On January 25th, three-star defensive lineman Isaac Washington announced his commitment to Tennessee after visiting campus. Less than a month later, Washington has decided to reopen his recruitment, citing a coaching change at Tennessee as to why.
Washington took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to announce that his recruitment is “back open” and that he was decommitting from the Vols. He thanked Tennessee for offering him a scholarship, adding that he is still “extremely interested in being a Tennessee Volunteer.” But with former defensive line coach Tracy Rocker moving on to South Carolina and UT reportedly hiring Colorado defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh to replace him, Washington has decided to “visit other programs to look into my other offers.”
Recruitment back open!! @Coach_LowmanES @RandyMarion30 pic.twitter.com/999Bpg8rbg
— isaac (@isaacw_74) February 19, 2020
The 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive lineman from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina plays for East Surry High School. He recently picked up an offer from Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss this week, and he also holds offers from Georgia, Florida, and Auburn among others.
Per the 247Sports Composite rankings, Washington is the No. 722 overall prospect and No. 40 defensive tackle in the 2021 class. He can play either defensive tackle or defensive end. He totaled 105 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and a fumble recovery in 15 games as a junior.
Though it hasn’t been officially announced by UT yet, Rocker left Tennessee to take a job at South Carolina on February 10th. Later that same day, it was reported that head coach Jeremy Pruitt would be hiring Colorado defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh as his replacement.
Brumbaugh wasn’t the only coaching change for Tennessee this offseason, however. The Vols also hired former UT running back Jay Graham as their running backs coach, and tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer moved over to defense to coach inside linebackers after Kevin Sherrer departed for the NFL. In Niedermeyer’s place on offense, Pruitt promoted off-field coach Joe Osovet to tight ends coach. Tennessee has also reportedly hired former staffer and Akron assistant coach Shelton Felton to coach outside linebackers after the departure of Chris Rumph to the NFL.
With Washington’s decommitment, Tennessee now has five commits in their 2021 cycle. Three-star Darrell Jackson is the only other defensive lineman currently committed to UT, though he likely projects as an outside linebacker in the Vols’ 3-4 defense.
