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Tennessee football: Five things to watch for on Early Signing Day

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

These are the storylines for the Tennessee football Volunteers early recruiting period.

It’s been a rough season for Tennessee football, and that’s made recruiting a lot harder for Jeremy Pruitt and his staff. Without being able to get players to visit the campus, Pruitt and co. have had to rely a lot more heavily on their recruiting skills virtually, and they could have used a few big wins in the process.

Well, those big wins didn’t come, and while the season is not over, the Early Signing Period is about to begin. UT enters it with a 3-6 record and one game left, against the No. 5 ranked Texas A&M Aggies. While that’s a likely loss, it would be just the luck on Rocky Top if they won that game one day after the period ended, hurting their chance to potentially flip other prospects.

Still, with Pruitt likely to hang around after this year, the recruiting class is a huge deal. Let’s take a look at all of the major questions and storylines surrounding the Vols as the period begins on Wednesday. These are the five biggest things to watch out for related to Tennessee football on Early Signing Day.

1. How many commitments don’t sign?

Heading into the signing period, the Vols have 21 commitments. Before focusing on National Signing Day in January, Jeremy Pruitt will clearly want to sign as many of those players as possible and not have to worry about any sort of decommitment from any of them. Will he be able to pull that off?

A few key players have already said they would indeed sign. That includes four-star quarterback Kaidon Salter, who revealed on Twitter at the end of November that he would sign early. He has reportedly been planning to be an early enrollee, according to Ryan Callahan of GoVols247. Cody Brown, Walker Merrill and Amari McNeill also revealed they plan to sign Wednesday.

However, rumors suggest that four-star edge rusher Dylan Brooks, right now Tennessee football’s top prospect, will wait until February. Given the recent wave of decommitments, that’s the last thing Pruitt wants. What else will everybody do on Wednesday? We’ll have to wait and see.

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