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Tennessee football: Elite 2021 Florida LB decommits from Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Miami, Fla. linebacker Terrence Lewis decommitted from the Tennessee football Volunteers.

For the second time in less than a week, Tennessee football suffered a decommitment from a Florida player in its 2021 recruiting class. This decommitment, however, is much more concerning and gives the Vols lots of reasons to be concerned.

South Florida inside linebacker Terrence Lewis announced his decommitment from Rocky Top Monday night. A five-star on 247Sports, 247Sports Composite and ESPN and a four-star on Rivals, Lewis was one of UT’s top commitments.

Coming out of Miami Central High School in Miami, Lewis follows Pensacola, Fla. defensive back Damarius McGhee, who decommitted from Tennessee football on Thanksgiving. However, Lewis did say UT is still in play. He announced his decommitment from the Vols on Twitter.

Lewis initially committed to Rocky Top on April 30. Following four-star Dylan Brooks, he was the second player in a month-long recruiting haul by Jeremy Pruitt that helped propel the Vols’ class into the top three nationally across all major services and No. 1 in the SEC. Now, though, they are out of the top 10 in every service with only 25 commitments.

This decision by Lewis comes exactly three weeks and one day from when he affirmed his commitment to the Vols. That was three days after their loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, coming off an Oct. 31 bye week, to fall to 2-4.

Of course, after that, the Vols had an unscheduled bye with their matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies being postponed, and then they lost a fifth straight game to the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 21. This past weekend, they had another unscheduled bye, as their matchup with the Vanderbilt Commodores was postponed.

There’s no doubt that this is a disaster for Pruitt and co., especially with the Vols set to face the Florida Gators this week. If the program continues sliding, more players could end up decommitting, which will make it even harder to defend the job he is doing.

The good news for Tennessee football, however, is that they are still in play for Lewis. They remain a majority favorite to land him on the 247Sports Crystal Ball and the Rivals Future Cast, and they are a favorite by a plurality on the Rivals Fan Future Cast. If they want to stay in play, though, they probably need to turn this season around.

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