5 Vol Commits Named Tennessee Mr. Football Finalists
By Zach Ragan
Apr 20, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers fans line up for autographs before the spring Orange and White game at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Butch Jones has said since the day he took the Vols’ head coaching job that winning the recruiting battle in the state of Tennessee is crucial to the team’s success.
If you take a look at the finalists for the state’s Mr. Football award, you’ll see he’s done a pretty good job of winning that battle in his first 11 months on the job.
2014 Vol commits Derek Barnett, Todd Kelly Jr and Aaron Medley were named finalists for the award on Thursday.
2015 Vol commits Zach Stewart and Jack Jones were also named finalists.
In addition to those five commits, there were also three Vol targets named as finalists: CJ Sanders, Josh Malone and Charles Mosley.
Jones, unlike his predecessor, immediately made the Vols’ backyard his focal point, going out and quickly securing commitments from top Tennessee prospects like the ones mentioned above, as well as 2014 5-star RB Jalen Hurd.
Hurd was injured during his team’s opening game, ending his season and thus negating his ability to be named Mr. Football this year.
Tennessee is becoming much more fertile grounds for recruiting, which bodes well for Butch Jones and his staff at Tennessee.