Tennessee football makes final cut for 2022 Alabama DB Miguel Mitchell

It looks like Tennessee football will have to contend with its most hated foe in the SEC East to get a player out of the state where its most hated foe in the SEC West exists. The Vols are competing with the Florida Gators for a 2022 defensive back from Alabama.

Miguel Mitchell, a three-star prospect across the board out of Oxford High School in Calhoun County, has announced announced that UT and UF are his top two schools. Initially, Mitchell committed to the Vanderbilt Commodores on July 1 of last year, but he decommitted on Nov. 3.

Listed as a safety across all services, Mitchell is listed between 6’0″ and 6’3″ with a weight range between 200 and 205 pounds. He announced Tennessee football had made this cut with a video Thursday on Twitter.

Obviously, the Vols could use a bit more help for 2022 and long-term at safety. Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough may both be back next year, but Flowers won’t be able to return in 2023, and McCollough may not either if he has a strong showing.

As a result, landing a guy like Mitchell would be a huge pickup. Given the fact that Billy Napier was just hired at Florida, you would think that Josh Heupel and co. have the advantage. However, Mitchell may see himself more likely to succeed under Napier since he’s a Nick Saban disciple.

Either way, UT making it this far for such a prospect is a good sign. Although he seems like more of a mid-tier prospect, his other offers included the USC Trojans, LSU Tigers and Oregon Ducks, so he must have some real potential to generate such buzz.

Currently, there are no favorites on the 247Sports Crystal Ball to land him. The Northwestern Wildcats were the unanimous favorite on the Rivals Future Cast and a majority favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast and On3, but they didn’t make the cut. On3 did have Vandy and Florida tied for second, though, meaning Tennessee football has some work to do to beat out the Gators.