It’s been a long day for Vols fans, and an even longer one for Butch Jones and his coaching staff as the 2016 national signing day has finally come to an end. No, Tennessee didn’t finish with another top-5 class. But considering the limited amount of scholarships they had open, and the needs they had across the board, finishing in the top-15 is still pretty impressive. There have been numerous, exciting storylines throughout the day regarding Tennessee’s recruiting class, so here’s a quick recap of what happened today on Rocky Top.
Butch gets help to land Kongbo: After a long, drawn out (and at times dramatic) recruitment, the number one JUCO player in the country is a Tennessee Volunteer. Jonathan Kongbo III from Arizona Western College decommitted from the Vols nearly a month ago, but ultimately decided to re-commit on National Signing Day. While the coaching staff obviously made an impact on his recruitment, some of the current Vols including Derek Barnett and Alvin Kamara were also in contact with him. Kamara even face-timed with Kongbo earlier today and took the conversation outside to let fans sing Rocky Top to him. Regardless of what the deciding factor was, Kongbo is officially a Volunteer and will have three years of eligibility to sack quarterbacks for the big orange.
Secondary looks good: After flipping Tyler Byrd from Miami and adding legacy safety Nigel Warrior to the recruiting class, Tennessee arguably has one of the best secondary classes in the country. Byrd and Warrior join early enrollees Marquill Osborne and DJ Henderson, along with Baylen Buchanan enrolling in the summer. Considering the lack of depth in the secondary, specifically at safety, each of these recruits will have a chance for early playing time. And guys like Warrior, Byrd, and Osborne have the talent to be the future of Tennessee’s defensive backfield.
Poaching in Florida: Something that will probably put a smile on the faces of Tennessee fans is how many quality recruits Tennessee stole from the state of Florida. RB Carlin Fils-aime, ATH Tyler Byrd, OT Marcus Tatum, WR Latrell Williams, and WR Brandon Johnson all hail from the Sunshine State, and two of them (Byrd and Williams) even flipped their commitment from the University of Miami to the Volunteers within just hours of sending in their letter of intent. What’s even more interesting is the Vols also landed five in-state recruits, which means nearly half of the entire class are either Tennessee or Florida natives.
Small but mighty: As noted earlier, this class is not very big. With only 21 scholarship commits, it’s Butch Jones’ smallest class since coming to Tennessee. That being said, it might be one of the most complete classes in relation to the needs this team has. Every area of concern for this roster was addressed and filled. Secondary and receiver were both extremely important and nearly half of the class is filled with players at both positions. Quality help is being brought in on the offensive and defensive lines. And Jarrett Guarantano has the potential to be the quarterback of Tennessee’s future. I know people like to see top-5 classes, and it might sound a little cliche’, but this year really was about staying focused on specific needs and quality over quantity.
