Category Archives: Recruiting

With the news of Jay Hardy in fact signing with Auburn during December’s early signing period, that removes any chance the Vols can land the instate DL standout.  And while that’s disappointing from a talent perspective, not only does the way he handled his recruitment confirm that Coach Jeremy Pruitt dodged a major character risk bullet but it also allows the staff to move on and concentrate on the few remaining prospects on the board.  Interestingly, and likely only coincidentally, those handful of players still on the board (unless someone new pops up in the next 2.5 weeks) are all on offense.  For Pruitt, a former elite Defensive Coordinator who has revamped Tennessee’s defense during his two seasons in Knoxville, this surely must feel strange.  However, given how strong the Vols defensive immediate and long-term future looks he’s likely at least partially ok with it.  Further, when one looks at the offensive proclivity of the recent college football champions, with LSU being the most recent and most extreme example, and even most of not all of the playoff teams, it’s clear that the old adage that defense wins championships is not necessarily true.  So as the Vols look to close out their 2020 class strongly, it looks like they’re taking an offense-first approach, which is exactly what this roster needs.

We’ve pushed for more playmakerson offense throughout the cycle. Since the early signing period ended Tennessee has added former 4-star WR Velus Jones from USC as a 1-year grad transfer as well as former 4-star Nebraska ATH Miles Jones as a walk-on.  This past weekend Tennessee hosted TE/WR Dee Beckwith and FSU commitment Malachi Wideman, and all indications are that the Vols are in very deep for both prospects. Beckwith is a Kyle Pitts clone – a big, agile WR masquerading in a TE body with the kind of explosiveness that one rarely sees in that sort of 6’5 frame. He’s simply put the kind of player the Vols don’t have on the roster.  Wideman is, even more than Beckwith, a freak.  At 6’5 and with the kind of athleticism to make him a Top 100 basketball prospect to go with his Top 50 ranking on the gridiron, Wideman would be the absolute cherry on top of what is already a strong WR class.  This weekend the Vols will host WRs Ger-Cari Caldwell and Ladd McConkey (unofficially), with Caldwell a South Carolina lean going into the weekend and  McConkey seemingly waiting on a Vol offer.  They are different kinds of prospects, with Caldwell more of a big bodied WR and McConkey profiling as a Slot WR.  In a major turn of events 5-star RB Zach Evans will also officially visit Knoxville this weekend.  Evan’s recruiting saga is well known, and until things get more serious between him and the Vols it’s not super worthwhile to delve too deeply here.  Suffice it to say that Evans, if he can mature and put his past transgressions behind him, would be a program-changing type of RB. 

We’ve also highlighted the strong offensive line class the Vols have put together.  The Vols have added to that with the much-hyped transfer of former UGA stalwart Cade Mays, and this past weekend also hosted fast-rising Southern Mississippi commitment Dylan Spencer.  Spencer, who just finished his first season on the offensive line after transitioning from defense, earned 1^st team all state honors in MS and also showed out during AL/MS Game practices.  At 6’3, 300 pounds, the Vols think he can play Offensive Tackle which is a position that the Vols haven’t found anyone for this cycle after hitting two homeruns last year in Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright.  Spencer is likely not at the very top of Tennessee’s list at the moment, and he’s got offers from Mississippi State (visiting there this weekend) and Missouri among a few others, so he might decide he doesn’t want to wait on the Vols.  That’s something to keep an eye on.

Finally, we’ve made the case for Tennessee signing as many prospects as possible in this class due to the need to get the overall talent AND depth in the program up to par to truly contend for championships.  With the high-quality transfers and how the Vols appear to be approaching the final signing period – setting themselves up to have multiple prospects want to jump in the boat – that does appear to be the direction Pruitt is taking.  Whether that pans out or not remains to be seen and will depend on who wants in and when.

This weekend in Knoxville Tennessee will look to knock Evans’ and Caldwell’s visits out of the park and evaluate what they want to do with McConkey (who is currently scheduled to OV to UGA next weekend, and they have in fact offered).  At the same time, they’ll be keeping an eye on Wideman’s visit to Oregon and Beckwith’s visit to Florida, hopefully communicating with those prospects as much as is allowed.  Once the dust settles from all of the visits, Tennessee will be able to assess where they are with these targets and strategically use assistant coaches’ and more importantly Pruitt’s inhome visits this next week before the final dead period begins.  The hope here is that the landscape has an orange hue to it, with a bigtime focus on closing with the kind of offensive talent that can take the program to the next, championship contending, level.

This coming weekend, the first out of the dead period and before the February 2020 signing day, will feature a handful of 2020 official visitors as well as a slew of 2021 prospects.  Thematically, regardless of class what is clear is that this is the Weekend of the Wide Receiver in Knoxville. 

In the 2020 class, the Vols be bringing in WR/TE Dee Beckwith and FSU WR commitment Malachi Wideman.  Beckwith is an interesting prospect in that he’s likely a college TE, but in the pass-catching mold of Florida’s Kyle Pitts with inline blocking something he’ll need to grow into.  Florida is, perhaps not coincidentally, his stated leader and according to him is recruiting him harder than anyone.  The Vols will have their chance to make a final on-campus pitch this weekend and will seemingly need to decide whether they go all-in, as they clearly have ground to make up.  His half-brother Camryn Beckwith (a RB) is an incoming preferred walk-on for the Vols, which should help but apparently isn’t the end-all be-all.  Wideman is an athletic freak, who at 6’4 and 180 pounds also happens to be a high level basketball player known for his prolific and viral-video producing dunks.  Tee Martin and Chris Weinke have worked hard to get Wideman to campus, and because Wideman has already taken his OV to Tallahassee he’s more wide open than his “commitment” might suggest.  He does have an OV scheduled to Oregon for the weekend after, as well as one to FAU (where former FSU coach Willie Taggart landed), so the Vols are unlikely to lock him down this weekend.  However, they can put themselves firmly in the mix, if not at the top, with a strong visit.  Going out on a bit of a limb here, but should the Vols land Wideman he looks to be the best incoming Tennessee WR prospect since current NFL rookie Preston Williams.  That kind of athleticism, size, and catch radius is rare, and were Pruitt and Martin able to add him to the current WR signees Jalin Hyatt and Jimmy Calloway, that would not only restock the WR corps for both the near term and the future but would also represent arguably the best group of WR signees in multiple years.  If they do that could impact numbers at the position for 2021. Speaking of numbers, OL Dylan Spencer, a Southern Mississippi commitment, is also officially visiting this weekend; however, with the addition of Cade Mays to go with the three incoming freshmen signees it’s far from certain that Tennessee will have room for another OL in the class. That said, should things go the wrong way with the small group of targets left on the board at positions of greater need, Spencer would be an intriguing add. Playing his first year at OL after spending the rest of his high school career on the DL, Spencer earned first team all state honors in Mississippi as well as a spot on the AL/MS All-Star Game, where he earned acclaim for his play during the week of practice. He’s very potentially an OT, which makes him all the more valuable. He’s gotten very recent offers from Mississippi State and Missouri, and one would presume the Bulldogs in particular have a great shot. But he’s certainly one to keep an eye on.

Speaking of 2021, Tennessee will also have, as of this writing, seven(!) 2021 WR prospects on campus.  Among them are 4-star instate stud Walker Merrill; 4-star Florida native Romello Brinson; as well as South Carolina natives Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (who recently participated in the All-American Bowl Combine) and JJ Jones; Alabamians Malachi Bennett (in Knoxville for at least his fourth visit, most recently the UAB game) and Christian Lewis; and Chauncey Magwood from Georgia.  Along with instate WRs Adonai Mitchell, Quenton Barnes, and Scottie Alexander; 4-stars Kobe Paysour (for whom the Vols just made a Top 7), Gavin Blackwell (visited for the South Carolina game), Isaiah Brevard and James Blackstrain, this group makes up Tennessee’s early WR board for 2021.

Not to get lost in the WR shuffle, there will be other notable 2021s on campus, most importantly 5-star LB Dylan Brooks, 4-star QB Christian Veilleux, and bigtime DL Isaac Washington.  Brooks’ recruitment will be an all-out war between the Vols and instate powers Alabama and Auburn, but he attended three games in Knoxville this past season and has been on campus a handful of other times as well, so Tennessee is clearly in deep with this elite player.  Veilleux is making his 3^rd visit since last summer, including the Mississippi State game, this time as part of a campus tour that will also take him to Duke and Clemson, which indicates what kind of prospect he is (PSU is also a big factor here).  Washington will also be making his third visit and appears to be very high on the Vols at the moment, good news considering how big a need DL is in 2021. Other scheduled visitors include recently offered DL Tyrion Ingram and LB Raneiria Dillworth.  Getting these kinds of prospects on campus is a great sign for the kind of momentum Tennessee has on the recruiting trail.  Continuing to get these players as well as other top targets on campus in January and February, before the cycle truly gets started, will be of paramount importance for Coach Pruitt and his staff.

With a lot of news to digest, from the transfer of skill players RB/WR Miles Jones and WR Velus Jones as well as OL Cade Mays, to the decision of All-American OL Trey Smith, a few thoughts below on how that might affect Tennessee’s approach to the February signing period:

With those transfers, Tennessee has now added 23 players in the 2020 class, leaving two spots before any monkeying with the numbers.  It’s not breaking news to say that DL Jay Hardy and ATH Dee Beckwith have those spots locked up should they want them and that whoever else might want in will be dependent on said numbers machinations. 

A quick thought on Beckwith: Although this writer has been a bit critical of his apparent love for basketball, perhaps to the detriment of his future in football, that opinion has changed somewhat as his focus seems to have narrowed back to football.  Further, and more importantly, watching how Florida (his other finalist) featured a *very* similar player in TE Kyle Pitts as almost the focal point of its offense, his value as a prospect has increased.  Were Tennessee to land Beckwith (who visits Tennessee January 31^st after tripping to UK and UF) and develop him into a player like Pitts, that would be massive for an offense that continues to evolve with multiple different kinds of players, from big-bodied WRs like Josh Palmer to speed demons like Jalin Hyatt to more Swiss Army types like Jimmy Calloway, Jimmy Holiday, and the aforementioned Mr. Jones’s. 

To the degree that Tennessee was searching for another OL in this class, one would think that the addition of Mays ends that search.  5-star UGA commitment Broderick Jones had planned to officially visit Knoxville next weekend – the first one after the dead period ends – but that appears to be off.  Whether that was a decision made by Jones or by Tennessee (likely sensing that the chances of stealing Jones were low) is unknown and meaningless.  But with the strong likelihood that former commitment Kyree Miller ends up elsewhere (100% a Tennessee decision) and the Vols also having cancelled a previously planned OV for Jalen St John, it appears that Tennessee has closed the door on adding another OL in the 2020 class.  And considering the Vols signed a trio of really nice OL prospects in Cooper Mays, James Robinson, and Javontez Spraggins and then added Cade Mays, that’s smart roster management

In contrast, despite adding two bigtime WR prospects last month in Hyatt and Calloway to go with the two transfers, Tennessee is still in the market for another WR.  But while many thought that would be Rock Hill, SC native Ger-Cari Caldwell, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of traction on either/both sides there.  Instead, news broke on Friday that Tennessee will instead be hosting 4-star FSU commitment Malachi Wideman next weekend before Wideman trips to Oregon and then Florida Atlantic for his final two visits.  With Wideman having already taken his OV to FSU (as well as Washington State), the Vols could be in a strong position for the SI All-American and 247 Sports Top 140 prospect.  Wideman is a freak athlete whose strength on the gridiron comes from his elite size/athleticism combo, and his upside lies in the fact that he’s still raw when it comes to the technical aspects of the position.  He also happens to be a high level basketball player, so should the Vols seek to enlist Rick Barnes (ala the Dee Beckwith recruitment) that could be a feather in their cap here.  He’s the kind of prospect you make room for, period.  So it will be very interesting to see how this one shakes out.

Another potential transfer name to keep an eye on is former UGA LB/S Otis Reese.  Reese, who signed with the Bulldogs in the class of 2018 as a Top 100 prospect, entered the transfer portal last week.  He was recruited heavily by both Coach Jeremy Pruitt and DC Derrick Ansley when both were at Alabama, and also notably he hails from the same South Georgia high school (Lee Co.) as current Vol DL Aubrey Solomon.  Reese is a bit of a tweener, but was running with the 1’s for UGA last spring before contracting mono which set him back heavily.  Once that happened he was passed by in the depth chart by former 5-star Lewis Cine and that was that.  Regardless, he’s an elite athlete with a reputation as a bigtime hitter – the kind of talent even a heavily upgraded Tennessee roster could use.  There hasn’t been much said publicly about Reese’s future plans, but one would think the Vols will be a major player should they choose to be

As discussed last week, Tennessee’s 9^th ranked recruiting class (per Rivals) was not only strong in its own right but also served to both widen the gap between the Vols and programs below them in the SEC East and also at worst maintain the status quo between them and Georgia and especially Florida.  That said, there is a narrative that serves to discount the meaningfulness of Tennessee’s ranking that misses a number of important points.  That story is that because Tennessee’s class is “only” 7^th in the SEC (behind Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida, and Auburn) that means the Vols are stuck in mediocrity within the SEC and even nationally, which is not only false but shortsighted.  To wit:

Point I: Before one can get to comparing Tennessee’s class to anyone else’s in the conference, it simply must be reiterated that Coach Jeremy Pruitt had a monumental task of roster building when he took the job in December 2017.  The talent level across the board was way down (as evidenced by Tennessee having ZERO draftees in the 2019 NFL draft) as were the overall numbers relative to the 85-man scholarship limit.  So simply following up last year’s #12 class  in 247 Sports’ enrolled rankings (which Rivals does not have, thus the change of recruiting service) with a Top 10 nationally ranked class is a huge deal.  Pruitt needs to keep stacking up these types of classes – filled with difference makers at multiple positions and very few if any reaches – in order to build Tennessee back into a true title contender.  And then of course continue to develop that talent like he has so far.  And this was a step no matter how many other SEC schools are also in the Top 10

Point II: Florida, Tennessee’s arch nemesis, also had a strong class.  Using the same Rivals rankings, the Gators’ 24-man class  finished 7^th in the country with one 5-star and thirteen 4-stars and an average star ranking of 3.58, while Tennessee’s 23-man class finished 9^th overall with zero 5-stars (pending QB Harrison Bailey’s deserved 5^th) and thirteen 4-stars and an average star ranking of 3.52.  The classes are almost exactly equal to each other using these objective metrics, effectively meaning that the idea that Tennessee finished “behind” Florida is while technically true in reality meaningless.  Further, when comparing Pruitt’s two whole classes to Gators Coach Dan Mullen’s, Tennessee has two more players on its roster from the 2019 class than does Florida, who lost its top-rated 2019 signee and three 4-stars before the 2019 season began.  One could very easily make the case that between the two classes Tennessee has more talent on its 2020 roster than do the Gators

Two-year average ranking (2019 enrolled, 2020 Early Signing Day)

Tennessee: #10.5 average rank (#12 + #9)

2019:22 signed, 2 out – Melvin McBride and Jerrod Means, 2 transfers in (Aubrey Solomon and Deangelo Gibss, with one and two more seasons of eligibility remaining, respectively); 22 net for 2020 season

Florida: #12 average rank (#17+#7)

2019: 24 signed, 3 never enrolled, 2 transferred out before the season (including its one 5-star as well as three 4-stars), 2 transfers in (Jon Greenard, now out of eligibility, and Brenton Cox, 2 years to play); 20 net for the 2020 season

Point III: Tennessee doesn’t play Texas A&M, Auburn, or LSU except for once every eight years unless it meets one of them in the SEC Championship Game.  So being behind those schools in terms of recruiting ranking is effectively akin to being behind Clemson or Ohio State – if you’re seeing one those schools on the field it very likely means you’ve had an incredible season and your program has accumulated enough talent and developed that talent well enough that a single year’s recruiting ranking variance is fairly meaningless. 

Point IV: Following Point III, Tennessee’s top three competitors in the SEC East – Georgia, Florida, and to a much lesser extent South Carolina, actually DO play Auburn, LSU, and Texas A&M, respectively every season.  Therefore, those programs gobbling up talent is actually a good thing for Tennessee as it makes it more likely that they deal UT’s East rivals a loss. 

Point V: Tennessee’s class would have ranked #2 in the Big 10, #2 in the ACC, and #1 in both the Big 12 and Pac10.  Does that matter, when Tennessee isn’t in those conferences?  Well, the SEC got one team in the College Football Playoff (a step down from the two the conference has gotten in the recent past) and two teams in NY6 bowls.  Alabama, long the king of college football and the SEC, is not one of these three teams but is still playing in the highly acclaimed Citrus Bowl at 10-2 and Auburn at 9-3is in the Outback Bowl.   Point being,

Point VI: Further to Point V, compare Tennessee’s #9 class with that of its next four Power Five nonconference opponents and decide for yourself if that ranking will matter for the Vols:

2020 (probably too soon for the 2020 class to really matter): Oklahoma #12

2021 Pittsburgh #47

2022 Pittsburgh #47

2023 BYU #82

So while Tennessee could conceivably move up in the final rankings if it manages to close out with some of its targets – namely Auburn commitment DL Jay Hardy and Jumbo ATH Dee Beckwith – the 2020 class is already one that has added substantially more talent and depth to the program.  And regardless of who sits in the eight spots in front, that’s a meaningful win for the Vols program.

Nothing is ever perfect, and despite a helluva day for Coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols on Wednesday there are certain things that you know a coach as maniacally focused on recruiting as he is will look to improve.  Along with perhaps upgrading the staff from a recruiting perspective, from this vantage point one thing Tennessee should look at is the amount of official visits used in the spring and summer.  With the advent of the Early Signing Period in the class of 2018, using official visits earlier and earlier in the cycle has become more commonplace.  And that makes sense – schools are looking to lock down their top targets early, some kids want to finish the recruiting process early, and in particular spring games and thematic weekends (cookouts, paint ball, pool parties, etc) during the summer are showcase weekends to host official visitors.  That said, when looking at who Tennessee has brought in for official visits during the spring and summer for the classes of 2019 and 2020 (Pruitt’s two opportunities) those OV weekends have been, objectively speaking, failures.  Take a look below:

Class of 2019

April 18th (Orange and White Game)

Wanya Morris (signed with Tennessee)

Khris Bogle (signed with Florida)

Bryce Beinhart (signed with Nebraska)

Jalen Curry (signed with Arizona)

April 27th

Anthony Bradford (signed with LSU)

June 1st

Warren Burrell (signed with Tennessee)

June 8th

Trezeman Marshall (signed with UGA)

Mike Morris (signed with Michigan)

So, for the class of 2019, Tennessee brought eight prospects in for OVs during the spring and summer and signed two of them, a 25% hit rate.  Not only that, but the Vols were deep in the recruitments for both Bogle and Marshall until the bitter end, but both took very late OVs to the schools they respectively signed with whereas Tennessee had used its OV over a half year before they each signed.

Class of 2020

April 12th (Orange & White Game)

Dominic Bailey (signed with Tennessee)

Deontae Craig (signed with Iowa)

EJ Williams (signed with Clemson)

Kitan Crawford (signed with Texas)

Justin Rogers (signed with Kentucky)

Cooper Mays (signed with Tennessee)

June 7th

Mordecai McDaniel (Committed to UT in August but flipped to UF)

Haynes King (signed with Texas A&M)

June 14th (Pool Party)

James Robinson (signed with Tennessee)

Xavier Hill (signed with LSU)

Darrion Henry (signed with OSU)

Ty Jordan (signed with Utah)

Kourt Williams (signed with OSU)

June 21st

Blayne Toll (signed with Arkansas)

Rakim Jarrett (signed with Maryland after flipping from LSU)

Caziah Holmes (signed with PSU)

Chris Morris (signed with Texas A&M)

Richie Leonard (signed with UF)

After batting 25% (2/8) in 2019 on spring/summer official visits, Tennessee did even worse in 2020 signing three of the eighteen official visitors for a 17% hit rate.  And one of those commitments (Bailey) was already committed when he took his OV to Tennessee, and another (Mays) was a very heavy lean when he took his OV.  That’s…not good.  Now, in both years Tennessee chose not to heavily pursue some of these prospects and two other caveats to this exercise are 1) sometimes a prospect says I want to take my OV now and you have no choices so you take your shot and hope for the best (e.g., EJ Williams), and 2) some of the above were likely always going to the schools they ended up with  (e.g., Darrion Henry).  But even considering all of that, this strategy objectively has not worked for Pruitt and Tennessee.

Therefore, this should be addressed starting with the class of 2021 cycle.  The Orange and White Game weekend is a fantastic weekend to have prospects see Knoxville, Tennessee’s campus, and Vol Nation in all its glory.  And themed weekends during the summer are also great ways to show players the program and the campus while also showing them a different side of Tennessee’s coaching staff.  All great stuff, and all opportunities to build out a bigtime class.  But doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, and when that thing is proven to not work it also is counterproductive.  What’s been proven to work for Tennessee is inseason OVs, where the Vol Walk and the Vol Navy and 102,45mf’in5 show kids what Tennessee football is all about.  And barring that, Tennessee has done well with OVs between the end of the season and the start of the ESP, when once again everything that is great about Tennessee’s program can be showcased.  So along with potentially a better recruiting staff (TBD), another year for Pruitt and his core staff to have built relationships and gotten 2021 kids on campus, and an upward trend for the program not seen since the end of the 2015 season (which proved to be a bit of a mirage), perhaps a change in official visit strategy will also help to sign what should be Pruitt’s best class in his tenure as the Head Coach at Tennessee.

We’ll have more on the various position groups in Tennessee’s 2020 class in the coming days, but below are some high level thoughts:

Early Signing Day has de factor become THE signing day, and Coach Jeremy Pruitt and staff made sure they locked up all of their commitments (sans OL Kyree Miller, who they apparently encouraged to wait…hint hint) and also signed all five of their top uncommitted targets coming into the day.  It was a no-doubt banner day for the Vols and even if they sign no more prospects the 2020 roster is now deeper and more talented across the board than it was in 2019.

At the same time, while one could argue whether or not the Vols closed any of the gap between itself and the Alabama/Georgia/LSU triumvirate at the top of the league – and the best argument in the affirmative is that those programs simply can’t get that much more talented while Tennessee has a lot of room to grow – what’s very clear is that Tennessee widened the gap between itself and the group of schools in the SEC East that it jumped in 2019.  In particular, Missouri and Vanderbilt signed classes that simply aren’t going to cut it in the SEC.  And while UK and South Carolina have respectable classes and some really strong position groups (e.g., UK did well on both lines) those classes would have Vol fans burning mattresses if they were in Orange and White.  Arkansas, Tennessee’s rotational SEC West opponent in 2020, did nothing to make one think that on top of their already bad roster and coaching-change-driven attrition that they will be anywhere close to the Vols talent wise. 

Florida, Tennessee’s arch nemesis and only rightful partner at the top of the SEC East with Georgia, also had a strong class.  Using Rivals rankings, the Gators’ 24-man class  finished 7^th in the country with one 5-star and thirteen 4-stars and an average star ranking of 3.58, while Tennessee’s 23-man class finished 9^th overall with zero 5-stars (pending QB Harrison Bailey’s deserved 5^th) and thirteen 4-stars and an average star ranking of 3.52.  So, yeah, pretty much equal to each other in objective metrics.  Pruitt will have to outcoach and outdevelop Head Gator Dan Mullen in order to overtake the Gators.

While we wait to hear whether or not TE Darnell Washington signed at all and if so whether it was with Tennessee or Georgia, either way there are only a handful of real difference makers left in the 2020 class that Tennessee could realistically sign in February.  At the very top of the short list of difference makers is of course is Auburn DL commitment Jay Hardy.  Everyone knows the story – the fact that he didn’t sign with Auburn, whether his plan was always to sign in February or not, is a great indicator that the Vols have a massive opportunity to flip him and add to an already strong DL haul.  Other than him, it seems like Jumbo ATH Dee Beckwith is the other main target until someone else pops up, and with Florida having already used its official visit with him in December and his brother Camryn having accepted a PWO offer from Tennessee, the Vols are likely in the driver’s seat should they choose to be.  Beckwith’s issue (or, more accurately, this writer’s issue with Beckwith) is that he clearly loves basketball more than he loves football.  It just so happens that while he’s a very good basketball player capable of realistically playing lower-level ball in college, he’s clearly viewed as a bigtime football prospect as evidenced by offers from the likes of the Vols and the Gators.  So that will have to work itself out one way or the other.  Tennessee signed an outstanding group of playmakers in WRs Jalin Hyatt and Jimmy Calloway to go with QB/ATH Jimmy Holiday, but Beckwith’s film is intriguing in that you can squint and see the kind of massive WR that doesn’t exist very often in college football.  Like Holiday, he’s be an unusual chess piece for OC Jim Chaney to play with in his search to make Tennessee’s offense more dynamic and explosive.

If one agrees that other than those handful above there just aren’t really any unsigned prospects that are going to move the needle for the Vols, then the question becomes what is the best use of the available scholarships.  Rolling them over to a 2021 class that should be Pruitt’s best since he began his tenure in Knoxville given the upward trajectory of the program, the recruiting staff he currently has (even before any potential upgrades in that area) as well as an unusually strong crop of instate talent, is a viable option.  The other is making prudent use of the Transfer Portal.  “Prudent” is the operative word here, and in this case it translates to “former elite prospects who are leaving elite programs.”  For example, Aubrey Solomon and Deangelo Gibbs.  That’s the kind of talent, whether it is immediately available or you have to wait a year, that’s worth using a scholarship on.  A contra example would be (and we mean no disrespect) Madre London.  Tennessee might not yet have a roster capable of winning the SEC, but it also no longer has positions of simply glaring need where a random Grad Transfer could just step in and immediately start.  This isn’t Georgia Tech with Ryan Johnson or Central Florida and UCF.  Now, currently there aren’t many of those.  Right now, there is recent UGA portaler DE Robert Beal or Alabama transfer DB Scooby Carter and that’s about it.  After the bowl games there are likely to be more that shake out though, and that’s the kind of talent Tennessee should be focused on adding with its remaining openings. 

With the loss of JUCO Art Green and the potential flip of Mordecai McDaniel to Florida (which would NOT be mutual), what was once a class of three DBs for Tennessee is down to two and possibly only one (stud S/CB Keshawn Lawrence).  And despite having a solid group of young players on the roster, with the amount of Nickel and even Dime defense that Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt and DC Derrick Ansley like to play, there is always going to be a need for talented bodies there.   Could the Vols survive a cycle with only Lawrence as a DB signee?  Probably.  Especially since there are a handful of other current commitments who could also project to the secondary.  Jimmy Calloway, who’s listed as a WR and is absolutely electric with the ball in his hands, was being recruited by Oklahoma as a DB (notably, Florida is also trying to flip him, and he is still undecided as to whether he will sign next week or not).  Tamarion McDonald, part of the Whitehaven Trio, has played all over the field throughout his high school career and is for sure a candidate to play the Nickel position, where his combination of coverage skills and hitting ability would be a perfect fit should he not grow into a LB.  That said, it does seem like the Vols are at least giving themselves options should they want and/or need to add at least one more DB.  Tennessee will have four DBs on campus this weekend, with a fifth prospect still lingering.

Emmanuel Appiah is a JUCO early enrollee originally from New Jersey.  He’s got offers from Auburn and Tennessee and officially visited the Tigers for the Iron Bowl weekend.  He had a big sophomore season with eight INTs, and at 6’0 with good length he’s got the requisite size for a Pruitt DB.  Notably, he is good friends with Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano.  Likely a guy who can step in and help at least rotationally right away, it remains unclear where he is on both Auburn’s and Tennessee’s board.

Decamerion Richardson is an intriguing option at CB from Bossier City, LA.  He’s a LONG 6’2 and a track star – he ran a 10.75 100M and 21.63 200M along with a high jump of 6’0, good for 2^nd, 3^rd and 2^nd respectively in the state of LA – yet another prospect with the classic Pruitt DB makeup .  A bit of a late bloomer, once Richardson’s senior tape got out  – he ended up receiving All District honors as both 1^st Team RB and DB – he quickly received offers from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi State (where he OV’d this past weekend).  He liked his visit to Starkville quite a bit, so the Vols could have a fight on their hands should they decide to truly engage. 

Doneiko Slaughter is an Arizona State commitment from Roswell, GA outside of Atlanta.  More of a S/Nickel prospect than a Cornerback, Slaughter’s calling card is his combo of good if not elite speed (10.88 100M and a 4.65 40) and real physicality.  He just took an OV to Miami, so clearly his commitment is soft, so if the Vols push they likely can land him.  A “baller” according to the esteemed Chad Simmons of Rivals, Slaughter plays with an edge that you know Pruitt loves.

Donovan Kaufman is, like Richardson, a Coach David YAC Johnson special from Louisiana.  A Vanderbilt commitment, Kaufman is very likely to end up somewhere much better than West End.  Speaking of ballers, Kaufman did it all for his state championship Archbishop Rummel team this season, making 112 tackles, scoring six touchdowns, forcing six fumbles, and registering eight sacks and four INTs in 13 games.  He carried the ball from the Wildcat position and returned kicks as well.  Those stats, and the way he jumps out on film, make the Honey Badger comparisons all too easy for the New Orleans native.  Kaufman just received an offer from new FSU coach Mike Norvell, who recruited Louisiana very well at Memphis and had tried with Kaufman while with the Tigers, and is now receiving significant interest from LSU (who is, as everyone knows, very short on numbers).   Kaufman stands out from the rest of this list because he is on the shorter end at 5’9, but he’s a playmaker and a winner, two things Pruitt covets at all positions. 

Kendall Dennis is a familiar name to many Vol fans as he visited Knoxville twice over the summer.  The 4-star Florida native has been thought to be an Auburn lean for quite a while, but a late Clemson offer threw a monkey wrench into his recruitment.  However, Clemson has since decided to move on a different DB for their final spot at the position, leaving Dennis in a bit of limbo.  Oklahoma, where he took an OV recently, is still an option, and Nebraska is in the same boat. USF, who’s new coach is former Clemson assistant Jeff Scott, could also get involved.  While Tennessee isn’t currently scheduled to receive an OV this weekend, the Vols were included in his Top 5 this past week and could be a player if things break a certain way for both parties.  That will be one to watch.

Whether the Vols have to fill one or two spots in the defensive backfield in this class remains to be seen, but Pruitt and staff have done a tremendous job setting themselves up with a plethora of talented prospects to choose from whatever decision they make.  This weekend will go a long way for both Tennessee and the respective prospects in determining which direction the Vols go, but it seems hard for them to go wrong.

Hard to overstate how big of a commitment DL Omari Thomas is for Tennessee.  Thomas is a true blue chip prospect, with the kind of size and talent that requires no explanation.  With the Vols major need for DL in this class, particularly as one looks to 2021 and beyond, Thomas is a cornerstone player for the future of the Vol defense.  And as much as landing the Whitehaven Trio was big in its own right, Thomas represents another bigtime recruiting win against elite programs like Alabama and such, while also further cementing Tennessee as the dominant recruiting power in Memphis under Coach Jeremy Pruitt. 

Thomas’s high school teammate RB Jabari Small is set to commit tomorrow, and all signs point to him continuing Tennessee’s sweep of Memphis.  In this writer’s opinion Small profiles as a very capable SEC back, with better-than-you-might-think size (5’11, 190) and a combination of good if not great speed and outstanding quickness, agility, and short-area moves.  Very much in the mold of Eric Gray, Small is a great complement to Tennessee’s other RB commitment Tee Hodge, playing the classic Lightning role to Hodge’s Thunder.  Smalls was, along with Thomas, a finalist for Tennessee’s Mr. Football, and finished his senior season with 29 TDs and just under 2,000 rushing+receiving yards.  His final game was a 4 TD performance in the Tennessee high school playoffs against Ensworth and their P5-littered defense. 

I don’t think it’s coincidental that the Tennessee smoke coming out of Morven Joseph’s OV to Florida on Sunday came within hours of Vol commitment Jimari Butler telling Rivals that he was essentially decommitting from Tennessee.  The guess here is that the Tennessee staff they said something to the effect of “If you’re taking other visits we can’t hold your spot.” Butler then went to Nebraska this past weekend and was then his spot was taken.  Butler is certainly a good looking prospect with outstanding upside – we’ve said as much here and here – but it’s hard to compare him to Joseph and not come away feeling like the Vols would be well off with that swap.  Joseph’s clearly got a more refined game, and while he’s not go Butler’s physical size he’s far from small at 6’3 220.  And there’s a reason he got springtime offers from the likes of Alabama and Auburn and that his other finalist is Florida – three teams known for dominant pass rushers.  With word that Pruitt and his staff are still pushing to flip BJ Ojulari back from LSU, things at Edge Rusher could end up finishing better than anyone could have ever imagined and the Vols will be SET there for a few years.

Tennessee looks like it’s in really good shape for TCU QB/ATH commitment Jimmy Holiday from Madison, MS, especially after wowing him by bringing the entire offensive staff on his inhome visit.  Ranked by 247 as the 1,389^th (!!!) prospect in the class and the 33^rd player in Mississippi, the forecast here is that Holiday will skyrocket up the rankings after this coming AL/MS All-Star Game week.  Holiday is simply electric with the ball in his hands and his film shows some modicum of passing ability.  A lot this week could depend on which position(s) he practices at, but expect to hear rave reviews from national writers coming out of Hattiesburg.

Tennessee’s staff could not have set this weekend up more perfectly.  Days before the Early Signing Period begins, the Vols will have a TON of top talent on campus.  And not only that, the recruits will be present for what should be a wild and raucous atmosphere in Thompson Boiling Arena as Rick Barnes’s squad dominates the Memphis Tigers.  Below are the recruits set to officially visit:

TE Darnell Washington

WR Ramon Henderson*

WR Corey Wren

RB Zaquandre White (JUCO)

ILB Desmond Tisdol

ILB Vai Kaho

OLB Jaqwondis Burns*

DB Emmanuel Appiah (JUCO)

DB Donovan Kaufman

DB Decamerion Richardson

DB Doneiko Slaughter

* tentative

We made the case for oversigning last week, simply based on the sheer amount of top talent that Tennessee could very, very realistically land were numbers not an issue.  With now eight spots remaining pending any further decommitments or scholarship gymnastics, Tennessee’s board is basically a decision tree of prospects.  For example:

Are you holding a spot for Darnell Washington?  If Yes, you now have seven spots.  If no, or if you’re told he’s not coming, you’re back to eight

Do you land Tyler Baron?  Do you also land Octavius Oxendine?  If Yes to both, do you take Reginald Perry? 

Are you holding a spot in February for Jay Hardy?  What if he signs with Auburn next week?  Either way, what does that do for Perry?

Do you take Vai Kaho, or Desmond Tisdol, or both ILBs?

If you land Morven Joseph at Edge, do you take another?  Is Khari Coleman that guy, or does it have to be Ojulari?

Do you think you need another DB?  Is Mordecai McDaniel solid anyway, or is a flip to Florida in the works?  If either one is Yes, what’s the order of your list?

Assuming you land Small tomorrow, do can you possibly take a 3^rd RB (White, or even Len’neth Whitehead)?

If you land Holiday, is he your 2^nd QB or your 4^th WR to go with Jalin Hyatt, Jimmy Calloway and Darion Williamson?  If he’s a QB, does that open 1-2 spots for Henderson and Wren?  If there’s only one more, who do you prioritize?

And finally, what do you do if Tate Ratledge gives you an indication that he might flip?  What about if you have to wait to February?  Who loses their spot from the list above?

For the most part these are all good problems to have.  The Vols are deep in the mix with upwards of 20 prospects, each of whom would upgrade the overall talent level on Tennessee’s roster at their respective positions, and some of them are no-brainer, blue chip guys for whom the Vols are recruiting against some of the top programs in the country.  Pruitt and his staff are showing no signs of slowing down to set themselves up in the best position possible with the deepest and most talented board they can get.  The next, and maybe most important step, will be to read the board correctly and manage things such that they land as many of the players THEY WANT as they can. 

All season long, Coach Jeremy Pruitt lamented the fact that the Vols were well below the 85-scholarship limit.  Between preseason injuries, inseason departures, and redshirts, at times the Vols were operating with below even 70 scholarship players.  What he didn’t say was that the NCAA’s relatively recent restriction on enrolling more than 25 players in a given class makes it incredibly difficult to catch back up to that number even over time, putting programs who started well below 85 scholarships at an very large competitive disadvantage.  With the news earlier this week that two redshirt senior-to-be OL Ryan Johnson and Marcus Tatum are entering the transfer portal, the scholarship situation facing Tennessee came into even more focus.  It wasn’t that long ago that guys like them would make a leap in their final season, especially on the OL – how many Fulmer teams were built around OL who had stuck around, paid their dues, and were given a chance in their final season?  As it’s become so easy for players to transfer, especially for young men looking who have graduated and are simply for more playing time in their final year of eligibility like Johnson and Tatum, it’s a reasonable question to ask: How can anyone actually catch up?

In our look at Edge Rushers earlier in the week, we noted that the Vols have around 7 spots remaining in the class, but caveated that statement with the following question: “Will the Vols try and greyshirt someone like Darrion Williamson (ACL injury) or Will Albright to fit another player into the class?  Does Melvin McBride’s medical retirement give the Vols room to enroll 26 in this class?  Both are questions that the answers to will determine how many more spots there actually are.”  It should also be noted that Tennessee commitments WR Jimmy Calloway and OLB Jimari Butler are taking visits elsewhere, and Calloway particularly looks like a potential flight risk, so even the current number of 18 commitments (and therefore 7 spots) is a little tentative.

Looking at those specific situations above a little further, one can see how they each make sense:

*Williamson suffered an ACL injury in the fall.  Before even getting to the fact that he’s a relatively raw prospect to begin with, the injury itself makes it incredibly unlikely that he can meaningfully contribute in 2020 if he can physically get on the field at all.  Why start his eligibility clock now?  Instead, let him enroll in January 2021 and have his five years to play four start with the 2021 season.  That’s a win-win for both parties

*Albright is a Longsnapper, and as Longsnappers go he’s a great prospect as evidenced by his spot on the All-American Bowl roster.  Forgetting any argument about whether a program should use one of its precious 25 scholarships at that position (we’re neither for nor against, per se), the Vols will lose a steady senior in Riley Lovingood after the season and need someone to replace him immediately.  Is that something a freshman can do?  Again, not being knowledgeable enough about the intricacies of the position it’s tough to say, but what we do know is that Tennessee’s current roster lists two other LS’s – RS Senior-to be Jake Yelich (rated as a five-star LS by Chris Sailer Kicking/Rubio Long Snapping coming out of high school) and RS Sophomore-to be Matthew Salansky.  So Tennessee does have players who’ve been in the program that could potentially step in at least for 2020.  That would allow Albright to greyshirt and like Williamson start his 5-to-play-4 in 2021

*When it comes to McBride’s 2019 initial counter, there is just so much gray area here.  Further to the point about counters from 2019, however, Tennessee was by all accounts all set to sign longtime commitment Anthony Harris.  He would have had to have had a spot, and one would think that the fact that he did not enroll would mean that spot is now available.  So what Tennessee can roll over from 2019 is incredibly opaque

Again, all of this is speculation.  It’s likely no one outside of Pruitt and his compliance team knows the exact situation.  What we do know is that the existing 18 commitments collectively represent a large step forward in terms of depth and talent across the board for the program.  Even the most ardent “NegaVol” would be hard-pressed to find a commitment that doesn’t look like a really good prospect or, more importantly, a position group that doesn’t clearly look like it’s being improved.  There is a reason that despite having only those 18 commitments the class is ranked #20 nationally, with a clear path to being at worst in the Top 15 and even a “If things break perfectly” path to inside the Top 10.

What’s left for the staff to accomplish is filling as many needs as possible while leaving themselves wiggle room to go the Best Player Available route if necessary/possible.  How they plan on doing that beyond simply building as big of a board of top-shelf realistic options (which they have done and continue to do during the contact period) remains to be seen.  TE Darnell Washington has a spot, of that we are sure.  Do they take both ILBs Vai Kaho and Desmond Tisdol?  What would that, and the potential addition of RB Jabari Small, do for Len’neth Whitehead?  How many of DL Tyler Baron, Octavius Oxendine, Omari Thomas, Reginald Perry, and Nazir Stackhouse would they take if they could take ALL of them? What about the aforementioned Edge Rushers Morven Joseph and Khari Coleman, a group they’ve added former Ole Miss commitment and December 13^th official visitor Jaqwondis Burns to all the while according to Volquest still pursuing former commitment BJ Ojulari?  How many Offensive Playmakers can they take, with QB/WR Jimmy Holiday along with Small, WR Ramon Henderson, and RB Zaquandre White – the latter three December 13^th official visitors – firmly on the board and even WRs Rakim Jarrett and Thaiu Jones-Bell at least on the periphery?  Heck, even JUCO DB Emmanuel Appiah is scheduled to OV December 13^th, too, and he’s a very promising prospect who also happens to be an EE.  Again, there are still needs across the roster, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Pruitt and his staff to just rank their board and go from there, positions be damned. 

Ultimately what we’re advocating is for Pruitt to use any means necessary to sign *as many of the above prospects as possible*.  Greenshirts, Greyshirts, Redshirts, Blueshirts (h/t: Dr. Seuss). Backcounting, frontloading, anything in between.  Even, frankly, borrowing from 2021.  Because right now, despite the strong classes of 2018 and 2019 and the incredible development of the players from prior classes that Pruitt and his staff have done, the program simply needs better talent and more of it.  And with the transfer portal changing the game and no other recourse to catch up scholarship-wise, it would behoove Tennessee to take advantage of as many loopholes and avenues as possible to replenish the roster.  They’ve done the work to put themselves in position to land – in a vacuum – all of the players above.  Now they should do whatever it takes to sign as many of them as they can.

With around* 7 spots remaining to fill in the 2020 class, Tennessee has set itself up with a nice board on both offense and defense, and its existing 18 commitments collectively represent a step forward in terms of depth and talent across the board for the program.  What’s left for the staff to accomplish is filling as many needs as possible while leaving themselves wiggle room to go the Best Player Available route if necessary/possible.  At the same time they’ll need to keep all of their existing commitments, with the main focus on WR Jimmy Calloway (UK, OU, UGA in contention) and OLB Jimari Butler (Nebraska). 

At the specific position of Edge Rusher (OLB in a 3-4, DE in a 4-3), the aforementioned Butler is Tennessee’s only current commitment.  Theoretically, especially with the upcoming departure of senior Darrell Taylor, the Vols could use another prospect at the position.  To that end, the Vols hosted Kansas commitment Khari Coleman and FSU commitment Morven Joseph this past weekend on official visits.  Tennessee has been involved with both players since the summer, having them on campus for camp and offering them scholarships around that time.  Coleman is a New Orleans native who had an incredibly productive season and at around 6’1-6’2 and 210-215 pounds uses his speed around the edge as his calling card.  Joseph is a bit more physically imposing at 6’3 and 215-220 pounds and is also a more well-known prospect than Coleman, having formerly been a Florida commitment before flipping to the Seminoles over the summer. 

While Coleman came out of the weekend calling Tennessee his leader, Joseph was a bit more muted in his post-visit interviews although seemingly still being pretty impressed.  At the same time, both will be taking other visits, with Coleman scheduled to see TCU and then Vanderbilt before the Early Signing Period begins December 18^th and Joseph set to see the Gators this coming weekend.  Therefore, there is no reason to think that Tennessee can definitely land either or both of these players should the staff decide to push.  What’s perhaps more pertinent is whether or not Tennessee truly needs either of them in this class – assuming Butler is solid – unless it were as a Best Player Available with a final spot.  With the emergence of junior-to-be Kivon Bennett over the course of the season and the continued development of true freshmen Quarvaris Crouch and Roman Harrison – all three of whom had a sack in Saturday’s season finale – there is perhaps a less immediate need for the 2020 season.  The team will also return senior-to-be Deandre Johnson, a solid contributor and certainly a rotational SEC player, along with Butler.  Commitments Martavius French and Bryson Eason, both of whom have played all over the field for their Memphis Whitehaven High School team including as pass rushers, could also figure into that mix both immediately in 2020 and also into the future.  Finally, Knoxville Catholic’s Tyler Baron, thought at this point to be a heavy lean to Tennessee, has the potential to give the Vols some immediate help on the edge in 2020 even if his future position is likely more as a true DL as his body fills out.

Tennessee 100% wants to add Baron along with DL Omari Thomas and Octavius Oxendine, and the Vols are at worst co-leaders for each of the three. DL Reggie Perry took an official visit to Tennessee this weekend as well and apparently made a huge move, and the Vols even got Georgia DL commitment Nazir Stackhouse on campus unofficially – Pruitt and Ansley will be in with him today, likely to try and see how serious Stackhouse really is and try and secure an OV.  They want at least one more ILB, with Vai Kaho, Desmond Tisdol, and Len’neth Whitehead (not a RB) all very much in play.  There is also speculation that Coach Pruitt would like to sign another DB, and JUCO Emmanuel Appiah is scheduled to officially visit the December 13^th weekend.  TE Darnell Washington will have a spot reserved for him until his signed LOI is announced by another school.  And at least from this writer’s perspective the Vols could absolutely use at least one more playmaker, with ATHs Jimmy Holiday and Ramon Henderson, WRs Dee Beckwith and Jaylon Barden, and RB Jabari Small and Zaquandre White all in the mix (not to mention longshots Thaiu Jones-Bell and Rakim Jarrett).   Obviously Tennessee wouldn’t win out for all of these prospects whether it had the room or not.  The Vols are battling programs like Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Notre Dame for many of them, and some of them are committed elsewhere for now.  But the fact that Tennessee is in the mix with such a number of high quality prospects with such a relatively low number of spots gives one a sense for the kinds of decisions that Pruitt and his staff are going to have to make.

Both Coleman and Joseph are high-quality prospects in their own right and one could absolutely make the case that there is a real need for Tennessee to add another Edge Rusher in this class, especially in a vacuum.  However, although Pruitt has gotten the program into a much better spot than it was when he arrived (through both recruiting and development) there are still multiple needs across the roster.  And this position does have a good (if not great, where it needs to be) blend of depth and talent.  Therefore it won’t be a surprise to see the Vols go either way on this question, but the view here is that there are greater needs elsewhere and that if they do decide to push for one or both of them it will and should be as a Best Player Available with a final spot in the class.

*Will the Vols try and greyshirt someone like Darrion Williamson (injury) or Will Albright to fit another player into the class?  Does Melvin McBride’s medical retirement give the Vols room to enroll 26 in this class?  Both are questions that the answers to will determine how many more spots there actually are