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Tennessee Football Recruiting: Vols Flip 4-Star CB Tyler Byrd from Miami on Eve of Signing Day

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 15, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of Neyland Stadium during the first half of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of Neyland Stadium during the first half of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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On the eve of National Signing Day 2016 Tennessee football flipped four-star cornerback Tyler Byrd’s commitment from the Miami Hurricanes to the Volunteers.

This one seemed evident for a while, but we could not be sure until it was put in paper. Tyler Byrd put it in paper on Tuesday night before the crazy saga of National Signing Day began.

Related Story: 5 Recruits the Vols Will Pick Up for Signing Day Week

Byrd, who had been a hard commit to the Miami Hurricanes for a while, changed his commitment to the Vols. The four-star is a huge pickup, and he clearly was influenced by new tight ends coach Larry Scott, further proving how great of a staff hire he was for Butch Jones.

Another selling point was that his high school teammate, Carlin Fils-Aime, was also committed to Tennessee and went out of his way to recruit Byrd.

Here is how he stacks up on different recruiting services.

[table id=66 /]

The four-star cornerback who went to Naples High School in Naples, Fla. may not start right away in Knoxville or see very much action at all.

But Byrd is coming at a perfect time. Considering that this will inevitably be the last year for Cam Sutton, there will be plenty of opportunities to play early enough.

Tennessee needed to stack up its secondary for the future, and Byrd helps to do just that, as he was the fourth defensive back to commit to the Vols this offseason.

More volunteers: Vols 2016 National Signing Day Primer

For Tennessee to get Byrd away from Miami, especially with the skills that Mark Richt has in recruiting, just shows how much the profile of the program continues to elevate. The Vols are now in great shape beyond 2016 as well thanks to commitments like this.

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