Tennessee may not be completely sold on a quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class, but they have a surefire top choice in the 2020 class. And their top target is set to visit Knoxville later this month.
Four-star pro-style quarterback Harrison Bailey confirmed with 247Sports that he plans on visiting Tennessee on June 23rd. It will be the second unofficial visit he’s taken to Knoxville with the first happening back on March 31st.
According to the 247Sports rankings, Bailey is the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the 2020 class and the No. 69 overall player. It’s still somewhat early in the 2020 cycle, but Bailey is expected to be one of the top overall quarterbacks in that class. His offer list certainly reflects that, as he holds offers from Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, and many others.
When Bailey was only 14 — that’s right, just 14 years old — he caught the eye of Cam Newton at a 7-on-7 tournament hosted by Newton’s foundation. Newton was wowed by Bailey’s performance at the camp and couldn’t believe that an eighth grader, which Bailey was at the time, was hanging with guys like five-star Jake Fromm and five-star Davis Mills.
Fast forward a few years later, and Bailey has made a name for himself in just two years in high school.
Bailey’s highlight film shows off some incredible arm talent and impressive poise in the pocket. Most of his throws are pinpoint accurate, and he can throw a variety of passes. His deep passes are something to behold, as they just float perfectly to receivers and just keep traveling further than you expect them to. He’ll need to develop his mechanics a little more and could use to add some weight to his 6-foot-4 frame, but the intangibles are there, and he has all the talent you could possibly want in a quarterback. He still has two years of high school to work on some of his shortcomings.
Bailey missed some time during his sophomore year due to injury, but he still put together a strong performance in the games he did play. In the game he got hurt and was sacked eight times, he still managed to throw for a school-record 464 yards and added four touchdowns to go along with that. He threw for 319 yards and five scores the previous week.
As a true freshman in high school, Bailey completed 57.3 percent of his 363 pass attempts for 2,812 yards, 21 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions according to MaxPreps. He didn’t run much as a freshman, but he did record two rushing touchdowns.
Bailey has worked with Tony Ballard, a noted quarterback trainer in the Atlanta area. Ballard has worked with current Vol quarterback Jarrett Guarantano in the past, and he’s worked with numerous other talented high school quarterbacks as well. Bailey’s hands already measure in at 11 inches. For comparison, the aforementioned Cam Newton’s hands have measured in at 9 7/8 inches.
The talented quarterback has unofficially visited both Ohio State and Michigan this past week, and his visit to Tennessee will be his last before he trims down his list of schools in either late June or in July. If the Vols’ coaching staff make a strong impact on him during this visit, expect to see Tennessee in his list of finalists later this summer.
