'Different story' ends with Will McBride joining Vols

Tennessee's five football early enrollees pose inside Neyland Stadium after making their media debuts on Jan. 12, 2017. The newcomers are (left to right) defensive end Deandre Johnson, offensive linemen Riley Locklear and Trey Smith, quarterback Will McBride and linebacker Shanon Reid.
Tennessee's five football early enrollees pose inside Neyland Stadium after making their media debuts on Jan. 12, 2017. The newcomers are (left to right) defensive end Deandre Johnson, offensive linemen Riley Locklear and Trey Smith, quarterback Will McBride and linebacker Shanon Reid.

KNOXVILLE - Will McBride's recruitment was heading toward an uneventful end.

Then Tennessee called in early December with a scholarship offer to the quarterback from Texas, prompting McBride to reconsider his longtime verbal commitment to Memphis.

McBride's official visit to Knoxville immediately followed his official visit to Memphis, and two days later he flipped from the Tigers to the Volunteers.

At some point during the whirlwind week, McBride received recruiting advice from Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson, who began his career at Tennessee.

"I didn't meet him," McBride said last week when Tennessee's five early enrollees made their media debuts, "but I texted with him, just asking him about the benefits of Memphis and what happened here. Everyone has a different story, and things happen for a reason. At the end of the day, I did what's best for me, and I'm glad to be here."

Ferguson redshirted his freshman season with the Vols in 2013. He began the season as the third-stringer behind Justin Worley and Nathan Peterman and ahead of Josh Dobbs. If not for a leg injury, it might have been Ferguson stepping in to finish the season instead of Dobbs.

Still in the mix to be Tennessee's starter, Ferguson left the following May. He sat out the following fall before enrolling at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. He signed with the Tigers in December 2016 and enrolled a month later.

After Paxton Lynch's early departure to the NFL, Ferguson stepped in and won the starting job, then threw for 3,698 yards and 32 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in helping Memphis finish 9-4 in Mike Norvell's first season as coach.

"He just said it really didn't work out with him and the coaches here, and that he feels at home at Memphis, and that he never felt at home here," McBride said. "In my case, I don't feel that way at all. I feel great. I feel good about the guys I'm with here, and the facilities are awesome.

"For me it's a different story, and I'm glad to be here."

A consensus three-star prospect, the 6-foot-1, 193-pound McBride passed for more than 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns with just four interceptions during his senior season at League City's Clear Springs High School.

He committed to SMU in April and reopened his recruitment a little more than a month later before pledging to the Tigers in June while Tennessee rolled through multiple 2017 quarterbacks.

Hunter Johnson, one of the nation's top quarterback prospects, committed to the Vols before flipping to Clemson in December 2015. Tennessee landed C.J. Lewis out of Connecticut in July, then parted ways with him in November. The Vols cooled on Bubba Thompson out of Alabama for fear he might opt for professional baseball instead of college football.

The Vols kicked the tires on a couple of other quarterbacks committed elsewhere before making an offer to McBride.

"It had to be a quick decision, because obviously I was graduating early," he said. "It was a tough decision because I had a really good connection with Memphis, but at the end of the day you've got to do what's best for you. You've got to look at the school rather than the coaches sometimes, because they leave.

"Here's a great example, and the Memphis OC left, too," McBride added, referencing the departure of Tennessee's Mike DeBord (Indiana) and Memphis's Chip Long (Notre Dame). "You've got to do what's best for you, and at the end of the day it wasn't that hard of a decision, but it was just kind of tough to let Memphis know that'd be the direction I'd be going in."

McBride, who will wear No. 7, is a developmental prospect with some upside as a dual-threat quarterback who fits Tennessee's system well, and he'll only add to the Vols' quarterback competition this offseason.

"The athletic platform that Tennessee's on is second to none," he said. "I've been dreaming of playing in the SEC for a long time. It wasn't hard. Just the opportunities and the experience I had when I visited, I felt comfortable here and I enjoyed the coaches and Coach (Butch) Jones. It was a great decision for me."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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