Jeremy Pruitt has his first official commitment as Tennessee’s head football coach. And it comes from a familiar face.
Four-star athlete Alontae Taylor committed to the Vols in the 2018 class on Wednesday morning. Taylor had been committed to the Vols before but announced he was decomitting the day Tennessee fired Butch Jones as head coach.
Now nearly exactly a month later, Taylor is back in the fold as a Tennessee commit.
Jeremiah 29:11 –
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 1000% COMMITTED ?#PruittEra pic.twitter.com/6KW86Mm6ba— ALONTAE TAYLOR ⚜️ (@TaeTaylor6) December 13, 2017
Taylor had been pursued by Georgia very heavily after he parted ways with the Vols, but Tennessee’s new coaching staff was able to convince the in-state talent to recommit to Tennessee. Taylor holds offers from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, and others. He’s rated as the No. 5 player in the state of Tennessee and the No. 118 overall player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
As a high school player, Taylor played primarily at quarterback for Coffee County because he was the most dynamic athlete on the field. As a four-year player, Taylor amassed 6,000 rushing yards and 74 rushing touchdowns on 704 attempts according to Max Preps. He also threw for 1,746 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Taylor projects to be a wide receiver or cornerback in college, but it’s expected the Vols will give him a shot at receiver first. As a receiver, he caught 33 passes for 479 yards and two scores in high school.
Taylor’s recommitment gives the Vols 12 commits in their 2018 class, and he is the only projected wide receiver in the class thus far. He’s also the second-highest rated commit in the Vols’ 2018 class behind only four-star, in-state defensive lineman Greg Emerson.
Pruitt now has his first commitment as a Vol head coach, and Vol fans will be pleased to see it’s from someone like Taylor. Pruitt and his staff convinced Taylor to buy back in, and now Vol fans hope they can do the same with some of Tennessee’s other recent decommitments.
