Butch Jones Wants To Sign 35 Players For Vols 2014 Class

Oct 19, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones talks about his teams win over the South Carolina Gamecocks following the game at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

At some point the Tennessee Volunteers will have to start turning recruits away.

Up until today, it’s been debatable when that point would be.

Last month, Butch Jones said he planned to sign 30 players in the 2014 class.

We even had a Tennessee commit tell us that 30 was a “firm number”.

Despite all of that, a lot of folks believe the Vols can’t sign 30 players, due to NCAA regulations.

So on Monday, Jones backed off the number of 30 — only to raise it to 35.

The Vols currently have 33 2014 commits, which would leave two available spots.

The two most popular names to fill those spots are four-star wide receiver Josh Malone and four-star defensive tackle Charles Mosley.

Both players are Tennessee natives and are considered by most to be leaning toward Tennessee.

It appears that the battle for Malone is down to Tennessee and Georgia (he’s signed financial aid papers with both schools), while Mosley looks to be down to Tennessee or Alabama.

Butch Jones has made landing in-state talent a priority and he’s done a good job of securing commitments from Tennessee natives such as Vic Wharton, Todd  Kelly JR and Jalen Hurd, among others.

With that in mind, you can be sure that these two players are at the very top of Jones’ wish list.

If Tennessee is able to somehow sign 35 players in this class (which is currently ranked second in the country), then it might not be as long as folks think before Rocky Top is back at the top.

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