Here is a look at the Tennessee football Volunteers secondary situation on the recruiting trail.
Recent defensive specialists for Tennessee football have all had their focus on defensive backs. Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley both specialized in that position before becoming coordinators, and even Butch Jones’ defensive coordinators were skilled at coaching that aspect of defense.
Anyway, that has led to UT being able to secure lots of elite defensive backs on the recruiting trail in recent years. As college football teams move more to a nickel-based defense given how much offenses like to spread the field, defensive back is as crucial as ever.
This year, there is lots of hype behind Tennessee football’s secondary. Sure, the Vols lost their best player in Nigel Warrior. However, junior Bryce Thompson is a star cornerback, and senior Shawn Shamburger may be the best nickel in the nation.
Other veterans entering this year are seniors Kenneth George Jr., Theo Jackson and Baylen Buchanan, if Buchanan can go, and juniors Cheyenne Labruzza, Alontae Taylor and Trevon Flowers, if Flowers is back to health. But where do the Vols stand long-term at this position?
Well, as we conclude our evaluations of UT’s 2021 recruiting class by looking at the secondary, the future looks pretty good in the secondary. UT has young, rising stars in Tyus Fields, Warren Burrell, Jaylen McCullough, all of whom will be sophomores this year. Brandon Davis and Kenney Solomon, guys who can be reliable are also rising sophomores.
Then, in 2020, Pruitt added four-stars Keshawn Lawrence and Doneiko Slaughter, while athlete Jimmy Holiday could play the position. As a result, if nobody else is added, UT can go eight-deep in its secondary in 2022. However, players have been added at this moment.
Our evaluation of the secondary class for 2021 will look at that. As usual, we’ll look at the commitments, the top prospects and then potential prospects before closing with our final take on the current situation and a prediction. Let’s go ahead and begin our breakdown of Tennessee football’s 2021 class in the secondary.