The Seymour, Tenn. offensive lineman left the Tigers for the Tennessee football Volunteers.
Just the second offensive lineman in the 2021 top five ranked Tennessee football recruiting class turned out to be a major coup from a fellow SEC school. He also turned out to be a prospect who hails from the area.
J’Marion Gooch, a three-star across all major services out of King’s Academy in Seymour, Tenn., flipped to the Vols from the Auburn Tigers. Gooch had been committed to Gus Malzahn’s program since April.
Standing somewhere between 6’7″ and 6’8″ and 340 and 360 pounds, Gooch is the 25th commitment in UT’s 2021 class. He announced his decision to join Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee football with a video on Twitter Monday evening.
Thank you to the Auburn Community, and coaching staff for all of the support during this process. After much thought and consideration, I have decided....@CoachTBarr @TKACoachSellers @CoachJPruitt @JimChaneyUT @CoachWillFriend @aspicer19 pic.twitter.com/gGT3EsRVcF
— Jmarion Gooch (@GoochJmarion) August 31, 2020
With his commitment, Gooch joins three-star Colby Smith, a 6’7″ 285-pound Wentworth, N.C. lineman, as the two blockers committed to this class. What’s clear is that Pruitt has secured a lot of height between these two guys.
Listed as an offensive tackle across all services, it appears pretty clear that Gooch will play on the outside when he arrives on Rocky Top. In high school, he has doubled as a strongside defensive end, which should help with the athleticism. Here’s a look at his highlight reel.
As you can see, Gooch has a solid bit of agility for a guy of his size, which will be really useful when he blocks on the outside. At the same time, he also showed a bit of versatility not just by playing defense but by also being able to play in the middle at times.
One major concern is the level of competition, which makes it hard to truly determine Gooch’s athleticism or strength. However, his size is not relative, and that’s something that will immediately give Pruitt’s program and advantage.
In addition to being the 25th commitment and second offensive lineman, Gooch is the fourth in-state prospect to join Tennessee football. That makes the state of Tennessee tied with Florida and North Carolina for the state with the second most prospects in the class. Alabama leads the way with six prospects.