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

4. The Vols did not build this recruiting class on in-state talent. 

When Butch Jones took over for Derek Dooley in 2013, one way he immediately won over the fan base was by owning the state of Tennessee in recruiting. He said he would do as much in his opening press conference, and he signed 20 guys from the state in his first two full recruiting classes.

However, many of those guys turned out to be busts, most notably Jalen Hurd. Jeremy Pruitt has taken a completely different approach, evaluating talent wherever he can get it, not focusing too much on trying to wall off the state with that talent.

After signing eight players from the state in 2018, six of whom committed at one point or another when Jones was there, Tennessee football signed only four in 2019. Their heaviest state in terms of talent was from Georgia, where they secured nine players.

On Wednesday, all three commitments were from states that were not Tennessee. In fact, none of them even bordered Tennessee. Pruitt brought in a player from South Carolina, a player from West Virginia and a player from California.

Simply put, Pruitt is taking the Dooley approach. It’s worth noting that Dooley, by the way, was right to take that approach if you look at the success of his players in the NFL compared to Jones. So maybe it’s a thing among Nick Saban assistants. Evaluating talent could be their strong suit.

What’s clear, though, is that Pruitt is not just going to sign a player because he’s in the state. Of the 13 four-stars on Rivals from the state, Eric Gray of Memphis and Jackson Lampley of Nashville were the only ones to sign with the Vols.

Melvin McBride, a three-star offensive lineman from Memphis, and Elijah Simmons, a three-star defensive tackle from Nashville, were the only other two in-state signees. And Pruitt notably did not recruit certain guys heavily enough, which is why a guy like four-star receiver Trey Knox committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks.