Vols Recruiting: Shy Tuttle Commits To Tennessee

On Friday afternoon, in North Davidson’s gym packed full of teammates and classmates, five-star 2015 defensive tackle Shy Tuttle committed to Tennessee.

Tuttle, 6’3″/315 lbs from Lexington, NC (North Davidson), is rated by 247Sports as the top player in the state of North Carolina and the fourth best defensive tackle in the nation. He committed to Tennessee over offers from Alabama, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina and NC State, among several others.

The 2015 Vols recruiting class, with Tuttle’s commitment, now has 23 commits.

I can’t express how big of a pickup this is for the Vols, on several different levels.

First off is obviously the on the field effect. Tuttle, along with fellow 2015 Vol commit Kahlil McKenzie, gives the Vols two of the nation’s top defensive tackles.

The Vols, who are already showing major improvement along the defensive line, will have a nasty front four in 2015 and beyond. It’s really not a stretch to say that Tennessee’s defensive line, in the next couple of seasons, could be historically good. That’s a testament to how Butch Jones and his staff have just absolutely dominated the recruiting trail over the past year and a half.

The other reason that Tuttle’s commitment is so big for the Vols is because of where of Tennessee had to go to get him.

The Vols are recruiting the North Carolina area extremely well. There’s a lot of talent in the central North Carolina area and most of those recruits are scooped up by Clemson, North Carolina and NC State.

It’s a great sign (and a impressive feat) for Jones and his staff to go into North Carolina’s backyard and steal a recruit like Tuttle.

It looks like Tennessee is creating yet another recruiting pipeline.

Rival SEC fans better watch out for the Vols.