Since Tennessee lured UCF football coach Josh Heupel in late January to clean up the massive mess left by predecessor Jeremy Pruitt, the Volunteers have lost the state’s premier quarterback prospect to Alabama and the state’s top running back recruit to Georgia.
On Friday, the top overall Volunteer State prospect for the 2022 recruiting cycle, defensive tackle Walter Nolen of Cordova, announced a final eight that included the Southeastern Conference foursome of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU, along with Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Southeastern California. The Vols didn’t make the cut for Nolen, who plays on a St. Benedict High School team that is coached by former Tennessee defensive lineman Marlon Walls.
The Vols are having to assemble their 2022 class not knowing what NCAA sanctions might await from admitted Level I and Level II violations that occurred under Pruitt and amid a recruiting dead period that runs through May 31.
“It’s about developing relationships, and it’s about pouring into kids,” Heupel said Friday afternoon. “There is no substitute for that, and in some ways we’re a little bit behind just in the timing as far as when we got hired and the nature of that – some of the questions that surrounded our program. Our coaches have been working on those relationships with players.”
Tennessee held its fifth spring practice Friday morning, which was also the first in full pads.