4-star DB Craig Tutt explains commitment to Ole Miss over Tennessee, Auburn
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Craig Tutt is taking his talents to Oxford.
Ole Miss landed the blue-chip safety’s commitment on Friday. Tutt chose to play for Lane Kiffin’s program over 29 other scholarship offers. He narrowed things down to Ole Miss, Tennessee and Auburn for Friday’s big decision.
Out of Murfreesboro (Tennessee) Oakland High School, Tutt is listed as measuring 5-11, 180 pounds. On the 247Sports Composite, Tutt is rated 4-stars, the No. 7 player in the state of Tennessee, No. 22 safety and No. 256 prospect overall in the Class of 2026.
Tutt told Cecil Joyce of the Murfressboro Daily News Journal that Ole Miss just like home.
It wasn’t necessarily which school was behind who,” Tutt said. “I’m not taking anything from the other schools. They’re all great programs and great opportunities. I just felt like Ole Miss was the best opportunity and the best decision for me.
While many recruitments come down to the biggest NIL offer, Tutt said that wasn’t his concern.
NIL doesn’t have anything to do with it, for me,” said Tutt. “I just wanted to make sure it was a place that I would be able to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and say, ‘Yeah I’m coming to practice.’ Or just being in a place that I want to keep coming back to, and not a place where I’m going for one year and transfer. That was the biggest thing for me.
With Tutt on board, Ole Miss is up to 14 verbal pledges for its 2026 recruiting class, which ranks No. 26 on the Composite.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
