7. Football picks up a new transfer.
The big pickups during the early signing period and December in general were notably Quavaris Crouch and Eric Gray. Jeremy Pruitt is doing a great job making sure that Tennessee football builds for the future by filling major holes, but that makes it harder to stock up fully on talent the way he needs to.
As a result, for the future, he has been going the transfer route. The first was Michigan Wolverines transfer Aubrey Solomon, who was once a five-star defensive tackle and announced in December he was gong to Tennessee.
But in January, the Tennessee Vols got a splash pickup in DeAngelo Gibbs. An athlete who specializes at defensive back, Gibbs was once a four-star and announced his transfer to the program as well. And this is a huge deal.
Gibbs joining Solomon allows the program to be set with extra talent for 2020, which is when they’ll be able to play. It also allows Pruitt to focus on shoring up immediate needs for 2019 with the chance to have a bit of a splash year. He knows what he’s doing here.
Now, it’s true that December with the Early Signing Period and February with National Signing Day are bigger recruiting months for football. Gibbs was the only major addition to the program during the month. But his addition was still worth coverage, and that’s why this is on the list. He’s not the only personnel storyline related to football that took place in January.