Tennessee football: Five potential concerns over Shelton Felton as Vols OLB coach

5. Quay Walker recruiting fake-out

Okay, maybe this is unfair. College recruits make their own decisions, and Tennessee football even being in the running in the first place for Quay Walker, a four-star linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class, was a big plus. However, being unable to land Walker may have been an indictment against Shelton Felton’s recruiting given the connections he had.

Felton was Walker’s head coach at Crisp County High School in Cordele, Ga. during his freshman and sophomore years in 2014 and 2015. It’s worth noting that Felton also specializes in coaching outside linebackers, which is the position Walker played. So when Jeremy Pruitt made him a quality control coach in 2018, it was almost certain Walker would commit to UT.

Instead, Walker pulled the fake-out that generates anger among fans in recruiting. Initially committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide, Walker picked up a Vol hat on National Signing Day and tossed it. He then revealed he was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs shirt, affirming his decision to flip to his home-state school. You can see the whole video here.

This decision to upset Vol Nation like that makes you wonder a couple of things? How good of a recruiter is Shelton? Also, what type of relationships does he build with players that one of his own did not want to go to the school he was working at? Maybe there is more to it, as Felton was only in an off-field role. But you have to ask what it says about Felton.