Tennessee football will bring in its latest recruiting class, and the first one under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The Tennessee football program went through an interesting timeline after firing head coach Butch Jones. From the Greg Schiano fiasco to having a half-dozen names mentioned for the job to Phillip Fulmer’s “takeover” of the athletic department, it made for a media circus. However, the process resulted in Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt being hired to coach the Volunteers for the 2018 college football season and beyond.
One of Pruitt’s first tasks will be to fill out his 2018 recruiting class, with the opportunity to on National Signing Day. It’s the biggest day of recruiting for the upcoming season, with hundreds of high-school athletes locking in their school of choice for potentially the next four years.
Who will Tennessee lock in for 2018? With National Signing Day here, let’s look at who the Vols already received a commitment from and which athletes may join the program:
As of this writing, seven four-star recruits committed to Tennessee for 2018. The rest rank as three stars, according to 247Sports. That leaves the program without a top-tier prospect, which could be considered a “loss” for the Volunteers, or a product of the late-season turmoil, the coaching search and Pruitt’s mere weeks of recruiting.
Linebacker JJ Peterson and strong-side defensive end Greg Emerson are the players to watch from this class. Both committed to Tennessee and should be intriguing fits on a rebuilt defensive front, whether they play immediately or get groomed for the future.
On the offensive side, there’s Alontae Taylor, a four-star wide receiver that already committed. He will join a very young receiver group in Knoxville, which can be broken through, given the youth and inexperience of most of the players around him.
Next: National Signing Day: Predictions for top 25 uncommitted recruits
National Signing Day 2018 will be an intriguing one for the new regime. It’s a big day for setting up the foundation, so what will the results be? Can Pruitt acquire an inspiring class to take the Vols into the future? So far, the group shows potential, with the ability to improve.
Grade: B-