with every official visitor.

Below is a quick look at where the Vols stand with each of this weekend’s OVs:

LB JJ Peterson had a great visit but will still take officials to Bama then UGA.  Although he seems very strong in his commitment to UT, no one should sleep on in particular Alabama here.  That said, his post-visit comments included a ton of “we” and talking about how he worked on fellow South Georgia LB stud Quay Walker, so it seems like the Vols are in solid shape here.

Speaking of Walker, the Vols made an absolutely huge impression on him and could realistically be considered the leader right now.  Although he’ll be taking an OV this weekend to Alabama (where he is committed in name only), the consensus is he’s not going there.  He has cancelled his OV to Florida, which was scheduled for the last weekend before NSD, so it’s UGA and then AU who will get his remaining visits and are the biggest threats.  However, no one else has the combo of coaches he knows/trusts like UT with Pruitt/Sherrer/Kelly so between that, the kind of early playing time that can only be offered at Tennessee, and good friend Peterson working on him, one has to feel like the Vols are in good if not great shape.  However, this is going to be a knock down drag out fight to the end.

CB Eddie Smith came out of the weekend saying the Vols are his leader.  He seemed to love everything about the visit and as a bonus knows new WR Coach David Johnson, who recruited him while at Memphis.  He didn’t commit though, and will still OV to MSU and then Alabama, who recently offered. That said, it wouldn’t completely shock me to see Smith decide to go ahead and commit before one if not both of those visits occur.  The Vols need Corners in a bad way and Smith is a very good one who no doubt sees the early playing time in Knoxville as a huge opportunity.

RB C’Bo Flemister now has the Vols in front, and frankly it doesn’t seem close. That said, he seems to understand that he’s in a bit of a holding pattern as the Vols both pursue other RB options and also decide whether roster needs elsewhere necessitate passing on another RB altogether.  In my opinion he’s vastly underrated as a 2-star prospect – he rushed for close to 2,000 yards this season and is a high level track athlete who at 6’0 could theoretically be moved to the secondary as well.  But with no other visits scheduled at this time he really has no choice but to wait, so this one will likely come down to whether UT decides he’s a take.

DE/OLB Michael Williams is a prospect I really like due to his insane athleticism for his size (remember, he played QB at 6’2, 250) and the positional versatility that comes with it.  Coming out of the visit he’s got Tennessee at the top along with Texas and LSU (who has no room).  He’s scheduled to visit Austin this weekend and I expect a decision shortly after.  In my opinion he’s a Vol if he’s a take.

WR Warren Thompson also enjoyed his first time in Knoxville, and though most consider FSU to be his most likely destination (he was committed to Willie Taggart at Oregon) the Vols appear to be legit contenders.  If the staff had its druthers Thompson would probably be 1B right behind Jacob Copeland on the WR board, so they’ll probably keep swinging here.

WR Geordon Porter had a great visit – being from Cali he was pleasantly surprised by how nice East TN is and of course impressed with Neyland Stadium and the facilities.  He was also particularly impressed by Coach Johnson, who he got to meet on Sunday. Where he sits on the WR board is unknown, but I am a big fan of the speedster from California who’s already 6’2 despite being young for his grade and whose recruitment has picked up considerably since the Early Signing Period.  He has one more OV that’s up in the air with UCLA, Florida, Texas A&M and others fighting for it.  It’s likely to take place the 1/26 weekend, so this one has some time to play out as the staff sees where they are with Copeland and Thompson in particular and with numbers in general.

WR Brandon Aiyuk loved his visit as one would assume a JUCO from the West Coast who’s only been to Kansas and Arizona State would.  He left without an offer, but Tennessee can get him if they want him.  Pruitt is supposed to be inhome with him this week, but with spots limited and the Vols in good shape for other WRs ahead of him on the board, this feels like a smart play by Pruitt to give himself options should things get squirrely with the other WRs.

WR Jordan Young from Conyers, GA was a surprise visitor and received an offer on Sunday afternoon.  He’s unrated by both major sites – in fact, as of this writing he doesn’t even have a Rivals profile.  What’s odd is that unlike Flemister, who’s from the small town of Zebulon, GA and seems to have been legitimately overlooked, Young not only is from outside of Atlanta but actually made the AAAAAA All-State team.  The similarity to Flemister, though, is that both are track athletes.  This article discusses not only his track exploits but also his ability to bounce back from serious injury (an injury which may explain his low recruiting profile?).  It’s interesting that he got an offer this weekend while Aiyuk did not, and while he has great size at 6’3 and close to 200lbs and the obvious athleticism, I have to think the staff isn’t ready to take him yet.  It will be interesting to see what happens with his recruitment now that UT has offered…

DE Kurott Garland was the other surprise visitor and, similarly to his teammate Young, has an incredibly low recruiting profile.  He’s got similar size to someone like Caleb Okechukwu, and had a nice senior season checking in as an Honorable Mention All State player, but like Young my guess is this offer is contingent on what happens with others higher on the board.  That said, I give the staff a ton of credit both for unearthing two prospects in Young and Garland who look like really good players regardless of rankings and also for expanding their options as much as possible.

Notes on Other Targets

ATH Anthony Grant, ostensibly a UT commitment, was at UNC this weekend for his second official visit after seeing Virginia Tech in December.  No word yet on how the visit went, and there still is not much clarity about where he stands in his commitment – which likely means it’s safe to consider it far from solid.  Whether he schedules an OV with Tennessee is still an open question, and until he does it seems doubtful he ends up in this class.

Major OL target Johncarlo Valentin verbally committed to Baylor while on his official visit in Waco.  That’s a blow to the Vols, as many including myself felt like the Vols were in at least decent shape after he OV’d to Knoxville in December and considered him to be an instant contributor to an Offensive Line that needs immediate help in 2018. To what extent Tennessee continues to try with Valentin is unknown, but considering the dearth of other options and the need at the position, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Vol coaches keep trying as much as Valentin is willing to listen.

TE Glenn Beal, who named Tennessee his leader as recently as last week, appears to have fallen in love while in College Station, TX.  He tweeted on Sunday night that a big announcement is coming Monday – is that trimming his list again or a commitment?  Time will tell, but all indications are that the Aggies are in a good spot.  Beal is an excellent prospect with high potential at a number of positions (TE, OL, DE) and is the kind of player who you’d love to sign if you didn’t have real needs across the roster like Tennessee does.  However, with two TEs already signed one wonders if he wasn’t viewed by the staff as a luxury “love to have” while players at other positions of more immediate need are more “need to have.”  Like Valentin, we’ll see if the Vol staff keeps trying here or not if Beal does indeed commit to A&M.

CB Olaijah Griffin was at USC this weekend and will be there until Monday as he’s now elected to skip the Polynesian Bowl.  According to 247 he’s having a really good visit and his family is encouraging him to stay closer to home.  USC has been viewed as the “favorite” despite Griffin naming Tennessee his leader a few weeks ago.  Knoxville remains his most likely destination if he were to leave the West Coast, but that is likely going to be a major battle.  I expect Coach Nidermayer, who started this recruitment back in December with a great inhome visit, to along with DB Coach Terry Fair spend quite a bit of time in California working this one all the way to Signing Day.  Griffin is good enough to expend all necessary time and resources, and given that he’d likely be a strong candidate to be a Day 1 starter it’s a good bet Pruitt will do just that.  He still has visits available, and Oregon, Auburn, and Florida are all fighting to receive one.

DT Coynis Miller took his official visit to Auburn, where he has been committed to for months, and while he seemed to enjoy himself he is still planning to take his other scheduled official visits.  He’ll start with a trip to Eugene, OR to see the Ducks, followed by trips to UT and then Florida.  Tennessee seems like the only real possibility for a flip, and as a top end NG prospect who Pruitt and Co. were on the first day on the job you can bet they will pull out all the stops when they do get him on campus.

CB Roger McCreary took his official visit to instate Auburn, and while he named AU his leader he did not commit.  I’m not sure that staff was ready to take his commitment, as they are technically still in the race for Griffin (scheduled for an OV 2/2) and a handful of other CBs.  McCreary will OV to Alabama this coming weekend and then is scheduled to be at UT 1/26.  He’s likely down on the board for all three, but he’s a good enough prospect that he likely will end up with a spot somewhere.

DE John Mincey, who last week decommitted from Arkansas, has set his official visits to Tennessee this coming weekend, followed by South Carolina and then FSU.  However, per GoVols247, Tennessee is the team to beat going into the weekend.  Should the Vols push for a commitment they might be able to lock him down.  The question is how many more DL they want to take – Coynis Miller is a take no matter what as the only pure NG on the board, but Malik Langham is a really good player who seems to be a battle between the Vols and instate Alabama.  And now, per the below, Emmit Gooden is on the board.  Can the Vols take two?  All three? Not sure, but that’s another interesting positional balance the staff will have to manage..

Speaking of Langham, no word yet on how his official visit to Vanderbilt went – I don’t consider them to be serious contenders – but interestingly Langham’s primary recruiter at Alabama has been Brian Daboll, the now former Tide OC who is leaving for the NFL.  Obviously Langham has other relationships on that staff, but considering Alabama now has neither a DC nor Langham’s main recruiter, things certainly don’t look the same for him when it comes to who he knows and likes and would play for there.  He’s scheduled to be at Alabama this coming weekend and then UF 1/26 and then will take his visit to Knoxville the first weekend in February.  If he makes it out of Tuscaloosa without committing to the Tide and the Vols are still pushing I think there’s a very good chance he ends up in Orange and White.

ATH Tre’shaun Harrison, a former Oregon commitment, took an official visit to Utah this past weekend.  He will OV to Tennessee this coming weekend and then to Oregon and FSU (Taggart, again).  He’s a 4-star player capable of playing both WR and DB, and he’s another West Coast kid who’s likely to be blown away by what he sees in Knoxville.  The interest on both sides is a bit unknown at this point, but there’s enough from Harrison to fly thousands of miles to check it out.  We’ll know more on this one after his OV is over.

Two New Sunday Night Offers

JUCO DT Emmit Gooden received an offer from Tennessee on Sunday evening.  The big man from Haywood, TN was a UT commitment back in 2014 as a member of the 2016 class, only to end up signing with Mississippi State.  He didn’t qualify and has spent the last two seasons at Independence C.C. in Kansas.  His recruitment has started to heat up recently with offers from Florida and now Tennessee.  He’s now set to visit Knoxville on February 2nd, with an OV to Louisiana Lafayette this coming weekend and then options among UF and others for the following.  My opinion is that if this staff pushes he’ll end up a Volunteer.  He’s a grown man at this point, and physically will be ready to play immediately at either Strongside DE or even NG.  This will be one to watch closely moving forward.

CB Taiyvon Palmer also received a Sunday night offer from the Vols.  Palmer, from outside of Atlanta, is a former Duke commitment whose recruiting has absolutely blown up in the last month – he received offers from Clemson, Notre Dame, and now UT in the last week alone.  He’s another 6’0 CB whose second official visit this weekend was to Nebraska.  He’s got one scheduled to NC State this coming weekend but has two more available for the final two weeks before Signing Day.  It remains to be seen how interested he is, but like all of the other CBs who have received offers from the Pruitt staff he’s likely at least intrigued by both the possibility of being coached by Pruitt and Terry Fair as well as the large opportunity for immediate playing time.

With the Hire of David Johnson, Look for the Vols to Focus on Louisiana in Recruiting

When it comes to recruiting, Jeremy Pruitt will of course focus on the burgeoning instate talent base first and foremost, with Georgia as always being a major pipeline.  Alabama and the Carolinas will likely be new areas that the staff seeks to mine that the prior staff struggled in, and the new staff’s recruiting prowess and relationships will mean that Tennessee is going to be back to recruiting elite prospects across the country from California to Florida.  However, with the hire of David Johnson from Memphis as his new WR Coach, Pruitt now has a real opportunity to make Louisiana a priority state as well.

Johnson, who attended Nicholls State in Thibodaux, LA before spending nearly a decade in the high school coaching ranks in his hometown of New Orleans, also spent four seasons coaching at Tulane.  His reputation as a recruiter is incredibly strong, and his ties in the state are extensive.  In fact, in two years on the Memphis staff he’s signed 5 players from there including Damonte Coxie, an LSU commitment who had his offer pulled just before National Signing Day in 2016 and made his way to Memphis through a connection between Johnson and Coxie’s high school coach.  There’s also Jonathan Wilson, a New Orleans native who signed with Tulane after being recruited there by Johnson and then decided to follow him to Memphis and has started on their defensive line since his freshman year.  In the 2018 cycle Johnson signed 3 Louisiana natives in December and has one more unsigned commitment from the state.

Johnson won’t be walking into a situation where his area of strongest connections are fresh ground for Tennessee.  Robert Gillespie has been working Louisiana for a long time himself, and has been making real hay down there.  In 2017 in fact Tennessee signed three prospects from Louisiana in DBs Cheyenne Labruzza and Terrell Bailey as well as RB Trey Coleman.  And though the 2018 class doesn’t yet include any Pelican State natives, the staff has Jumbo ATH Glenn Beal, DB Eddie Smith, and OLB/DE Michael Williams in their crosshairs. Beal already has Tennessee as his stated leader and Smith and Williams are currently in Knoxville on their official visits.  One would think the addition of Johnson to the staff can only help the Vols with these three.  Whether he can get Tennessee into the mix with elite WR Jamarr Chase, another LA native, remains to be seen.  Chase is at LSU this weekend and the Tigers will undoubtedly be trying to lock him down.  But Johnson was doing his best with Chase while at Memphis, and there is one more OV to be scheduled, so you can be sure he will try here.

LSU will always be the big dog in the state, and other powers, especially Alabama of late, will always recruit the state heavily.  However, there is an incredible amount of talent to go around in the state and in the class of 2019 alone seven Louisiana prospects ranked in the top 10 nationally at their positions.

Johnson also has relationships with high school coaches and prospects in Memphis, particularly one would assume with WRs in the Bluff City.  And fortunately for Tennessee, Memphis is home to three bigtime 2019 prospects in WR Shamar Nash, DE Eric Gregory and DT Trevis Hopper.  And the 2020 class also features stud WR Darin Turner, who will be a national recruit.

Johnson completes what can only be described as an elite recruiting staff, and his ties to Louisiana as well as Memphis complement the relationships that the rest of the assistants bring across the South and the rest of the country.  Look for Tennessee to make Louisiana more of a priority moving forward and for the tag-team of Johnson and Gillespie to start pulling bigtime players from the state almost immediately.

Vols tab Memphis’ David Johnson as new WR coach

 

According to VolQuest.com’s Austin Price, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has filled the final vacancy on his coaching staff, choosing Memphis wide receivers coach David Johnson to coach the same position at UT.

This is a big-time hire that should send shockwaves through the recruiting world and resonate with players already on the team. Pruitt interviewed former Florida State receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey, North Carolina State running backs coach Des Kitchings and JUCO head coach Joe Osovet, but elected to go with Johnson.

The former Louisiana high school head football coach has ties in that state and has proven to be a strong recruiter for Mike Norvell and the Tigers. He also has developed ties in the Bluff City in his time at Memphis. He spent time at Tulane before coming to Memphis and, prior to that, coached Tyrann Mathieu at St. Augustine High School.

Last year, LSU coach Ed Orgeron contacted Johnson for a job with the Tigers, and he turned it down, telling the Commercial Appeal‘s Tom Schad: “I just think Memphis is the best place for me right now, for me and my family,” Johnson said, citing Norvell as a key.

That speaks volumes about Johnson’s ability to teach, mold and convince prospects. Orgeron has long been known for his recruiting acumen. According to that article, it was a massive coup for the Tigers to keep him around.

“Johnson is arguably one of the most valuable recruiters on Norvell’s staff and played a pivotal role in attracting wide receivers Damonte Coxie and John “Pop” Williams, defensive lineman Jonathan Wilson and linebacker Nehemiah Augustus to Memphis, among others,” Schad wrote.

While at Tulane, Johnson coached and helped develop running back (and Tennessee product) Orleans Darkwa, who is now in the NFL. Since coming over to the Tigers, he’s been a dynamic recruiter and helped develop a dynamic passing game, led by senior Anthony Miller.

Miller came to Memphis as an unheralded prospect, and he’ll leave as a sure-fire NFL prospect. This season, Miller wound up with 96 catches for 1,462 yards and 18 touchdowns as Riley Ferguson’s primary target. He wasn’t the only exceptional performer, though.

Tony Pollard had 36 grabs for 536 yards and four touchdowns, Phil Mayhue had 35 catches for 521 yards and three touchdowns, and Damonte Coxie had 21 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns.

That’s a massive need for the Vols, who have struggled for years developing receivers. The days of “Wide Receiver U” seemed long in the past during the Butch Jones era. After Derek Dooley’s tenure saw Justin Hunter, Cordarrelle Patterson and Da’Rick Rogers put up big numbers, Jones couldn’t have any pass-catchers break through until 2016 when junior Josh Malone had a big year.

This season, it was more of the same after Jauan Jennings went down in the opening game against Georgia Tech. Though Marquez Callaway and Brandon Johnson showed signs, the lack of quality quarterback play doomed UT. Also, it didn’t help that Jones made two awful hires in offensive coordinator Larry Scott and wide receivers coach Kevin Beard.

Johnson appears to be the opposite of that, and it’s going to be difficult to find anybody to poke holes in this hire. Pruitt’s top target was South Carolina’s Bryan McClendon, who Will Muschamp kept on in Columbia as the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator, but once McClendon stayed, the search opened.

It yielded Johnson, and with UT looking to throw the ball more downfield in a Tyson Helton offense, hopefully it will wind up being a big hire for the Vols, on the field and in the living rooms.

 

 

Here’s some video of the Vols’ new coach mic’d up.

Does Tennessee’s current defensive line meet Jeremy Pruitt’s ideal?

Yesterday, we took our best guess at Jeremy Pruitt’s ideal roster makeup and concluded it would probably look something like the following:

  • 3-6 nose tackles;
  • 6-10 defensive ends;
  • 5-8 inside linebackers;
  • 5-8 outside linebackers;
  • 4-8 safeties;
  • 5-10 cornerbacks;
  • 4-6 running backs;
  • 3-4 quarterbacks;
  • 3-6 tight ends;
  • 8-13 wide receivers; and
  • 14-18 offensive linemen

Today, we’ll start taking a closer look at the returning roster to see how Pruitt might be viewing the current roster compared to his ideal roster. We’ll start with the defensive line.

Nose Tackles (3-6)

It’s probably not much of a stretch to think that defense will be foremost on Pruitt’s mind as he gets to work. In his 3-4 scheme, nose tackle is arguably the first and most important piece of the puzzle, which at first glance makes Kahlil McKenzie’s decision to leave early for the NFL all the more baffling.

Tennessee’s official roster does not delineate between defensive ends and tackles, so we’re going to go through the information to see which guys meet the ideal criteria for a nose tackle, which is a guy who is 5’11” to 6’5″ and between 290 and 340 pounds. Here’s a list of those guys:

98 Alexis Johnson DL NT 6-4 300 R-Jr.
97 Paul Bain DL NT 6-5 290 R-Jr.
2 Shy Tuttle DL NT 6-2 308 Jr.
52 Maurese Smith DL NT 6-3 324 Fr.
27 Eric Crosby DL NT 6-1 336 Fr.

Unless I’m mistaken, both Paul Bain and Maurese Smith are walk-ons, so they won’t be included in this analysis.

Looking at this list, it’s pretty clear that Shy Tuttle has the inside track to nailing down the starting position at nose tackle. He may have also beaten McKenzie out for that spot if McKenzie had chosen to return. That there is only one spot available might actually explain McKenzie’s decision to leave early.

In addition to the returning guys, the Vols also have signed letters of intent from three defensive linemen within 5-10 pounds of ideal nose tackle weight in Greg Emerson, Brant Lawless, and Kingston Harris. They also have a commitment from D’Andre Litaker, who already fits the criteria.

With three nose tackles already on scholarship, one probably coming, and at least three other recruits who could maybe grow into the position, the Vols are within their range of 3-6 nose tackles, but also have some room to add a couple more if desired.

Defensive Ends (6-10)

The ideal criteria for a defensive end is someone who is 6’2″ to 6’6″ and between 270 and 310 pounds. The list of returning guys on Tennessee’s roster who meet that criteria are . . . drumroll . . .

56 Matthew Butler DL DE 6-4 274 Fr.

No, that is not a mistake. Matthew Butler is the only defensive lineman on Tennessee’s roster who meets the ideal height and weight combination for a defensive end in the 3-4.

That leaves ten defensive linemen on Tennessee’s returning roster who don’t fit as either a nose tackle or a defensive end in the 3-4:

19 Darrell Taylor DL 6-4 254 R-So.
1 Jonathan Kongbo DL 6-6 264 R-Jr.
88 Brandon Benedict DL 6-2 250 R-Fr.
48 Ja’Quain Blakely DL 6-2 254 R-Fr.
55 Quay Picou DL 6-1 280 Jr.
5 Kyle Phillips DL 6-4 263 Jr.
95 Kivon Bennett DL 6-1 275 Fr.
94 TJ Minnifee DL 6-3 214 Fr.
44 Ryan Thaxton DL 6-4 236 Fr.
13 Deandre Johnson DL 6-4 258 Fr.

Brandon Benedict and TJ Minnifee are walk-ons, so don’t count against the scholarship limit.

Of the remaining guys, everyone seems to be a bit undersized for their positions, although some are very close. The Vols also have a signed letter of intent from Jordan Allen, whose recruiting profile lists him as a weakside defensive end, but he, too, is undersized at only 230 pounds. At that weight, he may actually end up a linebacker this fall.

With all of that, it appears that Tennessee currently has only one defensive end that is ideally-sized for the 3-4. Jonathan Kongbo and Kyle Phillips are the right height and are close to the right weight for the position, and we know that Darrell Taylor can play the spot despite being 15 pounds shy of the lower target range for weight. All said, though, it seems that there are a ton of defensive linemen who will be asked to add weight this offseason, and even then, the Vols may still be short 2-6 true defensive ends. The problem, of course, is that there are a lot of spots taken up by guys who may not fit the mold Pruitt is looking for, and he won’t be able to just add his guys without having those spots available.