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Tennessee lost a key recruit on Friday afternoon.
4-star tight end Jonathan Echols flipped his commitment from the Vols to South Florida. Echols spoke with On3’s Hayes Fawcett about the decision and said he wants to stay in South Florida to “build a program” with head coach Alex Golesh.
Golesh, of course, served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator prior to taking the job at South Florida. Golesh just finished his first season at South Florida.
Here’s the announcement:
BREAKING: Four-Star TE Jonathan Echols tells me he has Flipped his Commitment from Tennessee to USF!
The 6’5 220 TE had been Committed to the Vols since July 2022
“Staying in the Bay to make history & build a program with Coach Golesh??”https://t.co/al0a1XjZRw pic.twitter.com/zNy1dI6D9n
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 8, 2023
Echols attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Prior to transferring to IMG, Echols lived in Franklin, Georgia.
He had been committed to Tennessee since July of 2022. His other offers include Texas, Florida, Miami and Oklahoma, amongst others. Echols’ decision comes on the heels of his official visit last weekend.
Echols is an elite recruit. He’s the No. 179 overall player and the No. 13 tight end in the country for the class of 2024, per 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s also the No. 24 player from the state of Florida.
His decision brings Tennessee down to 19 commitments so far in the class of 2024. The group sits at No. 14 nationally, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
