Tennessee Football Recruiting: Tennessee Grabs Controversial Corner

Patterson had zeroed in on a final five schools on National Signing Day after also considering Georgia and LSU, as well. Patterson is an explosive player with good size, at an impressive 6’3” and 205 pounds.

Patterson’s commitment is a needed shot in the arm for the Volunteers, who had received a substantial amount of bad recruiting news of late, including an astounding six decommitments from quality players.

This is a major loss for Tennessee, as the Volunteers recently lost another major linebacker prospect in Dalton Santos to the Texas Longhorns. Previous to that, Tennessee had thought it would not have enough room to take another linebacker, and encouraged Khalid Henderson to look around. Now all three linebacker recruits are gone.

Peters’ coach had some thoughts on the move:

Recruiting is forged in relationships, and those sometimes take years to cultivate and grow. For Derek Dooley and his University of Tennessee staff, they’ve finally began to catch up after two full years in Knoxville.

Though the fruits of those relationships are evident now, you’d never have known it during summer 2011. The Vols were off to about as quiet a recruiting start in recent memory, getting shut out on commitments until June 14. (Running back Imani Cross actually committed earlier but has since been asked to look around and is no longer a UT commitment.)

Santos is a prototypical middle linebacker recruit. He is very big (6’2” and 240 pounds), loves to hit, but isn’t so stiff as to be a major liability in coverage. Santos plays with excellent physicality and passion, and is very fun to watch in person, as I recently had the chance to do at the Under Armour All-America Game. He is rated a four-star recruit by most recruiting services. Texas is the only school to have commitments from more than 20 high school recruits and still have more than 75 percent be rated as blue chippers (four-stars or better).

For more on Tennessee recruiting, visit Rocky Top Talk. For more on Santos and Texas recruiting, check out Burnt Orange Nation and The Recruitocosm.

Tennessee has accepted the commitment of talented cornebrack Deion Bonner. From a talent standpoint, this isn’t a bad move. Bonner is one of the better cornerbacks in the Southeast. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound corner once had offers from Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Southern Cal, South Carolina and others.

But it’s a different story from a public relations perspective. Bonner stole electronics from University of Georgia players while on a visit to Athens. He was suspended for a number of games due to the incident, and other incidents.

Feel free to boil with outrage at Nick Saban waiting until weeks before signing day to tell longtime 2012 commitment Justin Taylor that he’ll need to sit out a year before he can join the Tide (to make it up, Taylor says Saban will sign a 2013 contract* and help find him a summer job**). I’m just here to laugh at this:

↵↵* Totally non-binding.

Daniel McCullers, an enormous defensive tackle, has committed to the Tennessee Volunteers. How enormous? Try 6’6” and 380 pounds. Head to Rocky Top Talk to learn how the hiring of Sal Sunseri from Alabama to be defensive coordinator will impact the Volunteers, and how Sunseri plans to use McCullers.

Rocky Top Talk has an excellent story on the commitment of cornerback Mackensie Alexander, a top 2013 prospect:

The fears were realized Tuesday morning, as star receiver Keithon Redding decommitted from the Volunteers. The Georgia receiver will consider taking visits to Ole Miss and perhaps Kentucky.

Linebacker Dalton Santos (pictured left) will be one to watch. Recruited by both Wilcox and Sirmon, Santos has wowed scouts at this week’s Under Armour All-America practices. Many Tennessee insiders do not believe he will stick with his commitment.

Score one for Kevin Sumlin and Texas A&M, as JUCO cornerback Otis Jacobs has switched his commitment back to the Aggies, less than a week after he switched to the Tennessee Volunteers. The 6-foot-1, 187-pound JUCO cornerback from Gulf Coast Community College in Mississippi had been committed to Texas A&M.

Jacobs has three years to play two seasons, so there is some chance he could take a redshirt. That’s unlikely, however, as JUCO players rarely commit to a school at which they won’t play immediately.