First commit of the Jeremy Pruitt era: All-American Alontae Taylor picks Tennessee over Georgia
During his introductory Tennessee press conference, Jeremy Pruitt proclaimed the program’s rise would start in recruiting. Less than a week later, Pruitt has landed his first commitment for the Vols in Under Armour All-American receiver Alontae Taylor. Taylor is expected to sign during the early signing period next week and enroll early at Tennessee.
Ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 5 overall recruit from Tennessee by 247Sports, Taylor is now the Vols’ highest-ranked offensive commitment. He was a longtime Tennessee commit under Butch Jones, but following the team’s struggles this season, he opened up his recruitment and gave Georgia, Louisville and Wake Forest a chance to sway him to their side.
Taylor ended his recruitment once and for all Wednesday with the following post:
https://twitter.com/TaeTaylor6/status/940970869920280579
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The 6-foot, 184-pound Manchester, Tenn., native could play both sides of the ball at the next level but will arrive at Tennessee expecting to play receiver for a team desperate for explosive playmakers. Not only has Taylor been invited to the Under Armour All-American Game, he was also a participant in Nike’s The Opening Finals last summer.
Tennessee now has 12 total commitments for the 2018 recruiting cycle following Taylor’s pledge. His commitment bumps UT’s class from the No. 39 spot to No. 32 in the nation.
Taylor’s senior season highlight showcases his playmaking ability in all three phases of the game and at multiple positions, including at receiver, defensive back, quarterback and returner:
I’m impressed! The kid can play anywhere 8-) Here we go!
He committed under butch 2 years ago not pruitt.
Elite
Big win for Tennessee. Congrats. You guys needed some good news.
Its 2 years old
Just the first domino.
Its 2 years old
Train is a rollin.
Come on Pruitt go get us an SEC caliber QB for xmas! JG isnt going to cut it. McBride looks so much better passing and running even though McBride hasnt had many reps. We need a need a Shea Patterson type QB right now. A strong arm passer who can run if need be.
I’m not giving up on any of our QB’s. Let’s see what they do with a new staff.
We have 3 great QBs. Their performance this year was the product of failed leadership. No need to stress over getting a QB to take over immediately. This recruiting class needs to focus on O-Line and Linebackers… A good Tight End wouldn’t hurt either.
Dude I dont know. Look at Dobbs. They all sucked then but Dobbs athletic ability won alot of games. Who knows how good Dobbs could habe been with a good OC/QB coach. Great players make plays with or without coaching. You can see the talent on the field. McBride I see flashes of that. JG I dont really see it. Its like he always in deer in the headlights mode. Maybe the new staff will turn him around but I have serious doubts about him. McBride IMO, looks better than JG but we need a great QB to beat the Bama’s, Georgia’s, and Florida. Thats my take.
If you can recall… Dobbs wasn’t that great at first. He didn’t really start getting good until the end of his sophomore / beginning of junior year.
Need Cade Mays to sign as well.
If Dormandy comes back, he is head and shoulders above JG. He needs confidence though. Some kind of swagger. That McBride kid has that. Maybe bc he is young and doesnt know better, but Pruitt needs to coach Dormandy up and make him believe he is a winner.
Ole Miss would probably love to have a “Shea Patterson type QB” as well
He wont, he isnt out recruiting. Fulmer is
Good jersey number
Young people make big mistakes but I wish him the best in every game except one. Get used to losing for a while.
Not a mistake. He’s a Tennessee boy who wants to be with his family and play for his home state. No shame in that at all. He was committed to Butch, now he’s committed to Pruitt. Best wishes to him in his career.
I guess you haven’t remembered much history between Tennessee and UGA, but until recent years, the series was heavily 1 sided in the UT favor who holds the overall head to head record. The longest winning streak UGA has over the vols is 5 wins in a row, and that was the Kiffin/Dooley era mostly. 23-22-2 is the current record, and most of that ground has been made up since 2010 when you went on a streak of 5 games and currently 7-3 in the last 10 years.
What do you mean by “until recent years?” Do you mean that UT has only won 6 in the last 17 years? That’s a long time my friend. Probably the great majority of your life. UGA has dominated UT over the past two decades. Not just a few “recent years.” I have a sneaking suspicion the historical trend is not going to change anytime soon.
Not true. Im a TN guy, but a realist first. GA has only dominated TN 3 of the past 5.
2 decades? Absolutely not. Never did GA dominate TN during the Fulmer years for any length of time. It wasnt until dooley that TN lost out. But even under Butch GA only competed against TN. 2017 was entirely a loss.
Can we say wipe? (Destiny fans)
This is an elite commit for Tenn. We have two for Miss State’s 2018 that I’m hoping Mullen doesn’t yank from us. Wish they’d affirm their stance like Taylor did for Tenn.
Grats on a beast of a WR
Very classy replies from most of the Non-Tennessee SEC fans. Thank you for not kicking us at our lowest point. A few more like this and we MAY be back soon!
Hey bratton!!
This had nothing to do with Pruitt. He wasnt even there, he has been at bama all week. Get real dude. Post something true for once!
Pruitt is not even really recruiting right now. Fulmer is.
Quit trying to hype up Pruitt!
Is wasnt hard to convince him to keep his commitment to TN. He grew up a TN fan and always dreamed of playing for TN. It wasnt really even a recruiting win.
This one actually coughs up to be a Butch win. And that is factual truth