KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel welcomed 24 new signees as part of the #RockyTop25 recruiting class on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
As of Wednesday evening, the Volunteers boasted a top 10 class by On3, 247Sports and Rivals. This comes the day after Tennessee was tabbed No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings and will officially punch its postseason ticket on Sunday.
“It’s a great day to be a Volunteer and wear the orange,” Heupel said. “We had an opportunity to practice with our guys today, got some really good work, in particularly for our young guys, but the story of the day, obviously, is signing day. I love the group that we’ve signed up until this point. Great competitive makeup. A lot of leadership traits, guys that are still playing right now as they’re chasing state championships. But, the athleticism and the makeup of the individuals, couldn’t be more excited about what we’re bringing into this program. I want to thank the families that have entrusted their young men to us, and we can get a chance to be a part of their journeys and help them go chase their goals and dreams.”
The Vols signed 10 offensive players and 14 defensive players, including six players from the state of Tennessee. That group was headlined by On3’s No. 1 Volunteer State prospect quarterback George MacIntyre of Brentwood Academy in Nashville.
“When we first got here, I said that developing relationships inside of this state, that’s high school coaches, that’s everybody that has their feet on the ground, was going to be a real priority for us,” Heupel said. “Our staff has done that. We’ve tried to do a great job of evaluating the guys within the state. It doesn’t mean we take every one of them. It doesn’t mean we get every one of them, but we’re going to recruit (Tennessee) the right way.”
View profiles on the entire #RockyTop25 signing class at https://utsports.com/signingday/football/football/14/.
The three-day early signing period lasts until Friday. Tennessee continues its College Football Playoff prep with practice on Wednesday and will learn of its matchup and location at noon ET Sunday on ESPN.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Dec. 4, 2024 (National Signing Day)
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“It’s a great day to be a Volunteer and wear the orange. We had an opportunity to practice with our guys today, got some really good work, in particularly for our young guys, but the story of the day, obviously, is signing day. Love the group that we’ve signed up until this point. Great competitive makeup. Tough, smart, competitive individuals; guys that fit the culture of caring about the guy next to them. A lot of leadership traits, guys that are still playing right now as they’re chasing state championships. But, the athleticism and the makeup of the individuals, couldn’t be more excited about what we’re bringing into this program. I want to thank the families that have entrusted their young men to us, and we can get a chance to be a part of their journeys and help them go chase their goals and dreams. I also want to thank our entire staff. You look at our scouting personnel departments, our on campus department and obviously our coaching staff did a tremendous job of finding guys that fit the traits that we want athletically but also finding the right makeup of the individuals that we’re bringing in as we continue to grow this program, so it’s a great day. We’re continuing to take steps forward and, obviously, excited about everything that’s going on inside of our program right now.”
On what stands out about this recruiting class and the needs they needed to fill…
“When you’re talking about recruiting high school players, you’re looking at the immediate as they come onto campus for the following fall but you’re also looking long term, and so size, length, speed, athleticism, we have to continue to grow in that area. But also, I mentioned it earlier, just the makeup, the competitive makeup of who they are, how hard they’re willing to work, what they’re willing to sacrifice, leadership traits, but those traits to grow inside of this game. You want all the physical attributes but it’s the mental makeup, the passion and purpose that they have within them that dictates their climb at this level. The longer we’ve been here, I just feel like we continue to recruit to the culture of our program and guys that fit in within the competitive makeup of it and I couldn’t be more excited about the group that we have coming in.”
On defensive back signee Timothy Merritt’s ability…
“Really excited about Tim, he’s somebody that we’ve been recruiting for a long time. I go back to last January, just having the opportunity to meet his family, hear his story. The player itself you can see really quickly on video, great athleticism, extremely fluid, played quarterback this year for them at times and a dynamic playmaker. Tough, competitive makeup, When you talk with him you can feel his competitive mindset and his passion for becoming what he’s capable of really quickly and our staff did a great job of just continuing to develop a relationship with him, pour into him, family’s got great trust in us and obviously really excited about getting him.”
On his thoughts on the linebacker and tight end positions for this class…
“Just continuing to add athleticism on the second level of our defense, guys that have the ability to play in space, that have length, have the ability to play with power, come out of their hips, they’re smart, they’re competitive. Really excited about what we’ve done there. Coach (William Inge) and our linebacker staff did a great job.
“At tight end, again, as we’ve been here, the athleticism, length, the explosive movement, the ability to play in space but also do things within the structure of our core, in particular in the run game, couldn’t be more excited about the two guys that we’re bringing in (DaSaahn Brame and Jack Van Dorselaer). They’re both highly competitive guys that come from really good programs that we’re going to need to make an impact quickly inside of our program.”
On his conversations with quarterback signee George MacIntyre and him having to learn multiple offenses in high school…
“George has got a great ceiling and a great future in front of him. Extremely athletic young guy. You see that on the football field with his ability to improvise, extend plays, make plays outside of the pocket. Got a chance to see him play basketball multiple times. Extremely fluid and natural on the basketball court. For him, through his journey in high school, it’s tough when you’re playing in a different offense every year, but the positives that we talked about with him is that, man, you’ve been exposed to so much football and it’s forced you to grow while you’re in high school. I think that only helps him as he comes to us at this level with the diversity of what he’s had the opportunity to play in. I think that helps expedite his transition into college football.”
On recruiting flips and how hard it is to assemble a class and get it to the finish line in the current recruiting landscape…
“It’s always been difficult. There’s no time period in recruiting – because of how competitive it’s always been, the nature of it – that it’s not difficult to get to the finish line. Signing day to me is always about who you get, and do they fit the profile of what you wanted at those positions, but do they fit the competitive makeup that you got to have inside of your program and fit the culture of the program? We’re really excited about the guys that we’ve gotten. Some of those guys have been with us for a long time. Some of them are more recent, but guys that we’ve been in communication with for a long time and got great relationships with. Really excited about it.”
On the competitiveness of recruiting in the SEC…
“Most competitive league in America in all facets of what goes on in college football. It ultimately shows up on Saturdays when we’re competing against each other. But it starts with the recruiting process. Highly competitive.”
On what the rest of the signing period looks like…
“We’ve had a great start to the day, we’ve got to continue to go finish it as well.”
On Nic Moore’s character after requesting Christmas donations at his signing ceremony…
“It shows that he’s full of character. Nic is a great young man that has a great future on the field. He’s got a real focus on who he wants to become as a man too. Excited to have him and his family become a part of this football family.”
On De’Rail Sims and William Inge first year on the recruiting trail…
“Similar to what I saw when they first got here on campus. The ability to communicate, relate to young people, develop relationships with them. That’s where recruiting starts. Kids get a pretty quick feel, usually, if you care about the person and the player. Those guys pour into our young guys. That’s why they’ve built their rooms extremely close in a short amount of time. That’s transcended onto the recruiting trail. Those guys are high level.”
On watching Daune Morris make plays and how that fits in the Tennessee offense…
“Daune is someone we’ve had our eye on for a long time, and just getting an opportunity as this season continued to go on to be able to communicate with his family more, just building a relationship. They had a great official visit here a few weeks ago. He’s a dynamic playmaker. You see that with the ball in his hands out on the perimeter, return, playing the running back position, unique skill set, extremely athletic. He has great short-area quickness and in some ways reminds you of a young (Dylan Sampson) with his ability to do so much. We couldn’t be more excited to get him here.”
On his reaction to Tennessee’s position in the College Football Playoff rankings…
“We control what we control. We don’t have a game before the final rankings come out. There’s a lot of football to be played yet, but if you’re not of the mindset going into this thing, anyone, anywhere, anytime, then you’re just there to have a cup of coffee anyways. This is a highly competitive group. We’ll play where we play, we’ll play who we play, and let’s go put the ball down.”
On how recruiting within the state of Tennessee has improved…
“When we first got here, I said that developing relationships inside of this state, that’s high school coaches, that’s everybody that has their feet on the ground, was going to be a real priority for us. Our staff has done that. We’ve tried to do a great job of evaluating the guys within the state. It doesn’t mean we take every one of them, doesn’t mean we get every one of them, but we’re going to recruit (Tennessee) the right way. That means time, energy and communication. Our staff, from the time that we’ve been here, has invested that way. The product of who we are on game day, the success of the program, the success of our players, what they’re doing off the field, how they’re being prepared for life and growing as men while they’re here, I think speaks volumes. Inside of this state for sure, but in this region, I think everybody can see the trajectory of what this program is and the connection and true culture that we have within it, and that makes recruiting a whole lot easier within this border.”
On Nic Moore and what he adds to the offensive line room…
“Smart, tough, competitive. He has position flexibility. I already said he’s smart, but he’s extremely bright. For a young guy, he has a lot of strength on his frame already. I’m really excited to get him here. He will be here in a couple of weeks, start progressing and get to work.”
On the additions to the defensive line…
“I think we’re at five guys on the defensive line at this point. I just think you have great length and athleticism on the edges. You have explosive power on the edges, but you have it on the interior as well. Our defensive line plays vertical. The success that we’ve had on the development of our defensive line, the guys that have been here are a huge part of the success that we have had on the recruiting trail with these guys. Our defensive line staff, starting with Coach G (Rodney Garner), through coach Chop (Levorn Harbin) and everybody that’s in there, just does a great job. These guys fit the traits that we want, to be able to cause havoc at the point of attack. We’re really excited about these guys.”
On injury updates during playoff prep…
“We have some time here, but feel like we’re going to have everybody getting ready to roll here.”
Watch Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel’s #RockyTop25 National Signing Day press conference.
For a link: https://utsports.com/signingday/football/football/14/
