Tennessee landed another top-20 class of early college football signees Wednesday, and this one seems like it will stick.
Roughly 11 months after the Volunteers lost multiple early signees due to the firing of Jeremy Pruitt amid a university investigation into rules violations, which resulted in the hiring of Josh Heupel as his successor, Tennessee signed 20 players in a surprisingly strong class given the program’s recent turbulence. The Vols as of Wednesday night had Rivals.com’s No. 11 class nationally and 247Sports.com’s No. 13 class.
“It’s a great day for Tennessee football and the future of Tennessee football,” Heupel said in a news conference. “When we got here, there was a lot of uncertainty about what Tennessee football was going to look like in the future, but this staff has steadied the ship in who they are. It has shown through, and it’s why the culture of Tennessee football has changed and why the trajectory of Tennessee football has changed.
“We added a lot of athleticism on both sides. I love this group.”
(READ MORE: National signing day: Get to know the newest Tennessee Volunteers)