KNOXVILLE – Brian Niedermeyer already has shown himself as one of the nation’s top college football recruiters, to the point the Tennessee assistant coach was named the national recruiter of the year by one publication this year.
Now the challenge is to develop his portion of all the quality players he’s helped the program bring in, starting with his own position group.
The second-year tight ends coach was a big part in helping the Volunteers land three top-100 prospects in the 2019 recruiting class as the program continues its rebuild. That group was led by next-to-last signee of the February signing period, five-star offensive lineman Darnell Wright. Niedermeyer also was the primary recruiter on four-star linebackers Quavaris Crouch and Henry To’oto’o and the secondary recruiter on Savion Williams, the No. 1 junior college defensive tackle in the country.
“I think nobody’s a good recruiter without a great recruiting head coach and a great program and a great vision,” Niedermeyer said. “I’m not going to recruit as well at a much smaller school without a history and great tradition. I think between (head coach) Jeremy Pruitt and (athletic director) Phillip Fulmer and the rest of our staff, I think it makes it really easy to recruit here.
“It’s easy to recruit toward Coach’s vision, and being able to have everybody here and everything that we’re able to offer at Tennessee, it’s a lot easier.”
In his position group, senior Dominick Wood-Anderson – one of Niedermeyer’s first pickups in 2018 – finished his first season as a Vol with 140 yards on 17 catches with a pair of scores, including Tennessee’s first touchdown of the year in the season opener against West Virginia. Wood-Anderson continued his solid play with four receptions, including a touchdown, in the 2019 Orange and White game on April 13.
A converted quarterback who played receiver in junior college, the 6-foot-4, 264-pounder has benefited from having a spring in the program, with an additional 20 pounds on his frame since arriving on campus, and will be expected to take a position of leadership at a position used more for blocking than pass-catching.
“He’s a big body, he’s fast and really catches everything,” quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said of Wood-Anderson after the spring game. “He’s been a good player for us this whole spring, so we’re waiting to orchestrate him.”
Freshman Jackson Lowe, another highly rated prospect, had 60 yards on three catches, including a 35-yard catch-and-run, but there’s still plenty of development to go, according to Pruitt.
“They don’t have a whole lot of experience,” Pruitt said prior to the spring game. “The only way to get that experience is to go out there and practice every single day.
“When you talk about a tight end and what you ask them to do, you have to block a 300-pound guy and to be able to win, he has to pass-pro(tect) and flex out and run routes like a wide receiver. So there is a lot that goes into that skill set, and some of the guys do certain things better than others. Dominick is a guy that can kind of do all of it. We just have to continue to improve at that position.”
But if the program is going to take a step in the right direction in 2019, it’s going to take a complete buy-in from everybody within the program.
Consider Niedermeyer “bought in.”
“I think it’s, day in and day out, just being the best you can be,” he said. “(Pruitt has) done that, and he’s moved us towards taking that next step in the SEC.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.