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Tennessee football: 5 takeaways from Vols’ National Signing Day 2019

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

5. National Signing Day was much better for the Vols in 2019 than 2018.

It was a total reversal of fortunes. Tennessee football significantly exceeded expectations for National Signing Day in 2019, while in 2018, the exact opposite happened. That’s actually surprising considering Jeremy Pruitt had no record of failure last year like he does now after a losing season his first year in Knoxville.

Anyway, Pruitt took over in December of 2017 and immediately overhauled the Vols’ recruiting class. But he made a huge splash in the Early Signing Period by getting four-stars Jeremy Banks and Jerome Carvin from the Memphis, three-star quarterback JT Shrout and junior college four-stars Dominick Wood-Anderson and Jordan Allen. It was a huge day.

Even before that, he had brought back four-star Alontae Taylor and got him to recommit, and he got three-star Kingston Harris. Afterward, he secured commitments from three-star junior college transfer Jahmir Johnson and four-star linebacker JJ Peterson. All of these pickups led to a ton of optimism for National Signing Day.

However, when the day arrived, the only four-star they signed was junior college transfer Emmit Gooden. There were three other three-stars and a two-star. But all the top guys they went after, including five-star cornerbacks Oalijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart, four-stars Quay Walker and Jacob Copeland committed elsewhere.

This year, the Vols had a full year, and Jeremy Pruitt slowly was able to bring in guys. The Early Signing Period wasn’t as much of a splash as a result. And there weren’t as many targets on National Signing Day. But the top guys the Vols went after, they got.

Pruitt only got three commitments, but one was a five-star offensive lineman in Darnell Wright. The other was a four-star linebacker in Henry To’oto’o. And his final pickup was a three-stat cornerback in Kenney Solomon. These three guys are better overall than the five guys who committed last year, and they fill a more loaded class. So, overall, Rocky Top is happier about this class.

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