With Carlin Fils-aime moving to the secondary to start spring practices (and maybe longer), the Vols were left with only one running back on their roster with any meaningful game experience. But that changed on Sunday.
Madre London took to Twitter to announce that he is committing to Tennessee. London is a grad transfer running back who has played for Michigan State the last three years. He appeared in 30 games for the Spartans and started eight of them.
With much consideration, I have officially committed to the University of Tennessee. #GoVols #RockyTop?⚪
— Madre London (@madrelondon) March 11, 2018
London is a big back at 6-foot-1, 218 pounds. He fits the power back mold that Jeremy Pruitt and offensive coordinator Tyson Helton want in the Vols’ more pro-set offense that they’ll be running. In his 30 games with Michigan State, London ran for 924 yards and eight touchdowns on 230 carries. He also caught 13 passes for 100 yards and a score.
London will come in and immediately compete for snaps at running back with the Vols’ young stable of backs. Rising sophomore Ty Chandler is expected to be the starter for the Vols, and rising sophomores Tim Jordan and Trey Coleman are expected to provide support. True freshman Jeremy Banks is expected to join in the fall.
As a recruit coming out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School, London was a three-star and was rated as the No. 455 overall player and No. 31 running back in the 2014 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
London’s best game of his collegiate career came in 2015 against Oregon when he ran for 103 yards on 18 carries. He ran for 97 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries against Purdue in the same season.
The Vols have now added three grad transfer players this offseason. Stanford grad transfer quarterback Keller Chryst will join the Vols after the spring, and Michigan grad transfer kicker Ryan Tice will walk on at Tennessee.
