Tennessee football New Year’s Eve boosts: Cade Mays returning, Dylan Brook signing

The Tennessee football Volunteers got much-needed New Year’s Eve boosts.

Finally, after months of decommitments and transfers that coincided with a 3-7 season and news of an NCAA investigation, Tennessee football received some good news on the personnel front. It’s the sort of good news that dominated the program back in the offseason.

Things started out with 2021 Alabama edge rusher Dylan Brooks finally signing with the Vols. Brooks, who stands at 6’5″ and somewhere between 220 and 250 pounds, is a four-star across all services and committed to UT back in April.

A product of Handley High School in Roanoke, Ala., Brooks initially was not supposed to officially sign with any school until National Signing Day. However, he apparently did sign with Tennessee football during the early signing period. Both he and UT confirmed the signing on Twitter.

Given the wave of decommitments that have hit the program and the underwhelming early signing period, Brooks signing is a huge deal. He’s one of the Vols’ best players, and as an edge rusher, he could also help upset the transfer of Deandre Johnson.

However, Brooks’ signing wasn’t the only big personnel news for the Vols on Thursday. According to Ryan Callahan of GoVols247, junior offensive lineman Cade Mays has decided to return for his senior season on Rocky Top.

Standing at 6’6″ 320 pounds, Mays can play all five positions. He transferred to Rocky Top from the Georgia Bulldogs earlier this year but did not receive his eligibility waiver until the second game of the season.

Once a five-star recruit, Mays initially committed to Tennessee football but then decommitted and joined the Dawgs’ historic 2018 recruiting class due to the slide of the program under Butch Jones. His transfer was supposed to be a big boost for this year’s team, but limited practices amidst COVID, the late waiver and a few injuries kept him from being able to get into a rhythm.

Still, Mays is clearly a valuable NFL prospect, and he would have been eligible for the NFL Draft. With the likely departure of Trey Smith, UT was going to need a versatile lineman to rely on heading into 2021, and it didn’t seem like they had any. That’s even more clear if Brandon Kennedy, who was in his sixth season this year, doesn’t come back.

With Mays coming back, Jeremy Pruitt and Jim Chaney finally have that guy on the interior they can work with. Add in Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris on the outside, and with a full offseason, the rotation up front has a few positives heading into the 2021 season. Maybe they just needed more time to practice together without so many interruptions like they had this past year.

After a miserable fall, these two stories are major boosts for Tennessee football as they get set to end a forgettable 2020. Does it mean anything heading into 2021? Well, the basketball program still has all the momentum. However, these things could be positive signs going forward, and maybe Pruitt finally can recapture the magic he had this past offseason.