Tennessee earned a significant recruiting coup Tuesday, stealing three-star athlete TaDarryl Marshall out of Leeds, Ala.

The home-state Tide and Tigers pursued the 6-foot, 180-pound high school quarterback, but the Vols, led by Tommy Thigpen and Mike DeBord, landed his verbal commitment in a ceremony at Leeds High School.

In Marshall’s highlight tape from his 2014 junior season, the signal-caller takes the snap, tucks the ball under his arm and outmaneuvers larger defenders with quickness and change of direction again and again.

“(Tennessee wants) to see how I do in fall camp. They said I’ll be playing a little bit of slot, a little outside receiver, safety, DB, punt returner, kick returner — a little bit of everything,” Marshall said, according to 247Sports. “They basically said they just want the ball in my hands because of my playmaking abilities.”

According to VolQuest.com, Alabama recruited Marshall as a quarterback/receiver and Auburn recruited him as a cornerback.

Tennessee beat out some prolific recruiters to secure Marshall’s commitment, including Alabama’s Mario Cristobal, the consensus top recruiter in the country in 2015, and Auburn’s Travaris Robinson.

“I visited Tennessee (on Saturday) for the spring game and really liked the family environment,” Marshall said, according to VolQuest.com. “I fell in love with the atmosphere and fans’ intensity.”

The Tennessee coaching staff talked to Marshall every day after he first visited in March, and not always about football. That was a big factor in his decision, according to 247Sports. He also told the website that

“Everybody keeps bragging about the Tennessee fans — the atmosphere during the games — and I really just wanted to see and feel it for myself,” Marshall said. “I was hoping a lot more people would have showed up, but people thought it was going to rain, and it ended up not raining.

“But it was strong — 63,000 — and I felt it. I felt all the fans. The atmosphere was as lively as they said it was, and I’m just really ready to see what a real game feels like.”

Marshall represents the ninth commitment of the Vols’ 2016 class. It’s unclear exactly how Tennessee plans to use Marshall, as Thigpen (linebackers coach) and DeBord (offensive coordinator) are listed as his lead recruiters.

Four-star offensive lineman Brodarious Hamm also committed to the Vols on Saturday while attending the spring game.