With one more week of coaches visits across the country, Tennessee’s recruiting board for the class of 2019 looks as jumbled as ever. The staff has been solidifying current commitments while at the same time trying to complete the class, and below we take a look at how things look heading into the penultimate weekend for the Early Signing Day
Temperature Down
LB Owen Pappoe has been an Auburn commitment since May, but many thought he would ultimately flip to Tennessee and join his high school teammate Wanya Morris. After visiting Knoxville unofficially in November and then setting up an OV for this coming weekend – all while not setting up an OV to Auburn – things were certainly trending that way. However, after an inhome visit from Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn and most of the Tiger staff – and despite a visit from a few Tennessee staffers – Pappoe on Wednesday tweeted out a reaffirmation of his commitment to Auburn and then proceeded to cancel his OV to Tennessee this weekend. While Jeremy Pruitt still has his inhome available, it remains to be seen if that will happen and how effective it might even be in securing a visit from Pappoe, whose mother by all indications is adamant that he keep his word and sign with Auburn and who would absolutely need to be persuaded in order to have her son sign with UT. This might not be 100% over, but in a matter of hours it went from looking like the Vols were going to sign this highly touted LB/Star to that being very doubtful
CB Kenyatta Watson is a Texas commitment who the Vols have been trying to flip for months. Also a teammate of Morris, the Tennessee staff has visited him multiple times in the last few weeks in an attempt to at least get him to take an OV to Knoxville. So far that effort has proved fruitless, and at this point it seems more likely than Watson simply shuts it down and signs with Texas in two weeks than that he ever sets foot in Knoxville
DL Justin Eboigbe is an Alabama commitment who has visited Tennessee a few times, most recently unofficially for the Kentucky game in November. And while the Vols were hoping he’d follow that up with an OV to Knoxville before he signs, he will be visiting Miami this weekend and then Alabama the next. He was always a longshot to actually flip from the Tide, but the Vols were at least going to need an OV to give them a fighting chance. Without that you can probably cross him off the list
DL Zion Logue and Bill Norton are two Tennessee natives and Georgia commitments who the Vols have been trying to flip for months. And while Logue has continued to harbor hard feelings towards Tennessee for not being the first school to offer, Norton as recently as Thursday morning was thought to be a real contender for a flip. However, a visit from the UGA staff seems to have convinced him to take his OV to Georgia this weekend and shut it down. Once again this one might not be completely over for the Vols but it’s gone from promising to unlikely in a blink of an eye. Such is recruiting…
RB DJ Williams has blown up since his senior film got out, and while Tennessee was one of the first major schools to offer him, and have visited him during the open period, they never seemed to get much traction. At this point it appears they won’t get a visit and Williams is likely headed to either Miami or another school in the SEC
LB Quarvaris Crouch has been a longtime target for the Vols and at one time was considered a Tennessee lean. However, despite taking an OV to Knoxville late in the season, this one seems to have finally and completely slipped away from the Vols despite the staff’s best efforts. At this point Crouch is a heavy Clemson lean with Michigan right behind them and the Vols a distant and irrelevant third
Temperature Up
It’s not all doom and gloom this week, as Tennessee has made some major headway with more than a handful of its high level targets
WR Jaylen Ellis, a Baylor commitment in name only, has confirmed that he will be taking his OV to Knoxville the weekend of December 14th. He’s perhaps going to be at Houston this weekend, which would mean that his Tennessee OV will be his 5th and final. His current plan is to announce at the All-America Game in early January and sign in December, but the Vols have placed themselves in very good position. One would think that Ellis, especially as a kid from Texas, would very much take a shine to Tennessee hiring current Houston OC Kendall Briles as its leader on offense. Whoever the hire is should be wrapped up by the time Ellis comes to campus, so that could play a factor here
RB Eric Gray received another visit from Tennessee coaches this week and the vibe continues to be good here for the Vols. As discussed below he could potentially be in Oxford this weekend, but all signs point to the Gatorade Player of the Year and 3-time Tennessee Mr. Football signing with UT in two weeks. Gray is another prospect who will be very interested in Tennessee’s OC hire
LB Trezeman Marshall also got a ton of facetime with Tennessee coaches this week, and it remains clear that the Vols are in deep with this current UGA commitment. Georgia still has its OV should Marshall choose to visit there, but that is TBD. Especially with the Pappoe news, Marshall becomes that much more important for Tennessee at a position of extreme need
LB Henry To’oto’to is another important LB target for the Vols, and while this is a Tennessee-Alabama race there is no doubt that Tennessee is putting in more work here currently than the Tide. TE Coach Brian Niedermeyer has been out to California twice in the last 2-3 week to visit with the Army All-American, and when he signs in February Alabama could be full at the position. This one has a ways to go as both SEC schools will get OVs in January and West Coast powers won’t give up, but right now the Vols are in about as good of a spot as they could hope to be
LB Chris Russell from Dyersburg is a newer player on Tennessee’s board but, especially considering the Pappoe news, has moved up at least one rung. The former Memphis commit is seeing his recruitment go the opposite direction of current Tennessee commitment Jailil Clemons (more below) as he’s picked up offers from Auburn and Texas A&M to go with one from the Vols in the last month or so. Russell has good size and speed – he tested very well at a Tennessee camp this past summer – and his senior film is outstanding. He’s a February signee so Tennessee, like other suitors, will be able to reassess their overall needs and room post-December 19th. But given that Marshall is a UGA commitment from Georgia and the Vols are fighting Alabama for To’oto’to it’s not unlikely that there will still be a need for Tennessee at LB come January and Russell will start getting more attention from the Vols
OL EJ Ndoma-Ogar is an Oklahoma commitment from Texas who sort of showed up out of the blue for an OV in Knoxville for the Alabama game and had an incredible trip. While he has remained committed to the Sooners, Vol coaches have not given up and have visited him on more than one occasion in the contact period. Tennessee is trying to get him to hold off on signing in December – when he would almost certainly sign with OU – and instead wait until February and come back to Knoxville with his family. Should that happen the Vols would obviously have to be considered to be in strong shape, and regardless of what happens with 5-star OL Darnell Wright – for whom the Vols continue to lead but who won’t sign until February – Ndoma-Ogar is a 100% take for Tennessee. We’ll know more in a few weeks
DB Jammie Robinson from Georgia has been to Tennessee once this fall for UF game. UT’s tie here is his former high school coach Shelton Felton who is on Tennessee’s staff, and Felton – who has been on the road since Tyson Helton left the staff – paid Robinson a visit this week. Robinson is a February signee and the he currently only has a UK visit set up for the 12/14 weekend after taking one in the summer to South Carolina. The Vols are in line to get one, however, and although UGA is sniffing around here this one looks like a Tennessee-South Carolina battle right now. With Kenyatta Watson basically falling off the board, Robinson is one of a very few DBs who are legitimate targets. He’s a dynamic playmaker and would add a ton of speed and athleticism to a Tennessee secondary that needs it in spades despite a strong current commitment list
CB Travis Jay is a new name to the board. The FSU commitment is not signing until February and is adamant about taking visits. Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee are among a handful of major programs who are trying to wedge their way into this one, and after some of the Vols staff visited Jay this week he stated that at least both Tennessee and UF would get January OVs. FSU isn’t giving up here though, so this will be a battle for the Vols should they continue to try and remain players here
Tennessee recently started showing interest in Arkansas RB commitment A’Montae Spivey. Spivey is coming off winning a state title for Phenix City Central HS in Alabama’s top classification (7A) and some consider him to have the best size/speed combination in the state. He’s a February signee so there’s lots of time here, but file that name away should the Vols find themselves with room for a 2nd RB to go with (hopefully) Gray
Who’s Coming to Knoxville this Weekend?
Despite this being the second to last visit weekend before the Early Signing Period begins on 12/19, as of this writing only commitments Tyus Fields, Jackson Lampley and Elijah Simmons are confirmed as an official visitor for Tennessee. There have been rumblings of Tennessee getting 5-star Jadon Haselwood to campus for an unofficial visit. He’s taken 4 OVs and he’s booked to be in Athens the 12/14 weekend so that would be a win for the Vols to get him on campus, but until he shows up that’s simply a rumor and regardless the odds are he signs with UGA. Another prospects who’s been rumored to come to Knoxville is WR Khafre Brown, a Vol lean who Tennessee would take in a heartbeat. One would think that Tennessee will get some more visitors to campus this weekend, but as of now it’s relatively light
Other Weekend Visits to Watch
With Tennessee’s weekend visitor list up in the air, Vol coaches and fans will be watching prospects take visits elsewhere and hope that no one else comes off the board
Current Tennessee commitment OLB Jalil Clemons has booked a trip to Memphis to visit the Tigers this weekend, and it looks like for all intents and purposes that he will not sign with the Vols. Reports suggest that no Tennessee coaches have visited him since the contact period began, he doesn’t have a UT OV scheduled, and when a Mississippi kid doesn’t have offers from the big instate schools and in fact is visiting a G5 school you can see the writing on the wall. Clemons is a solid prospect whose profile – from size to offers – is probably a better fit for a program like Memphis, and this will give Tennessee another spot in this class
RB Eric Gray is currently scheduled to visit Ole Miss this weekend, but according to the 247 Ole Miss site that visit isn’t confirmed and in fact old friend Robert Gillespie is trying to get Gray to visit Columbia, SC to see what the Cock$ have to offer. Obviously Tennessee would prefer neither visit to occur, but if I were the Vols my preference would be South Carolina, where he’s been infrequently if in fact ever, vs. Ole Miss, who is considered to be Tennessee’s main competition at the moment
JUCO DL Nick Figureoa and Keonte Schad will be taking OVs to Virginia Tech and Minnesota, respectively. What will be interesting to find out – assuming he doesn’t commit on the visit – is how the California native Figureoa feels about the cross country travel to Blacksburg and how that impacts his feeling about not just attending Tennessee but simply taking an OV to Knoxville. He’s got numerous other options for his last (12/14) visit weekend and it’s far from a sure thing that Tennessee lands it. For Schad, his visit to Minnesota will see the Gophers staff try to solidify their commitment. Should he not shut it down and elect to take his last OV next weekend, Tennessee will be in a fight with Oklahoma for that one. Given the needs at DL I think the Vols would happily take either or both prospects
JUCO Rush End Niadre Zouzoua will be visiting Baylor. Zouzoua had originally been planning to officially visit Tennessee this weekend and Baylor the next, but it remains unclear if he’s going to swap weekends or simply not visit UT. He’s an EE with good size and burst from the edge, and with the absolute dearth of other Rush End options it would be good for Tennessee to at least get him on campus to give themselves a chance should they want to sign him. We’ll see…
LB Jamie Pettway will be visiting Georgia Tech, and while he’s currently a backup option for the Vols at LB and won’t be signing until February he’s a solid prospect and Tennessee could circle back with him after the December signing period depending on how things go with other LBs higher on the board