Jeremy Pruitt is now on the job full-time in Knoxville and that could be trouble for schools hoping to compete with Tennessee for recruits in the near future.

As Tennessee’s new head coach said this week in his press conference, “If you ain’t recruiting 365 days a year, someone else is.” Based on his early returns in Knoxville, that’s more than just lip service for Pruitt and the coaching staff he’s assembled.

While Pruitt’s staff isn’t complete yet, there’s still one final position spot available, the coaches assembled on Rocky Top have a stellar background recruiting in and around the SEC. Between Pruitt and his nine current assistants, they have been responsible for signing a combined 19 five-star prospects and 108 four-star prospects over the years.

With the NCAA-mandated dead period in recruiting over, coaches can now visit prospects as well as host prospects on campus over the next several weeks. After the Tennessee staff managed to land U.S. Army All-American linebacker JJ Peterson last week, despite the fact the Georgia native has never set foot on UT’s campus, they will host their latest commit this weekend. He isn’t coming alone, either. Peterson will be visiting with another four-star prospect, Quay Walker of Crisp County, Ga.

Walker is rated as the nation’s No. 3 outside linebacker and the No. 65 overall prospect according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. Walker was originally scheduled to travel to Florida this weekend but instead wanted to make the trip to Rocky Top with Peterson.

Here’s an image Walker shared on social media recently:

https://twitter.com/QuayWalker4/status/951616302866731009

Four-star receiver Warren Thompson will also be making the trip to Knoxville. Rated as a top 155 overall prospect in the nation by 247Sports Composite Rankings, Tennessee desperately needs to add an offensive playmaker or two to this class:

https://twitter.com/pagnotti5/status/951132664345620480

While landing those two prospects would do much to help the Vols take a further jump up in the recruiting rankings, this weekend also sets the stage for the 2019 recruiting cycle for Tennessee’s staff. The Vols are expecting a laundry list of elite 2019 and 2020 prospects to Knoxville for unofficial visits.

Among the prospects expected to visit include, all from Grayson High School in Georgia: 2019 Five-star LB Owen Pappoe, Four-star WR Kenyon Jackson, Four-star OL Wayna Morris and Four-star RB Ronald Thompkins. Tennessee will also be hosting 2020 Five-star OL Bryn Tucker from Knox Catholic.

Just as Pruitt says, you have to be recruiting every day of the year. With the 2019 early signing period less than 365 days away, this is evidence that he believes in what he says when it comes to the importance of recruiting.