All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football’s National Signing Day surprisingly encouraging: Five storylines

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
New Tennessee NCAA college football head coach Josh Heupel speaks during an introductory press conference at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Caitie McLekin/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, Pool)Tennessee Heupel Football
New Tennessee NCAA college football head coach Josh Heupel speaks during an introductory press conference at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Caitie McLekin/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, Pool)Tennessee Heupel Football /

If there’s one thing we can say, it’s that Tennessee football did not wrap up National Signing Day in 2021 with the same energy the class had last summer. The 3-7 season, the investigation and eventual firing of Jeremy Pruitt and the surprise hire of Josh Heupel was going to take its toll. A wave of decommitments naturally came from all that.

Given all those issues, it’s safe to say that UT’s National Signing Day for 2021 could have gone a lot worse. In fact, given how everything finished on paper, the Vols at least have a floor underneath their program entering Heupel’s first year.

Not everything was perfect. Losing Roc Taylor after pulling an offer created some drama earlier this week. However, things were largely smooth after that. Let’s but we’ll dive into what’s good and bad about the program related to its ecruiting class. These details will make things look more positive. Here are our five biggest storylines from Tennessee football’s National Signing Day.

5. One player still unsigned

VolQuest is still showing defensive back De’Shawn Rucker and wide receiver Andison Coby unsigned. However, Rucker is listed as a member of the Vols’ signing class on UTSports, and he is listed as signed on 247Sports, so he appears to be signed.

Coby, however, is a different story. A Jan. 23 commitment, he is listed as enrolled on 247Sports but not yet listed as signed on ESPN or VolQuest. UTSports does not have him named on the roster yet either. Taking all that into account, it appears that Coby has still not been signed yet.

For what it’s worth, ESPN lists Auburn Tigers transfer defensive end Markaviest “Big Kat” Bryant as an unsigned commitment as well, but given the fact that he deleted his commitment tweet after Tennessee football fired Jeremy Pruitt, we’re somewhat leaving him off this recruiting story altogether. Nobody knows anything with him, and he’s not a high school or junior college prospect.

Home/Vols Football