ATLANTA - Nigel Warrior last set foot inside the College Football Hall of Fame in February, when he exited the downtown Atlanta building after putting on a Tennessee hat to signal his intent to sign with the Volunteers.
So his return there Wednesday night, as he stopped by with the Big Orange Caravan in town, resurrected the memories of that morning on national signing day when he picked Tennessee over a group of finalists that included Auburn, LSU, Alabama and Georgia.
"It was just a stress relief," Warrior recalled. "I got a lot of stuff off my back that day. It just made me feel like I did what I was supposed to do, and I have a lot of memories here."
The son of former Tennessee star Dale Carter is ready to start making more memories in Knoxville.
A four-star safety recruit, Warrior began the countdown to his departure to Tennessee earlier this week, and he'll move to campus on May 30, three days after his Peachtree Ridge High School graduation ceremony.
As the start of his career nears, Warrior is more focused than nervous, to the point he doesn't yet know how his ideal freshman season might look.
"I just want to give it all I can give every play and never come off the field and say I could have did this or that," he said. "I want to come off the field and say I did what I could do and I went my hardest."
Warrior's family ties suggest he possesses a more passionate desire to help Tennessee's ascent than the rest of the incoming freshman class. Carter earned All-America honors in both of his seasons with the Vols and was a Thorpe Award finalist as one of the nation's top defensive backs as a senior in 1991.
On defense he made 102 tackles and intercepted nine passes. As a return specialist he averaged 13.1 yards per punt return and nearly 30 yards per kick return in 1990. The 29.8-yard kick-return average led the country that season and was a program record until Evan Berry (38.3) broke it last season.
Carter was the 20th overall pick of the Kansas City Chiefs and was the NFL's defensive rookie of the year in 1992, and he went on to play 12 seasons and appear in four Pro Bowls.
Warrior remembers being wowed by watching highlights of his dad's Tennessee career, and Carter took his son to his first Tennessee game when he was 7 or 8 years old.
"He wants to come here," secondary coach Willie Martinez told fans at a signing-day recruiting celebration in Knoxville, "and be just as good as his dad or better."
Warrior's natural position is safety, but the Vols believe he's capable of playing any position in the secondary.
"You like to recruit versatile players," Martinez said. "It's such a matchup game, and we don't ever want to be handcuffed where you've got a guy who can only play corner, but he can't play inside and play nickel. When you want to blitz and pressure, you're going to have to have a safety that's going to have a matchup on one of the great players in the slot position.
"You've got to have safeties that have corner skills, and we've been able to do that the last couple of years recruiting."
Cracking the starting lineup right away may be difficult given the experience and talent already in place, but Warrior believes he has the skill and background to make an impact.
Though humbled by the opportunity awaiting him, Warrior has been groomed to play big-time college football. When he was younger, his father and stepfather separately would put him through grueling workouts where he'd run hills with limited rest. In high school he played on a team with other top-shelf talent in Georgia's highest classification.
"All my years of playing," Warrior said, "coaches always tell me I can get to the ball from hash to hash, sideline to sideline, and I can come down and hit. That's one thing I can say is my strength of playing safety."
Warrior will wear the No. 18 jersey, the same number Carter wore during his career, as he becomes the latest legacy player to help aid Tennessee's turnaround.
Carrying on his father's legacy was part of the appeal of joining the Vols, but Warrior is aiming to blaze his own trail.
"I want to make my own path," he said. "I want to follow his footsteps, but I want to do it in a different way. I want to do it better."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.