KNOXVILLE - Tennessee saved its biggest football recruiting weekend for last, and the Volunteers hope they left a lasting impression on some of their top remaining targets.
Four of Tennessee's most sought-after recruits who have not committed to the Vols were on campus for official visits this past weekend, and head coach Butch Jones and his staff hope it pays dividends on national signing day on Wednesday.
Those important visitors were five-star defensive tackle Derrick Brown, four-star defensive tackle Nigel Warrior, four-star athlete Tyler Byrd (who has committed to Miami) and five-star offensive lineman Landon Dickerson.
The Vols also hosted running back Zach Moss (who has committed to Utah) and seven of the 13 recruits who have committed to Tennessee: quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, wide receiver Corey Henderson, running back Carlin Fils-aime, tight ends Devante Brooks and Austin Pope and linebackers Daniel Bituli and Ja'Quian Blakely.
Tennessee's biggest competition for the Georgia duo of Brown and Warrior, the son of former Tennessee defensive back Dale Carter, appears to be Auburn. Last week, Warrior posted on his Twitter account that he would sign at 8 a.m. Wednesday during a ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, while Brown is scheduled to make a televised announcement on ESPN2 at 3 p.m.
Florida State, Tennessee and Alabama are the finalists for Dickerson, who is scheduled to make a televised announcement on ESPNU at noon Wednesday.
Byrd, a U.S. Army All-American who could play cornerback or wide receiver, lives with Fils-aime and only recently began seriously considering the Vols due in part to new tight ends coach Larry Scott, who was Miami's interim coach this past season. Miami fired Al Golden in the middle of his fifth season and has since hired former Georgia coach Mark Richt to rebuild the program, which hasn't reached 10 wins since the 2003 season.
Junior college defensive end Jonathan Kongbo, another top target for Tennessee, took an official visit to Florida State over the weekend after hosting coaching staffs from Tennessee, Ole Miss and Southern California. Jones, new defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, defensive line coach Steve Stripling and running backs coach Robert Gillespie visited Kongbo this past Thursday in Arizona.
Tennessee's past two signing classes were so large that this one will naturally be smaller. Whether it was by signing or blueshirting - in which a prospect who neither takes an official visit nor hosts any in-home visits shows up on campus as a walk-on player and goes on scholarship later - Tennessee added 32 players in 2014 and 30 in 2015, and many of those were immediate contributors.
The quantity and quality of those classes were necessary, and Jones and his staff quickly flipped the roster and upgraded Tennessee's talent level.
Jones said after Tennessee's win in the Outback Bowl last month that the 2016 recruiting class would be about solidifying his team's depth, and the current commitment list includes some players who likely will need time to develop.
But each of the top remaining targets fits the bill of players who could come in and contribute right away.
The Vols likely won't land a third straight class ranked in the top five nationally, but winning battles against some of the top programs in the Southeatern Conference and beyond and securing some big-time prospects this late in the cycle would continue Tennessee's recruiting success.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.