the new staff, they really blew me away, said wilhoite, whos ranked the nations no. 89 overall prospect and no. 16 wide receiver and the no. 1 player from tennessee in the industry-generated 247sports composite for the 2019 class. they treated me (well), and i like the new staff now. That put ut back high up on my list like, top-five, top-three-type stuff. I liked the way they just took care of me and stuff, and theyve made me a priority. the old staff had already messed me up, so i didnt know what to think about the new staff. But after (saturday), its no question. After (saturday), i like them a lot.
wilhoite said he visited friday night with some of tennessees players, including rising sophomore wide receiver jordan murphy. Pruitts staff including wide receivers coach david johnson, offensive coordinator tyson helton and cornerbacks coach terry fair made the most of its opportunity to meet extensively with wilhoite. theyre real, down-to-earth, and i know everybody on the staff, almost, has a national championship or something big like that in their game, wilhoite said. i know (running backs) coach (chris) weinke, he has the heisman trophy. they just come from winning backgrounds, and thats all i want to do is win, too.
they told me im a huge priority and that i could make a difference right now, he said. coach pruitt was talking about how they were building and stuff like that, and during the scrimmage you could see how they were building and how theyre utilizing all the athletes. They had some of their offensive players playing defense and some of their defensive players playing offense. They went both ways and special teams. Hes utilizing his athletes where theyre needed. i feel like a guy like me, i feel like i can bring a lot more talent to tennessee. They have young guys right now who are really good, and they just need to be developed and pushed.
i could see tennessee being good in a couple years.
his personality and coaching style, he's not one of the coaches thats going to cuss you out and all that, wilhoite said of johnson. hes trying to help you get everything right and help you better your game. Its not just irate. Its getting the job done. helton showed wilhoite film of how he used usc wide receiver deontay burnett during his previous stint with the trojans. he used him with different motions and stuff like that in the slot, outside and moved him all around the field and stuff like that, wilhoite said of helton. they like to run the ball to open up their passing game.
they use their receivers a lot.
its noticeably different from what he experienced with tennessees former staff. i just didnt feel like they were really genuine, wilhoite said of jones staff. i felt like it was just a whole bunch of talk and stuff you want to hear. Really, id already heard from players on the team. I knew people on the team already, and they didnt even mess with the coaching staff up there. I didnt let that influence me, so i had to see it for myself. once i got up there, the stuff that i was hearing and then me seeing it for myself, i really didnt like it. Thats what had me skeptical of the new staff. But the new staff is straight with me.
he said he likely will try to make up his canceled trip to clemson next, and hes going to come out with a list of his top college choices pretty soon, with the goal of deciding on a school within the next few months. But wilhoite said he already knows that tennessee definitely broke into his group of favorites. ill probably (commit) before my season, he said. probably something like that, or during the summer probably, like, the end of the summer.