As recruiting travels come to a close, Thursday is a big day for the Vol staff who will be focused on the defensive line.
A good portion of the staff will converge on Northern Alabama in and around Huntsville. They will see Will Ignont and then try to continue their late push for fellow defensive lineman LaBryan Ray. Both Bob Shoop and Steve Stripling will see Ray at school tomorrow before they are joined by Larry Scott, Tommy Thigpen and Butch Jones for an in-home visit tomorrow night. That means half the staff will have all eyes on Ray. At this point we believe that Ray is very much torn with his decision. He will make the trip to Florida this weekend, but we don't believe the Gators are a factor. This is a two team race with Alabama still the favorite for the obvious reasons. With that said, Tennessee has some reasons for optimism. The people we have spoken to tell us that Ray never gave a private commitment to Nick Saban and there are some in and around Ray that believe Tennessee is more than just window dressing in his recruitment.
Before getting to Alabama to see Ray, Shoop, Jones and secondary coach Charlton Warren will be in Georgia to start Thursday as they will see defensive back Shawn Shamburger.
Shoop spent time on Wednesday in Georgia, while Thigpen worked the Atlanta area. Offensive line coach Don Mahoney was in West Virginia, while Mike Canales continues to work the south. Canales has been in Louisiana and seems to be working his way east with trips to Georgia and Florida to round out the week.
Thursday, running back Travis Etienne is scheduled to come off the board. All indications are that Etienne is heading to Clemson and surprisingly will not visit LSU the last weekend. Also, we don't expect that John Lovett will see the Vols this weekend as everything points to him heading to Michigan State. So are the Vols done with running backs? They have seen Devan Barrett this week, but it would be a shock if he didn't stick with Auburn.
There has been some rumblings of a visit from junior college running back Octavius Matthews visiting. Matthews is committed to Auburn currently. Tennessee we believe has at some point visited Matthews at Itawamba Community College. Now, there's no confirmation of a visit this weekend. We do believe that receiver Jordan Pouncey will be in town. Tennessee's staff saw Pouncey on Wednesday night. Given the numbers it wouldn't appear that the Vols have room for Pouncey unless they were to lose a receiver. Tennessee has been battling to hold onto Jordan Murphy who has a couple of schools coming hard at him trying to get him to visit this weekend.
And obviously, during the day the Vols continue to get into high schools to recruit 2018 and 2019 prospects.
A good portion of the staff will converge on Northern Alabama in and around Huntsville. They will see Will Ignont and then try to continue their late push for fellow defensive lineman LaBryan Ray. Both Bob Shoop and Steve Stripling will see Ray at school tomorrow before they are joined by Larry Scott, Tommy Thigpen and Butch Jones for an in-home visit tomorrow night. That means half the staff will have all eyes on Ray. At this point we believe that Ray is very much torn with his decision. He will make the trip to Florida this weekend, but we don't believe the Gators are a factor. This is a two team race with Alabama still the favorite for the obvious reasons. With that said, Tennessee has some reasons for optimism. The people we have spoken to tell us that Ray never gave a private commitment to Nick Saban and there are some in and around Ray that believe Tennessee is more than just window dressing in his recruitment.
Before getting to Alabama to see Ray, Shoop, Jones and secondary coach Charlton Warren will be in Georgia to start Thursday as they will see defensive back Shawn Shamburger.
Shoop spent time on Wednesday in Georgia, while Thigpen worked the Atlanta area. Offensive line coach Don Mahoney was in West Virginia, while Mike Canales continues to work the south. Canales has been in Louisiana and seems to be working his way east with trips to Georgia and Florida to round out the week.
Thursday, running back Travis Etienne is scheduled to come off the board. All indications are that Etienne is heading to Clemson and surprisingly will not visit LSU the last weekend. Also, we don't expect that John Lovett will see the Vols this weekend as everything points to him heading to Michigan State. So are the Vols done with running backs? They have seen Devan Barrett this week, but it would be a shock if he didn't stick with Auburn.
There has been some rumblings of a visit from junior college running back Octavius Matthews visiting. Matthews is committed to Auburn currently. Tennessee we believe has at some point visited Matthews at Itawamba Community College. Now, there's no confirmation of a visit this weekend. We do believe that receiver Jordan Pouncey will be in town. Tennessee's staff saw Pouncey on Wednesday night. Given the numbers it wouldn't appear that the Vols have room for Pouncey unless they were to lose a receiver. Tennessee has been battling to hold onto Jordan Murphy who has a couple of schools coming hard at him trying to get him to visit this weekend.
And obviously, during the day the Vols continue to get into high schools to recruit 2018 and 2019 prospects.
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