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Tennessee football recruiting: Two huge pickups prove Vols aren’t faltering

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, SC - OCTOBER 29: Head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts during their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 29, 2016 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Tyler Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - OCTOBER 29: Head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts during their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 29, 2016 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Tyler Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football recruiting had two huge 2018 commitments on Wednesday. The pickups were a bounce back for the Volunteers after a rough five days.

Must Read: Top 10 position battles in 2017 Tennessee football fall camp

Within 24 hours, it went from hitting the panic button for Tennessee football recruiting to generating a new level of excitement.

It all started on Tuesday night, which we documented here. The Vols lost out on 2018 four-star linebacker Justice Dingle to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Dingle, out of Kentucky, was basically an in-state prospect, as he had lived in Murfreesboro up until last year. So that loss was a blow.

But to make it worse, it came five days after the Vols lost out on an actual in-state prospect, Nashville, Tenn. 2018 four-star defensive back Jaylon King, who also went to Georgia Tech.

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So the Vols lost two crucial targets in a matter of five days. They were in No. 2 and No. 3 among the Top 10 remaining targets we named in July that Butch Jones and the Vols needed to keep pursuing.

It was not good news for Tennessee football. That was until Wednesday, the very next day after Dingle’s commitment.

Butch Jones and co. started it off by securing a recruit from three-star linebacker Matthew Flint. So he wasn’t a four-star like Dingle, but he was more proven against tough competition coming out of Alabama.

And the Vols got a recruit out of Alabama!

But then came a huge prize that night. Jones and co. secured a second commitment that day, this time from four-star Georgia defensive back Trey Dean, whom the Tide and Georgia Bulldogs were pursuing.

All of a sudden, after losing a linebacker prospect and a secondary prospect for 2018 in a matter of five days, the Vols picked up a commitment from a linebacker prospect and a secondary prospect in a matter of 12 hours.

Tennessee football fans got to wake up Thursday morning and see their team move up to No. 4 in the Rivals class rankings for 2018 and No. 1 in the SEC with 20 overall commitments, including one five-star and eight four-stars.

They’ve got a lot of work to do to catch up to the top three, the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Miami Hurricanes. But it’s pretty obvious they are still going at it.

After an underwhelming 2016 season and 2017 recruiting class, many Vols fans had the impression that Jones was slipping. That’s resulted in overreactions every time some bad news happens for the 2018 recruiting class.

Next: Tennessee football 2017 depth chart projections

But Jones has alleviated every panic move within the same week it happened. He continues to assure Vol Nation that recruiting is stable. On Wednesday, he did that once again with two huge commitments.

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