Tennessee football recruiting: Could Vols finish with Top 10 class in 2018?

By Caleb Calhoun | Dec 21, 2017

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the inside of Neyland Stadium during a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /

Tennessee football recruiting made a huge leap in the first day of the early signing period. Could the Volunteers now get a Top 10 2018 class?

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Okay, so this is definitely a stretch. And maybe it’s better to focus on the 15 to 20 range rather than the Top 10. However, Tennessee football jumped in the Rivals rankings from outside of the Top 60 on in the Top 30 based on one day of recruiting commitments.

The early signing period worked out flawlessly for Jeremy Pruitt. And he was nailing these recruits without fully putting his staff together while also having to still focus on coaching the Alabama Crimson Tide through the College Football Playoff. Oh, he also had to evaluate some of the recruits already committed, turn away some, and start from scratch. So he’s had a lot to do.

Now, with the Vols benefitting drastically from the early signing period, Pruitt can focus on other big names. And when National Signing Day arrives in February, he’ll have made a lot more of an impact on the top guys still available.

Who are those top guys?

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Well, Pruitt is targeting a plethora of elite guys. Five-star cornerback Isaac Taylor, four-star outside linebacker JJ Peterson, and four-star wide receiver Jacob Copeland are all interested in him. In all three cases, Tennessee football’s biggest threat could be the Alabama Crimson Tide.

And that’s actually good news because there’s a chance that their interest in Alabama is due to their interest in Pruitt.

On top of that, though, the Vols have a couple of other very solid junior college targets at offensive line. Tennessee football is a clear favorite to land three-star JuCo lineman Jahmir Johnson, and they are significantly in the running for three-star JuCo lineman Johncarlo Valentin.

Remember that Valentin was once a four-star committed to the Oklahoma Sooners. So he has to have talent.

And finally, the Vols are in serious play for four-star cornerback Oalijah Griffin. Griffin is currently committed to the UCLA Bruins. However, he took a visit to Rocky Top this past weekend and went to the Tennessee-North Carolina game. There’s no reason to believe that, despite his commitment, the Vols don’t have a chance.

After all, Griffin hasn’t signed yet. So he is seriously in play. That’s four elite prospects and two very good junior college prospects still on the board.

And on top of all that, the Vols still are in play for plenty of other solid three-star recruits. Taking all this into account, why is it crazy to think Pruitt couldn’t get a Top 10 class? It’s not a big deal if he doesn’t. But he worked wonders in less than two weeks on the job for Tennessee football.

Next: 4 big concerns with Vols hiring Jeremy Pruitt

There’s no telling what he could do in a month and a half. No matter what happens, Pruitt has now at least stabilized this recruiting class. And that spells good news for the Vols going forward. But he might be able to do more than just stabilize it now.

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