Vols’ National Signing Day Recap

National Signing Day, for the most part, was a drama free affair for the Tennessee Volunteers.

The only drama that came on Wednesday was longtime Vol commit Cory Thomas flipping from his commitment. Even more surprising was where Thomas ended up.

Thomas named Clemson his leader early in the week, but word leaked early on Wednesday that the Tigers were out of the mix.

Seemingly good news for the Vols, right?

Not so much.

Mississippi State made a strong run at Thomas and was able to sway the Alabama native to Starkville.

Losing the three-star defensive end was a blow for the Vols, but they rebounded by signing uncommitted four-star Michael Sawyers.

Sawyers, a defensive-tackle who was previously committed to Vanderbilt, was the biggest “surprise” of the day for Vols, although he was trending toward Tennessee for much of the past week.

All in all the Vols were able to lock down 32 2014 players on Wednesday, including 14 who were already enrolled.

Tennessee had 34 commitments, but offensive lineman Orlando Brown will be attending junior college because of his grades and linebacker Jerome Dews (who did sign today) will be attending prep school this fall and will be considered an early enrollee to the 2015 class.

The Vols’ 2014 class is currently ranked third by Rivals and fifth by ESPN, which isn’t bad for a team that’s had four straight losing seasons (It also wouldn’t be bad for a school with four straight winning seasons, for what it’s worth).

Here’s the Vols’ 2014 class in it’s entirety.

Early Enrollees

• Jalen Hurd – Running Back — 5-Star
• Josh Malone – Wide Receiver — 5-Star
• Von Pearson — Wide Receiver — 4-Star
• Daniel Helm – Tight End — 4-Star
• Dontavius Blair — Offensive Lineman — 4-Star
• D’Andre Payne — Defensive Back — 4-Star
• Ethan Wolf — Tight End — 3-Star
• Dimarya Mixon — Defensive Lineman — 3-Star
• Coleman Thomas — Offensive Lineman — 3-Star
• Neiko Creamer – Athlete — 3-Star
• Jakob Johnson — Linebacker — 4-Star
• Ray Raulerson — Offensive Lineman –3-Star
• Emmanuel Moseley — Defensive Back — 3-Star
• Owen Williams — Defensive Tackle — 3-Star

Signees

•  Todd Kelly – Defensive Back — 4-Star
• Dillon Bates — Linebacker — 4-Star
• Vic Wharton — Athlete — 4-Star
• RaShann Gaulden — Safety — 4-Star
• Derrell Scott — Running Back — 4-Star
• Aaron Medley — Kicker — 3-Star
• Gavin Bryant — Linebacker — 4-Star
• Treyvon Paulk — Running Back — 3-Star
• Dewayne Hendrix — Defensive End — 4-Star
• Jashon Robertson — DL/OL — 3-Star
• Charles Mosley – Defensive Lineman — 4-Star
• Derek Barnett — Defensive Lineman — 4-Star
• Michael Sawyers — Defensive Lineman — 4-Star
• Chris Weatherd – Linebacker — 4-Star
• Evan Berry – Athlete — 4-Star
• Elliot Berry — Linebacker — 3-Star
• Cortez McDowell — Defensive Back — 4-Star
• Joe Henderson — Defensive End — 4-Star
• Jerome Dews – Linebacker — 3-Star (Gray-Shirt)