2018 Recruiting Thread

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

Some have asked about local kids like Ollie Lane, Jacob Warren and Tykee Kellogg. It's pretty easy to see that Tennessee is in the best shape with Kellogg. Warren has been adding more offers and will likely hit the camp circuit this spring to see if he can climb the rankings. He likes Tennessee a lot, but we don't believe he is in a rush. He added Auburn this week to his offer list.

-Hubbs

 

[WestEndVol]

Williams tripped to Rocky Top for the second time last Saturday, spending Junior Day visiting with coach Butch Jones and meeting new quarterbacks coach Mike Canales for the first time. “It was great,” Williams told Volquest. “I got to sit in coach Jones’ office and talk to him for a good minute. We talked about their plan for me. Coach Canales is a really good coach. “I like talking with him. Coach Jones is a really good coach, too.”

“They want me to get back up for a practice. They let me know how important I am,” he said. “I’m a (top) target. They’re (selling) the opportunity to come play for them at Tennessee — all the benefits and how it could set me up for the future. “They told me they want me to come in and compete. They want me to have that mindset. Come in and compete right away. (I) just got to earn it.”

While Williams has picked up offers from South Carolina, Miami, Mississippi State and Missouri in recent months, he isn’t interested in visiting other schools. Even LSU has been “hard on” him lately, but he remains “solid to Kentucky.”

“I’m solid on my commitment,” he said. “I took that visit up there to Tennessee because I wanted to see what they had to offer. I definitely enjoyed the visit, but there’s nothing planned for any other schools coming up. I don’t have plans to go anywhere next.” Except back to Tennessee.

Williams said he will return to Knoxville soon, catching a spring practice to see “see coach Canales and Butch in action.” “I’ll be back up there to watch a practice,” he said. “I want to go up there and check it out again.”

-VQ

 

[WestEndVol]

Owen Pappoe, one of the nation’s top prospects in the 2019 class, already has been to Tennessee a number of times and repeatedly has referred to the Vols as one of the teams he’s strongly considering. He might be visiting them again soon.

The four-star sophomore linebacker from Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., told 247Sports’ Kipp Adams on VSporto’s SEC Recruiting Buzz podcast that he’s “trying to get down” to Tennessee on Friday, and he’s still holds the Vols and coach Butch Jones’ staff in high regard.

“They just know how to recruit, man,” said Pappoe, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect and No. 1 outside linebacker in the 2019 class. “I’ve got a good relationship with almost every coach on their staff. I’m actually trying to get down there Friday night and spent the night and watch them practice on Saturday. I just love it up there at Tennessee.”

“I think Butch has something planned,” Pappoe said. “There’s been a lot of hype around their name. People expected them to win the (SEC) East last year. They came up short, and I think that’s just building the fire in that program. I know they’re hungry to win championships, so I think they’re going to do something big this season, so we’re just going to see.”

With many of the nation’s top programs pursuing Pappoe, he said “a good bit” of the coaches recruiting him have impressed him, including Tennessee linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen.

“There's a good bit — Coach (Tosh) Lupoi from Alabama, Coach T-Will (Travis Williams) from Auburn, Thigpen from Tennessee, Coach (Kevin) Sherrer and Coach (Glenn) Schumann from Georgia, and Coach (Bill) Miller from Florida State, just to name a few.”

“Those three schools right there — Alabama, Georgia, Florida State,” he said. “They’ve been recruiting me the hardest — and Clemson.”

-247

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

Walk-on:

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

On the day Kevin Beard was hired, coach Butch Jones called Johnson and had the entire offensive staff speak to him, including introductions by Beard and quality control assistant Tony Sorrentino. In the last few weeks, Beard and Johnson have had a couple “30-45 minute” chats, exchanging stories, backgrounds and general life updates.

“We’ve talked a lot lately,” Johnson said. “We’ve definitely got to know each other. We’re definitely forming a relationship.” “He explained to me what his style was, how he felt I could use it,” Johnson said. “He’s not worried about me coming to Tennessee. He wants me to do what’s best for me, but he thinks that he can definitely take me to the next level with (the Vols).”

Although Johnson couldn’t attend either of Tennessee’s recent Junior Days, Jones wanted the receiver to hear the same message he later delivered to a room full of in-state prospects. Tennessee’s coach called Johnson and previewed his plans on Saturday morning. "The day that I missed that Junior Day, he called me and talked to me about it and told me that he was going to do that,” Johnson explained. “How if he could get all the in-state guys together, just that group alone could do some special things. “We have a huge group message from all the in-state recruits now. We’re all constantly talking. We’re all constantly texting, playing the iPhone games, all that. They’ve definitely started to make it more of a pitch to us as a group.”

“I knew a lot of those guys even before high school. Cade (Mays) and I played football teams together when we were younger,” he said. “I’ve known Brant (Lawless) since I was in 3rd-grade, playing basketball with him. We’re super close. “Brendon Harris, I’ve played against him, so a lot of those guys I already knew. Really just to get closer with them and just have a relationship with them and know what they’re thinking, why they’re thinking. For all of us to have a bond is something that’s definitely important.”

“I know for sure that before my season, I’m going to narrow it down to a Top 5,” he said. “Then, take my official visits and commit before Signing Day. It might be before my season ends, but I don’t know. I know for sure I’m going to make a Top 5 this summer.”

-VQ

 

[WestEndVol]

“A lot of people think that I’m just waiting for Alabama, but actually, I’m ready to get out of Tuscaloosa,” Jones told Volquest. “That offer could come, but it would just be like another offer. I’m going to have to evaluate it just like all my other options. But I ain’t stuck on Alabama.”

“It was a great visit,” Jones said. “My mom and dad didn’t get a chance to make it. I went up there with my auntie and my uncle. They loved it. They fell in love with Tennessee. I can’t wait to get back. The facilities were awesome. The coaches, all of them, were just great.”

Jones and Thigpen have developed “a really rapid” relationship over the last several weeks, and the two connect on a daily basis. They’re well past the initial get-to-know each other period, with Jones saying, “We just talk to each other everyday. "We’re almost on that second level now. We passed the initial (relationship) after Junior Day. Now we just talk like that’s my dad.”

The Vols have offered just a handful of other inside linebackers, and they’ve told Jones he’s a legit priority target for their 2018 class. Jones had a chance to sit in Butch Jones’ office during his visit, meeting the Vols’ head coach for the first time. Like Thigpen, Jones made it clear the Alabama linebacker is a prospect Tennessee is very high on.

“He invited me and the family in the office and sat us down and asked if we had any questions and how he really wants me to come play for Tennessee,” Jones explained. “They said they only taking a select few of linebackers, and they just really want me to come play for them. The spot is open if I want it.”

-VQ
Rivals.com

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]

 

[WestEndVol]