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Tennessee football: What went right and what went wrong on National Signing Day 2022

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Jan 30, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Josh Heupel speaks during the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kansas Jayhawks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Josh Heupel speaks during the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kansas Jayhawks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

The second National Signing Day for Josh Heupel as head coach of Tennessee football, and he rounded out his first full recruiting class on Rocky Top in the process. Given the way the Early Signing Period works now, Signing Day usually isn’t as much of a splash for teams anymore unless they have a new coach or new staff.

That was certainly the case for the Vols this year. They finish up their class with 21 total commitments and solidly in the top 25 across all rankings. Despite a lack of fireworks surrounding the Vols specifically with recruits signing scholarships, lots of other things related to them still happened on this day and have a lot to do with their 2022 class.

Let’s break down those things, positive and negative. In this post, there are five points to touch on, including two things that were negative and two things that were positive about the day. We’ll close with a key takeaway. This is what went right and what went wrong for Tennessee football’s 2022 National Signing Day.

What went wrong No. 1: No new commitments or flips

There were a couple of high-profile targets the Vols were still targeting on National Signing Day. Local running back Kendall Jackson out of Oak Ridge High School in Anderson County, Tenn., was on that list. A three-star, he chose to commit to the Chattanooga Mocs, which he announced Wednesday evening on Twitter.

More notably, as we wrote in our post analyzing the top Signing Day prospects for the Vols, Giovanni Davis and Ahmad Moten were two standout defensive linemen on their radar. Davis, an in-state prospect wasn’t reported to commit anywhere, and Moten, a four-star on Rivals and On3 but a three-star on 247Sports, announced on Twitter he chose the Miami Hurricanes.

With nobody else committing, Tennessee football’s recruiting class ended with 21 commitments, exactly the number they had entering the day. You usually expect at least one splash pickup on the final day, but that didn’t happen for Heupel and the Vols.

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