Four-star tight end Jonathan Echols flipped his commitment from Tennessee to South Florida football on Friday afternoon after spending 17 months committed to the Vols.
100% COMMITTED! #GoBulls🤘🏾 #StayInTheBay🏝️ pic.twitter.com/EV7MFyA4lN
— Jonathan Echols ✪ (@jechols24) December 8, 2023
Former Tennessee offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh was Echols’ lead recruiter while in Knoxville and was a big reason why the blue-chip recruit committed to Tennessee. Now as South Florida’s head coach, Golesh flipped Tennessee’s lone tight end commit.
Echols was a five-star recruit when he committed to Tennessee and while he’s fallen down the rankings since, he still ranks as a four-star recruit and the No. 179 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings.
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A Rome, Georgia native, Echols plays his high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida— just over 50 miles away from USF’s campus.
Tennessee is in the midst of a bad week on the recruiting trail after missing out on five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton on Thursday morning.
Alec Abeln replaced Golesh as Tennessee’s tight end coach and has struggled on the recruiting trail. Echols was the Vols’ lone tight end commit after Tennessee missed out on a number of tight end targets including Jaden Reddell, Amir Jackson, Max LeBlanc and Roger Saleapaga.
Tennessee’s 2024 recruiting class now contains 19 commits and ranks No. 14 nationally according to the 247sports team rankings. The Vols’ class ranked 13th nationally before Echols flipped his commitment to USF.
