‘23 GA SDE Victor Burley (Clemson commit)

#76
#76
Tennessee has been with Vic Burley since the beginning. The Vols’ former staff gave him his first scholarship offer more than two years ago, and they’re still one of the teams recruiting him hardest.

The five-star Class of 2023 defensive lineman from Warner Robins (Ga.) High School returned to Tennessee on Saturday for the third time in less than six months, and he said the Vols remain high on his list of college choices following his latest trip to Knoxville. He said they’re talking with him “probably every day of the week,” and he’s already interested in visiting them again for one of their spring practices.

The 6-foot-5, 276-pound Burley said he has continued to give Tennessee strong consideration because of “just the love for this college.”

“Tennessee was my first offer, so they’ve just been there since the beginning — actually, since I started — and they’ve always been on top of recruiting me, too,” said Burley, who’s ranked the No. 33 overall prospect and No. 6 defensive lineman in the 2023 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

Burley has a longstanding relationship with Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner, who previously recruited him during Garner’s time at Auburn. Burley said he enjoyed spending more time during Saturday’s visit with Garner along with other members of head coach Josh Heupel’s staff, including defensive coordinator Tim Banks and defensive analyst Levorn Harbin.

“Coach G, he’s just like talking to a family member,” Burley said. “He always gives off that family vibe to me and my family. He always greets us, welcomes us. Each time I’m on the phone with him, he always talks to my family and stuff. …
“I was talking to Coach Banks, Coach Heupel, Coach Chop (Harbin). It felt like a family vibe from them.”

The Vols have made it clear to Burley that he could play a significant role on their defensive line. On Saturday, they expressed interest in getting him to arrive in Knoxville as early as possible to give him a better chance of making an early impact on the field.
“He was just talking to me about graduating early,” Burley said, referring to Garner. “I mean, if I get here early, I could go through spring ball. Then, when their regular season comes up, I’ll be ready to start as a freshman.”

After also visiting Tennessee in late July and making the trip to Knoxville again Nov. 27 for the Vols’ regular-season finale against Vanderbilt, Burley said he enjoyed “just being able to talk to the coaches, get a better relationship with them” during Saturday’s junior day.

“It was just a cool day for me — relaxed, and it was just more about me learning about NIL deals, too,” he said. “They’re more about what’s after football, or more what’s other than (being) a football player. We just talked about — today, it was more so, like, NIL deals, taxes and stuff like that — just outside of football stuff, preparing me for the real world.”
Burley added that “there was just something about him talking about more than football that just got me.”

His family accompanied him on Saturday’s visit and also came away impressed.
“To me, I think they loved it,” Burley said. “I mean, they were just going around (with) smiles — just smiles everywhere. Even when we went to the NIL things, they were just asking a bunch of questions about what was going on with colleges and stuff like that.”

With Tennessee’s coaches staying in contact with Burley on a daily basis, he said the Vols are one of the teams talking with him most frequently.

“They’re up there,” he said. “They really are.”
Burley said Tennessee’s coaches envision him playing a “hybrid” role and have discussed him “just moving across the line, just getting me on mismatches.”

He said he’s scheduled to travel to Clemson next weekend and Florida State on March 5, and he plans to visit South Carolina in March. There’s a good chance it won’t be long before he makes another trip to Tennessee.
“I’ll probably try to get back here for spring practice,” Burley said.

His timeline for deciding on a college remains unclear for now. But he said he will “maybe do something in the fall.”
“I’m just enjoying the time right now — just taking the trip all the way to the end and just riding the boat ‘til it sinks. … I don’t want to rush myself into making a wrong decision, so I’m going to just keep riding it ‘til the end,” he said. “And what I feel (is best) for me and my family, I’ll choose that.”
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- 247
 
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#85
#85
TheMookieMonster said:
Okay, so how does that explain Travis Hunter? That’s who I was talking about. Hunter is not his son lol.
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Well, one of the greatest DB's to ever play the game can coach the best DB in the class its not that inconceivable. Imagine being a pitcher and Greg Maddox coached at Austin Peay... a lot of high profile kids would pass up higher classification schools for the opportunity.
 
#87
#87
Mr French said:
Well, one of the greatest DB's to ever play the game can coach the best DB in the class its not that inconceivable. Imagine being a pitcher and Greg Maddox coached at Austin Peay... a lot of high profile kids would pass up higher classification schools for the opportunity.
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I don’t buy it. The #1 baseball recruit in the country wouldn’t go to Austin Peay unless someone paid him lol. And all indications point that Travis Hunter got a 7 figure deal to go to Jackson State.
 
#89
#89
TheMookieMonster said:
I don’t buy it. The #1 baseball recruit in the country wouldn’t go to Austin Peay unless someone paid him lol. And all indications point that Travis Hunter got a 7 figure deal to go to Jackson State.
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I'm not claiming NIL money wasn't used but you're also ignorant if you don't think that had an appeal or factored in to it as well.
 
#90
#90
Mr French said:
I'm not claiming NIL money wasn't used but you're also ignorant if you don't think that had an appeal or factored in to it as well.
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Okay, calling me ignorant is a little much. I’m sure it had some factor but I am highly skeptical that this kid just went to Jackson State because he really wants to play for Deon Sanders.
 
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#91
#91
TheMookieMonster said:
Okay, calling me ignorant is a little much. I’m sure it had some factor but I am highly skeptical that this kid just went to Jackson State because he really wants to play for Deon Sanders.
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I don't mean you're stupid, being ignorant or stubborn is more what I was implying. My bad.
 
#92
#92
The people saying JSU will get the death penalty better hope not because that means you can cremate our program who is actually under investigation for paying multiple recruits. The NCAA isn't going after an HBCU for one 5* while they have bigger fish to fry that can actually pay their ridiculous fines.
 
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#93
#93
Mr French said:
I don't mean you're stupid, being ignorant or stubborn is more what I was implying. My bad.
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It’s fine. My point is just that JSU will probably get recruits like this far more often if the rumors that Deon started a partnership with Barstool Sports turns out to be true.
 
#94
#94
TheMookieMonster said:
It’s fine. My point is just that JSU will probably get recruits like this far more often if the rumors that Deon started a partnership with Barstool Sports turns out to be true.
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Rules need to change anyway, the kids should get show causes and fined since they're paid now.
 
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#99
#99
Mr French said:
The people saying JSU will get the death penalty better hope not because that means you can cremate our program who is actually under investigation for paying multiple recruits. The NCAA isn't going after an HBCU for one 5* while they have bigger fish to fry that can actually pay their ridiculous fines.
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There is nobody even associated with that scandal left at UT… who are they going to punish??
 
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