As Butch Jones opened his signing day press conference, he made it clear that this recruiting class was about more than just signing good football players. It was about versatility and getting faster as a team.
“We had some very specific needs in our program this year. We really thought we needed to bring in as much speed and athleticism as we could, bring in individuals that could play multiple positions.”
Tennessee signed three players that are considered “athletes” with the ability to play both offense and defense in Tyler Byrd, Marquez Callaway, and Corey Henderson. So the desire to be a little more flexible and possibly move players around is definitely an option.
Specifically on Byrd, Jones said “We wanted to bring in players that could play a multitude of different positions… So to be able to add an individual like him, it really adds to the dynamic of your football team.”
As for pure speed, Tennessee might have signed some of the fastest high school players in the country.
Byrd and receiver Latrell Williams, who were both formerly committed to Miami, have been clocked under 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash. And Callaway is no chump in a foot race either.
And while it may be categorized as a different kind of fast, JUCO defensive end Jonathan Kongbo’s ability to speed-rush off the edge is second to none.
“You can never have enough team speed as we’ve all come to know in this conference,” said Jones. And with the addition of guys like Byrd and Kongbo, the team speed is definitely faster than it was yesterday.
