Early Enrollees in the 2022 Class

• DL Jordan Phillips (enrolled)
• RB Justin Williams 
• DT Tyre West
• OG Addison Nichols
• QB Tayven Jackson 
• TE Brody Foley
• WR Chas Nimrod
• LB Elijah Herring
• OG Maurice Clipper Jr.
• JUCO CB Dee Williams
• WR Cam Miller
• EDGE Joshua Josephs
• WR Kaleb Webb
• OL Brian Grant

Summer Official Visits

 Summer Official Visits

June 4th

DE Joshua Josephs

LB DeMario Tolan

June 11th

QB Tayven Jackson

RB Dylan Sampson

RB Jordan McDonald

TE Eli Raridon

OT Dayne Shor

June 18th

RB Terrance Gibbs

OT Ryan Brubaker

OT Leyten Nelson

June 21st

DB Jordan Allen

TE Micah Riley

June 25th

CB Khamauri Rogers

WR Jayden Gibson

TE Brody Foley

DT Quentel Jones

OT Ryan Baer

DE Venson Sneed (commit)

Spring Visitor List

March 7th

WR Jordan Moseley (commit)

DL Darrell Jackson (commit)

WR Tray Curry

WR Simeon Price

ATH  Kaemen Marley

RB Jaylen Wright

OLB Travali Price

DT Payton Page

DE Jahvaree Ritzie

CB De'Jahn Warren (JUCO)

DL Taleeq Robbins

OL Jaden Lindsay

ATH Chauncey Magwood

DT Isaac Washington

OL Dylan Fairchild

OLB Dylan Brooks

CB Tyreek Chappell

WR Chauncey Magwood

S Edwin White

2022 QB Ty Simpson


March 14th

ATH Kenji Christian

CB Ryan Barnes

April 11th

OLB Travali Price

Spring Game April 18th


OV

RB Jaylen Wright

Singing Day Announcements

Beckwith - 10AM ET

Wideman - 1:30PM ET

Evans -

Top 21 Prospects for 2021

Since we are very close to turning the recruiting calendar to the 2021 class I thought we’d talk about 21 Juniors I think are guys to keep an eye on going forward. I tell people every year, “Watch Junior Days” watch who visits as those are going to be the priority targets at least early in the cycle. Tennessee has a Junior Day on February 1st and who shows up for that will tell us a lot about who to watch going forward. 

Athlete Tray Curry

I will start with in-state prospects and the biggest name to watch at this point in the process, in my opinion, is Athlete Tray Curry. Tray is a 4-star, 6-foot 4, 192-pound athlete from Bradley Central in Cleveland, TN whom Tennessee has been recruiting for years. He is my guess for the closest prospect to become the next commit in the 2021 class. Tray has been on campus multiple times this year most recently on September 7th for the BYU game. Tray has offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville, among others.

2. LB Junior Colson

My pick for the best prospect in the state in the next class is Junior Colson who is a 4-star prospect who plays at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, TN. Colson looks like an edge rusher in Pruitt’s defense. He received an offer back in April and has been on campus a few times since then. Colson will have to add weight to his 6-foot 2, 210-pound frame once he gets in a college strength and conditioning program but he has all the athletic traits you want in an EDGE rusher.

3. TE Jake Briningstool

Jake Briningstool is the top prospect in the state of Tennessee on 247 although on Rivals he’s listed below fellow in-state tight end Hudson Wolfe who we’ll discuss next. Briningstool is lighter than Wolfe at 6-foot 6, 215 lbs. and projects more as a receiving TE whereas Wolfe is more of an all-around tight end equally adept at blocking and running pass patterns. Briningstool has over 20 offers including the perennial powers such as Clemson and Alabama. He is a 4-star player in the composite ranked #112 in the country in 247’s composite recruiting rankings. Briningstool is teammates with Junior Colson at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, TN.

4. TE Hudson Wolfe

Hudson Wolfe is also a 4-star on 247 and ranked the #220 player in the country. He plays at Hardin County in Savannah, TN. Wolfe also has more than 20 offers from some of the who’s who of the country and especially the SEC. Both of these tight ends will be a fight to land and both of them grew up Tennessee fans — a common theme in-state this year somewhat unusually.

5. CB Andre Turrentine 

Another big-time in-state prospect from Middle Tennessee is Andre Turrentine from Ensworth in Nashville. Alert readers will recall that Keshawn Lawrence played at Ensworth which should help somewhat with Andre. The coaches are super high on Andre’s potential at cornerback as are many other schools around the country including Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, and others. Turrentine is the prototypical size Pruitt likes in his cornerbacks at 6-foot tall and 175 lbs. Andre recently told 247 Tennessee is one of the “top four” teams he is considering along with Ohio State, LSU, and Alabama. Many think his recruitment will come down to LSU and Tennessee as he is a Louisiana native. He is a 4-star prospect in the composite.

6. OT Eli Sutton

One area this current class has fallen short is at offensive tackle. I say this with around a month to go until Signing Day so this could definitely change but either way Eli Sutton out of Brentwood Academy is a high priority target for the staff in the next cycle. BA is a famed program for producing football talent in the mid-state producing such products as Derek Barnett and Jalen Ramsey so they are no mystery to the staff at Tennessee. Tee Martin is Sutton’s primary recruiter with position coach Will Friend adding the assist. He is also a 4-star prospect on 247. The 6-foot 7, 285-pound. lineman is the #157 player in the country and the #2 player in the state of Tennessee according to the composite. 

Sutton was recently at Tennessee to take in the UAB game and told 247 at the time “Tennessee is one of the ones I wanted to go see first when I did get that time off where I could go see more schools.

It was good, seeing that the team has definitely taken a step forward from what they were at the beginning of the year, which gave me questions — as I assume everybody else had.

“Seeing the atmosphere, even though it was homecoming against UAB, was great, and seeing that UT is now beginning on the rise, seeing that they’re winning games and getting more confidence and getting better themselves.”

7. Wide Receiver Adonai Mitchell

One of a few Cane Ridge players we are recruiting this next cycle (see more below) and he’s one of my favorite in-state players. Ran a pretty fast 40 time while at camp last summer and was injured at the time. Received an offer on-site. The coaches love his size at 6-foot 3, 187 lbs. Adonai is originally from Texas but moved to Antioch last year. Rated a 3-star but I think that’s temporary.

8. Wide Receiver Quenton Barnes

There are several great wide receiver prospects in-state in this class and Barnes is a good one himself. Barnes is a 4-star prospect from Cane Ridge (a theme developing here) in Antioch, TN. (There’s a great park in Cane Ridge BTW where they have remote control helicopter acrobatic contests every now and then which is really cool to watch.) Barnes is 6-foot 2, 175 lbs and athletic. He has offers from Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Barnes has a verified shuttle of 4.46 from an Opening Regional and a 29.80-inch vertical jump. He was most recently on campus November 17th, 2018.

9. Wide Receiver Walker Merrill

As I stated above the in-state wide receiver class is solid and Tennessee could sign virtually their entire wide receiver class without leaving the state. Walker Merrill is another great wide receiver prospect who has been on campus multiple times most recently October 26th for the South Carolina game. 

“I think Tennessee’s growing,” he told 247 at the time. “What, they have to win three more to get into a bowl game? I think the new coaches are on the uprise, so I think Tennessee in the next year will be dominant, for sure.”

Tee Martin is his lead recruiter and would be his position coach should he chose to attend Tennessee. Merrill is another good-sized wide receiver at 6-foot 1, 180 lbs. 

10. Defensive Lineman Javon Nelson

The 2021 in-state class is thin on the defensive line but one prospect on the Tennessee coaches’ radar is Riverdale defensive lineman Javon Nelson. Nelson is a 6-foot 2.5 inch 255 lb. lineman with a great motor. He is a 4-star in the composite and on Rivals and a 3-star in 247’s rankings which are subject to change. Nelson has offers from the likes of Kentucky, (who he’s high on) Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. Nelson visited Tennessee this fall on September 7th. 

11. Cornerback Kendrick Breedlove

Breedlove is a three-star cornerback from Pearl Cohn in Nashville who is a much better prospect than his ranking indicates. I like his game and he has adequate size for a CB in Pruitt’s system. You only have to look to his offer list to determine how much better than his ranking he is as indicated by LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, and Texas A&M offers. 

12. Defensive Tackle Payton Page

Starting with defensive out-of-state prospects, one of the biggest targets in this class, both literally and physically, at 6-foot 4 inches, 315-pounds is Payton Page. Payton just recently released his top 5, and as you can see below, it included Tennessee. 

TOP 5 RESPECT MY DECISION

Edit: @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/9MiIuTNgQ1

— Payton Page (@PaytonPage55) January 11, 2020

But Payton is going to be a fight as it appears he favors Clemson and home favorite North Carolina. Still, Tennessee will be in it until he decides so this one is definitely worth following. Payton is a 5-star and has offers from just about everyone you can think of.

13. DE/OLB Demeioun Robinson

One of the more realistic early targets for Tennessee, Robinson was most recently in Knoxville for the pool party in July. He is a top 100 player in the 247 composite and a consensus 4-star prospect. He fits more the outside linebacker role than defensive end in a 4-3 but can play both at 6-foot 3 inches. Will have to add weight but has the ideal frame for the position. Likes Penn State early but Tennessee is certainly on his mind and in regular contact. He will be on campus on the first of February for a Junior Day.

14. DE/OLB Travali Price

Price is from Lincolnton, NC and is a guy Tennessee identified early in the process, offering in July of last year. At 6-foot 4, 247 pounds he’s already close to the ideal size you want in a pass rusher in Pruitt’s defense. North Carolina is on him hard as Mack Brown attempts to keep the in-state talent at home but Tennessee appears to be his biggest offer to this point. Price is a 3-star in the composite but a 4-star on 247. He recently told 247 he will be on campus on February 1st for a Junior Day. 

15. Cornerback Markevious Brown

Brown is a Pahokee, Florida native, (where they chase down rabbits for fun) which is an area chocked full of elite athletes, but now attends IMG Academy where Christ Weinke once coached. At 6-foot tall 170 pounds, he’s the ideal size for a DB in Pruitt’s pattern-match backfield. Brown has offers from the who’s who in Florida including Florida State, Miami, and Florida in addition to an Alabama offer. It will be tough to beat out the in-state schools most likely but Tennessee was included in the top 7 he released in November.

16. DL Isaac Washington

Washington was last on campus on October 26th for the South Carolina game. He was also on campus in late July when he received his offer. A 3-star on the recruiting sites, but a guy Tennessee clearly likes and wants. Auburn is hot on the trail as his dad is originally from Alabama and he still has family there. Offers from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia Tech in addition to Auburn and Tennessee — his first and second SEC offers.

17. RB Will Shipley

A five-star all-purpose back, Shipley is very high on the wanted list for this 2021 class. He is a 5-foot 11, 198-pound back from Matthews, North Carolina who is high on many top team’s wish lists. Offers from Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Alabama, Will can pick wherever in the country he wants to play football. He ran for 2066 yards his junior season with 30 touchdowns. 

18. Athlete Treveyon Henderson

Henderson is a top 247 recruit on 247 and a consensus 4-star. Nearly a top 100 player in the composite at #102 with lots of movement to happen over the course of the year.

Henderson plays at the same High School Darrell Taylor came from in Hopewell, Virginia. At 5-foot 10, 190-pounds he projects as a likely running back. Henderson was most recently at Tennessee to attend the UAB game in November. He has offers from Clemson, Alabama, Penn State, and Oklahoma in addition to Tennessee. Henderson wants to make it back to Knoxville for a Junior Day but nothing is set in stone at this point.

19. Running back Lovasea Carroll

Carroll is originally from Warrenton, Georgia but now attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He is a 6-foot ½, 189- pound 4-star with offers from Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina in addition to Tennessee. He was committed to South Carolina for four months at one point before reopening his recruitment on September 1st. He released a top 8 in October that included Tennessee in addition to Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Ohio State, and Penn State.

20. Offensive Lineman Terrence Ferguson

Ferguson is a top 100 offensive lineman from Fort Valley, Georgia. He’s 6-foot 4, 300 lbs. Henderson camped with Tennessee in June and followed that up by visiting November, 2nd for the UAB game. He is one to watch as he claims he has visited Tennessee 6 times since 2018.

21. Outside Linebacker Dylan Brooks

Brooks is a 5-star EDGE rusher from Roanoke, Alabama. He is high on Auburn, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee. I almost did not list Brooks here as it is so difficult to get a guy out of Alabama that the Alabama schools really want but Tennessee is consistently named in his top group and has a puncher’s chance. Brooks was last at Tennessee for the Georgia game in October and it will be a priority to get him back on campus this spring for a Junior Day.

These are by no means the only prospects worth watching in the 2021 class but they are some of the more prominent ones currently high on Tennessee. Others will assuredly pop up and be in play between now and February of 2021.

Junior Days

January 18

OLB Dylan Brooks
DL Isaac Washington
OLB Raneiria Dillworth
ATH Javin Burke
WR Walker Merrill
QB Christian Veilleux
ATH Malachi Bennett
WR Romello Brinson
WR JJ Jones
WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce
WR Christian Lewis
WR Chauncey Magwood
DL Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins
ATH O'Mega Blake
S Kani Walker
OL Micah Pettus
LB Bryce Edmondson
OG Jaelon Brown
RB Amari Daniels
DL CJ Hardy
OL Prestin Hawkins
LB Bryce Edmonson
Trenilyas Tatum
ATH Elijah Howard (commit)
DB Jadon Hodge (2022)

January 25

OLB Khristian Zachary
CB Latrell McCutchin (Bama commit)
LB Terrence Lewis Jr.
CB Justin Parks
DL Isaac Washington
OLB Jeremiah Williams
DL Javon Nelson
DT Tim Keenan
OG Dylan Fairchild
CB Nyland Green
ATH Tony Mitchell (2023 commit)

February 1st

OLB Demeioun Robinson - UNC
RB Cody Brown  - Tennessee
WR Dont'e Thornton Jr.
CB Andre Turrentine - OSU
CB Markevious Brown
OLB Travali Price - Tennesee in good shape
TE Miles Campbell
DE Victoine Brown
OT Jakiah Leftwich
TE Hudson Wolfe - OSU lean but Tennessee in it
ATH Trinity Bell - Tennessee/Auburn battle
CB Colby Phillips
CB Trey Washington
DE Royce White
DT Terion Sugkik
DE Justice Boone
LB Miles Capers
DT Anquin Barnes
RB Trevion Cooley
LB/ATH Damon Owens
DB Kyndrich Breedlove
DT Tyas Martin
DE Ryheem Craig
DE William Whitlow

December Signees

Wednesday, December 18th

Doneiko Slaughter IN
Omari Thomas IN
Len'Neth Whitehead IN
Keshawn Lawrence IN
Jimmy Holiday IN
James Robinson IN
Jabari Small IN
Will Albright IN
Tee Hodge IN
Reginald Perry IN
Dominic Bailey IN
Martavius French IN
Bryson Eason  IN
Tamarion McDonald IN
Harrison Bailey IN
Jalin Hyatt IN
Jimmy Calloway IN
Cooper Mays IN
Tyler Baron IN
Javontez Spraggins IN
Morven Joseph 4:00PM

All times Eastern

January Official Visits

Jan 17

WR Malachi Wideman
OL Dylan Spencer
(Sunday-Monday) ATH Dee Beckwith

Jan 24

RB Zachary Evans
WR Ger-Cari Caldwell
WR Jalin Hyatt (signee)

Jan 26th (Unofficial)
WR Ladd McConkey


Jan 31

ATH Demarcus Beckwith

February Signees

Omari Thomas
Jay Hardy
Van Fillinger
Dee Beckwith
Javon Banks
Jalen St. John
Tate Ratledge

Remaining Recruiting Board

QB Jimmy Holiday *

OL
Jalen St. John


RB Len’Neth Whitehead ZaQuondre White WR Demarcus Beckwith (ATH) Jaylon Barden Ger-Cari Caldwell
TE Darnell Washington OLB Van Fillinger Morven Joseph Khari Coleman JaQwandis Burns LB Vai Kaho * CB Decamerion Robinson Kendall Dennis
Doneiko Slaughter DL Reginald Perry * Tyler Baron * Octavious Oxedine *

* = likely parts of this class

Early Enrollees 2020

Harrison Bailey
Dominic Bailey
Cooper Mays
Jimmy Holiday

Targets

Jimmy Holiday
Darnell Washington

The Remarkable Emergence of Nigel Warrior

Nigel Warrior, up to this year, was a cautionary tale about overhyping recruiting prospects. Expected to be the next best thing to his father, Dale Carter, it was probably more than any recruit could be expected to live up to. Until his senior season, Warrior had been a very pedestrian player. Good enough to not be taken off the field as a starter, but not particularly spectacular in any one area. Many times last season he found himself in the right place but unable to complete the play.

This season a light has come on for Warrior. His play the second half of the schedule has been All-SEC worthy. He leads the league in picks, tied with 3 others. He had 10 tackles vs. Georgia which seemed to be his coming-out party and two passes defended. He had a pick and 2 passes defended against Mississippi State in a win and set up a Tennessee touchdown at Bama with a pick in a game that should not have been as close as it was. Then he racked up 8 tackles against Kentucky with another interception.

Since Tennessee's first bye week, Nigel has had 44 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 passes defended. He has transformed himself, under the tutelage of Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley, into an all-around defensive back. He holds up in coverage, he can come down into the box and cover the run, his ball skills are excellent. It was Nigel's decision to cover both Lynn Bowden initially and then the pitchman on the option that allowed Ja'Quain Blakely to tackle the QB at the line of scrimmage, virtually sealing the win for the Vols on a goal-line stand in Lexington.

Not only has his play on the field done the talking, but he has also backed up that play in the locker room as a leader which was crucial during the initial stretch of the season when Tennessee disappointed with a 1-4 record to start the year. Warrior helped hold the team together behind the scenes and was an encouraging voice that inspired confidence and helped the team turn their season around.

Time will tell what awards the senior defensive back will rack up at the end of the season. He has already made a case that he deserves to be considered by teams as a late draft pick and if not drafted will assuredly make some team's roster as an undrafted free agent.

Nigel Warrior is a shining example of the ability of Pruitt and Ansley to develop defensive backs into pro-ready prospects and that will go a long way on the recruiting trail to be sure.

Three Keys to a Tennessee Win over Missouri

Stop me if you've heard this before: this is a big game. I know, I know. You've heard that every week for the past 4 weeks, but it is no less true now than it was then. Taking a winning streak into bowl season would do wonders for our recruiting efforts in next year's (2021) class, and to a lesser extent the class we're building currently.

But it's no easy task. No SEC game is an easy win. (Okay, maybe Vanderbilt or Arkansas) Missouri is no exception. Barry Odom made his name on the defensive side of the football and his mark is all over his defense. Missouri has the #19 scoring defense in the country. They allow an average of 165.9 yards through the air this season and only 131.7 on the ground.


So now we get to the keys to getting a win over Missouri.

The only clear advantage the Tennessee Volunteers have over Missouri is Tennessee's defense vs. Missouri's offense. Derek Dooley has had a terrible time trying to replace the production of Drew Lock this year. Kelly Bryant has been very average most of the year and he's been banged up a lot too and missed games. He is, however, expected to be healthy for this game. Bryant is a much better runner than he is a passer and considering the trouble Lynn Bowden gave the Vols on the ground two weeks ago, keying on him and setting the edge on defense will be critical.

Key #1: Limit Missouri's running game with both Bryant and Larry Rountree.

Rountree has 706 yards on the ground this season averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He's a legit SEC back and he has run wild on Tennessee's defense previously, running for 135 yards, a TD on the ground and another through the air in 2018. Keying in on him will definitely be a big part of the gameplan and it's a portion of it the defense must execute.

That brings us to Key #2: Run the ball efficiently.

This is not going to be an easy task based on recent history and Missouri's defensive stats vs. the run this season. Still, it's something I feel like we must do to beat the Tigers. We don't have to dominate on the ground. We just need to run enough to keep the defense honest so that we can get good match-ups with our big wide receivers who match-up pretty well vs. Missouri's corners.

Key # 3: The Assasin, Brent Cimaglia

Cimaglia has been nothing short of brilliant this year making 90.5% of his field-goal tries including 14 of 15 from 40 yards out.

Due to Tennessee's notorious struggles in the red zone, I feel like Cimaglia will have to come through in a big way for Tennessee to win.

As long as Tennessee does these three things well on Saturday they should be able to carry a 4-game winning streak into the Vanderbilt game which will be much less of a challenge than Missouri.

Winning at Vanderbilt and carrying a 5-game winning streak into what should be a winnable bowl game will certainly get the attention of 2021 recruits and assure 2020 commits in their commitments. the Tennessee Volunteers are taking the baby steps that are necessary to return to prominence on the big stage. Time will tell whether or not they get there, but it appears they are at least on the right track.

December Official Visits

December 13th

TE Darnell Washington

DE Tyler Baron

DB Doneiko Slaughter (ASU commit)

RB Jabari Small (commit)

OL Javontez Spraggins (commit)

WR Jimmy Calloway (commit)

DB Keshawn Lawrence (commit)

RB Tee Hodge (commit)

Announcements

December 18th

Len'Neth Whitehead 8:30 ET
Tyler Baron 12:30 ET
Octavious Oxedine
Doneiko Slaughter
Khari Coleman
Jimmy Holiday
Desmond Tisdol
Reginald Perry
Keshawn Lawrence
Harrison Bailey
Dominic Bailey
Jimmy Calloway
Cooper Mays
Jalin Hyatt
Tyler Baron
Martavius French
Bryson Eason
Tamarion McDonald
Javontez Spraggins
Kyree Miller

December 19th

Morven Joseph