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Tennessee football: Five strongest outside states contributing to 2022 Vols’ roster

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee defensive back Jaylen McCollough (22) warmth up before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football
Tennessee defensive back Jaylen McCollough (22) warmth up before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football /
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Going national is a tradition for Tennessee football. While they do have a solid array of in-state talent, it’s not the same as Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia or Florida, so they have always had to shoot a lot higher when bringing in talent. During their heyday under Phillip Fulmer, they went anywhere for top prospects.

This year is no different. Josh Heupel’s limitations given what he inherited forced him to find players from anywhere, and the Vols have players from over 20 states represented on their roster this year. Sure, Tennessee leads the way, but other states are contributing a lot too.

From year to year, different states contribute more to the program. Who would those states be this year? Well, as we get set to break that down, we’ll weigh raw number of players per state with scholarship players and contributors. Looking outside of Tennessee, these are the five strongest states contributing to Tennessee football’s roster in 2022.

These are the top outside states most represented on Josh Heupel’s second Tennessee football Volunteers team.

Tennessee’s Squirrel White (10) participates in a drill during the second day of Tennessee football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.Football0802 0458
Tennessee’s Squirrel White (10) participates in a drill during the second day of Tennessee football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.Football0802 0458 /

5. Alabama: 7

There are four schools with three scholarship players, and three of them are on this list. Alabama has more than all of them in terms of raw numbers with seven players. The four walk-ons from there are Nigel Lanier, Maurese Smith and Hunter Salmon. Still, wouldn’t that be a tiebreaker if they have the same number of scholarship players?

No, it wouldn’t. Contributors matter too, and Alabama’s three scholarship players are all either true freshmen or players who haven’t seen any action. Two of them are true freshmen in Squirrel White and Jourdan Thomas. While both are turning heads early, neither is likely to start.

That leaves R.J. Perry, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman who played seven games last year for Tennessee football but mostly did so on field goals. With that, Alabama has a good bit in raw numbers, and it’s enough to put them on the list, but it’s nowhere near enough to get them out of the fifth spot on here.

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