The Tennessee Volunteers are not expected to produce much excitement Wednesday on the traditional signing day for college football prospects.
That fireworks show took place in the early December signing window, when the Vols flipped linebacker Jadon Perlotte from his Southern California commitment, flipped cornerback Timothy Merritt from his Miami commitment, and landed defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell, who had been committed earlier in the recruiting process to Clemson.
“They added some guys on the early signing day to make this a stronger class, and they held on to David Sanders, who signed on the second day of the early period,” said Ryan Callahan, a recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com. “That was maybe the biggest news of all, but they also got guys like Jadon Perlotte and Isaiah Campbell. Those were two pretty significant additions that Tennessee was able to make at the last minute. Campbell is a top-50 national guy.
“It made it an even stronger class than what it appeared down the stretch, and even though it’s ranked 11th and may not change, I still think this might be Josh Heupel’s best signing class.”
Tennessee signed 25 players in the early period, with 23 having already enrolled. The lone exceptions are Baylor School receiver Joakim Dodson and Huntersville, North Carolina, defensive lineman Charles House.
Sanders, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound tackle from Providence Day School in Charlotte, is the class headliner, but Tennessee was able to snag four of 247Sports.com’s top-100 prospects — Sanders (11th), Campbell (34th), tight end Da’Saahn Brame (66th) and defensive lineman Mariyon Dye (94th).
“Four top-100 players is a really good number to have for any program,” Callahan said. “It’s a deep class that has addressed a lot of needs, and there are very few positions where you can say they didn’t get a potential future star. I think it’s a really good class from top to bottom and a lot for Tennessee to be excited about.”
One player who committed to the Vols but did not sign in December, cornerback Onis Konanbanny of Columbia, South Carolina, announced Tuesday that he would be signing with Florida.
“Since the early signing period, he’s been to Florida twice,” Callahan said. “All signs have been pointing to Florida being the likely destination, so it doesn’t look like Tennessee will be signing anyone on Wednesday. It’s unusual, but we’ve seen it before.
“Every year, we’re seeing more than 85% of the players signing in December, and that percentage seems to be even higher this year. There are not many highly ranked players on the market at this point.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.