This is a big deal. Just three days after receiving a commitment from Auburn Tigers graduate transfer Big Kat Bryant, Tennessee football may be in the process of losing him in the aftermath of its move to fire head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The 6’5″ 250-pound edge rusher from Georgia, who has been with Gus Malzahn’s program since 2017, initially tweeted his commitment to Rocky Top on his account Saturday. Shortly after 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, though, it was gone.
A tell tale sign is the initial quote in Bryant’s post. He shouted out outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, who was his high school coach at Crisp County in Cordele, Ga., in his commitment. Felton is one of the two assistant coaches Tennessee football fired on Monday. Here’s what Bryant said in his tweet, since taken down.
"Your leadership and guidance has gotten me to where I am today! Blessed with the opportunity to play on the same field with you again @shelton_felton ! Once my coach, always my coach"
Considering the fact that he deleted his tweet announcing his commitment, the fact that UT has fired its head coach and the fact that he named a coach who has also been fired in that initial tweet, it’s safe to say Bryant has probably decommitted. His Jan. 10 post entering the transfer portal is still up, however.
So what does this all mean? Well, another major factor in luring Bryant to Rocky Top appeared to be Kevin Steele, who was hired as a defensive assistant last week and has now taken over interim head coaching duties.
With Bryant still in the portal, it’s possible he just needs more time to pick a school and that the Vols are still in the running. After all, there’d be immediate playing time for him in Knoxville, Tenn., as the program lost Deandre Johnson and Kivon Bennett this offseason.
We have no idea if this is the first of a wave of decommitments or not, but Bryant could have helped offset some of Tennessee football’s losses. However, since the Vols are starting from scratch, they have a lot more to worry about right now.