On Friday afternoon, Tennessee announced that they would be welcoming in a big new addition to their football roster.
Aubrey Solomon, a defensive tackle who played for Michigan the past two seasons, announced via Twitter that he is transferring to Tennessee’s football program. Solomon signed with Michigan in the 2017 recruiting cycle and was a five-star coming out of high school. He announced earlier this week that he planned to transfer out of the Wolverines’ football program, and it took him only a few days to select his school.
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is very familiar with the 6-foot-3, 297-pound defensive tackle. He was Solomon’s lead recruiter in 2017 while he was still with Alabama as their defensive coordinator.
“Aubrey is a guy that a lot of coaches on our staff knew when he was a young man in high school, and we all recruited him,” Pruitt said via a statement online. “He can play all three downs. He’s a powerful man. He’s smart. He’s a good student. He has experience, having already played at the collegiate level. He is a great addition to our university and our football program.”
Solomon played for Lee County High School in Leesburg, Georgia. Coming out of high school, Solomon was a consensus five-star prospect and was rated as the No. 23 overall player and No. 2 defensive tackle in the 2017 class.
As Terry Lambert of Rocky Top Talk points out, Pruitt’s statement about UT’s staff being extremely familiar with Solomon is accurate.
Aubrey Solomon’s primary recruiters in 2017 via 247:
Alabama: Jeremy Pruitt
Georgia: Kevin Sherrer, Tracy Rocker
Florida: Chris Rumph
FSU: Charles KellyNow lands at Tennessee. Makes a whole lot of sense.
— Terry Lambert (@TLambertFB) December 21, 2018
Rocker was especially pivotal in Solomon’s recruitment out of high school, and he almost pulled him away from Michigan to Georgia. But Solomon ended up at Michigan instead, and he played for the Wolverines the last two seasons.
As a true freshman in 2017, Solomon appeared in all 13 games and totaled 18 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Solomon battled injuries as a sophomore this past season and only appeared in six games, totaling six tackles.
Unless Solomon applies for and is rewarded with a hardship waiver, he will have to sit out a year as is mandated by NCAA transfer rules. Tennessee would love to have him eligible immediately for the 2019 season, but it’s more likely he’ll be eligible for the 2020 campaign.
