It was another busy day of travel for the Vol coaching staff as they try and squeeze in as many in-home visits as possible before the dead period kicks in this weekend.
But before we get to the recruiting travels, the Vols closed quickly on Shanon Reid as Butch Jones' in-home visit with Reid was Monday night. Reid gave the Vols great reason Monday night to believe they would get good news on Wednesday. It's going to be interesting to see where things go with linebacker commitments JaQuan Henderson and Mo' Burnam.
While Reid was announcing for Tennessee, Vol coaches were in Georgia visiting with cornerback Yusuf Corker, who is a big priority for the Vols who need corners in this class. How big of a priority? Corker hosted Butch Jones, Willie Martinez, Tommy Thigpen and Bob Shoop on Wednesday. We still feel like Tennessee is the team to beat with just a few weeks until his decision.
Offensive line coach Don Mahoney was in Knoxville on Wednesday and made a trip to Gibbs High School to check in on 2018 offensive lineman Ollie Lane. Tennessee has not offered Lane, who does have offers from Vanderbilt, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Thursday Mahoney and Jones will be in West Virginia where they will visit with newly ranked 4-star and Vol commitment Riley Locklear.
Receivers coach Zach Azzanni was in South Florida on Wednesday where he saw defensive line commitment Kivon Bennett, checked in on some 2018 prospects and he saw defensive end Jordan Wright from Fort Lauderdale. Wright visited Arkansas last week.
Thursday, Larry Scott and Robert Gillespie will be in Orlando to see commitment James Brown. We think the Vol duo coaches may have seen running back Darien Felix on Wednesday. Jacquez Jones will also receive a visit Thursday.
Thigpen, after spending a little more time in Georgia, will join Steve Stripling in North Carolina Thursday where they will see defensive lineman Matthew Butler.
Azzanni will head to Ohio on Friday to see receiver Jaylen Harris. Tennessee coaches will also see Ryan Thaxton on Friday. Thaxton is a defensive end out of Alexandria, Virginia that will visit in January.
On the coaching front, we again don't expect any moment from Butch Jones on his staff until after the bowl game. We don't believe there's been any dialogue with Jones and former Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich. And, according to multiple people we spoke with on Wednesday, we don't think Jones has made any final decisions on his staff although everyone expects some changes. On the defensive side of the ball if there was a change for some reason on the defensive line then we fully expect that former Michigan head coach and Oregon defensive coordinator Brady Hoke would be a very real candidate. Jones has known Hoke for a while and Hoke actually spent time in Knoxville a couple of years ago visiting with Jones and his staff.
We do know that Larry Scott has interviewed with Florida Atlantic for its head coaching vacancy. It will be interesting to see how much of a real candidate Scott might become for the South Florida job that came open on Wednesday.
The schedule for the weekend is for the Vols to host three official visitors with commitment Riley Locklear, junior college defensive back Keisean Nixon, and running back Isaiah Miller, who hosted Missouri in his home Wednesday night.
But before we get to the recruiting travels, the Vols closed quickly on Shanon Reid as Butch Jones' in-home visit with Reid was Monday night. Reid gave the Vols great reason Monday night to believe they would get good news on Wednesday. It's going to be interesting to see where things go with linebacker commitments JaQuan Henderson and Mo' Burnam.
While Reid was announcing for Tennessee, Vol coaches were in Georgia visiting with cornerback Yusuf Corker, who is a big priority for the Vols who need corners in this class. How big of a priority? Corker hosted Butch Jones, Willie Martinez, Tommy Thigpen and Bob Shoop on Wednesday. We still feel like Tennessee is the team to beat with just a few weeks until his decision.
Offensive line coach Don Mahoney was in Knoxville on Wednesday and made a trip to Gibbs High School to check in on 2018 offensive lineman Ollie Lane. Tennessee has not offered Lane, who does have offers from Vanderbilt, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Thursday Mahoney and Jones will be in West Virginia where they will visit with newly ranked 4-star and Vol commitment Riley Locklear.
Receivers coach Zach Azzanni was in South Florida on Wednesday where he saw defensive line commitment Kivon Bennett, checked in on some 2018 prospects and he saw defensive end Jordan Wright from Fort Lauderdale. Wright visited Arkansas last week.
Thursday, Larry Scott and Robert Gillespie will be in Orlando to see commitment James Brown. We think the Vol duo coaches may have seen running back Darien Felix on Wednesday. Jacquez Jones will also receive a visit Thursday.
Thigpen, after spending a little more time in Georgia, will join Steve Stripling in North Carolina Thursday where they will see defensive lineman Matthew Butler.
Azzanni will head to Ohio on Friday to see receiver Jaylen Harris. Tennessee coaches will also see Ryan Thaxton on Friday. Thaxton is a defensive end out of Alexandria, Virginia that will visit in January.
On the coaching front, we again don't expect any moment from Butch Jones on his staff until after the bowl game. We don't believe there's been any dialogue with Jones and former Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich. And, according to multiple people we spoke with on Wednesday, we don't think Jones has made any final decisions on his staff although everyone expects some changes. On the defensive side of the ball if there was a change for some reason on the defensive line then we fully expect that former Michigan head coach and Oregon defensive coordinator Brady Hoke would be a very real candidate. Jones has known Hoke for a while and Hoke actually spent time in Knoxville a couple of years ago visiting with Jones and his staff.
We do know that Larry Scott has interviewed with Florida Atlantic for its head coaching vacancy. It will be interesting to see how much of a real candidate Scott might become for the South Florida job that came open on Wednesday.
The schedule for the weekend is for the Vols to host three official visitors with commitment Riley Locklear, junior college defensive back Keisean Nixon, and running back Isaiah Miller, who hosted Missouri in his home Wednesday night.
