'20 NC OT Mitchell Mayes

#62
#62
Tennessee played host to the highly touted four-star offensive tackle three times during 2018. Mayes visited Knoxville in June, July and November. Mayes left the June visit with an offer in hand from Tennessee, and the Vols have been persistent since.

Mayes does not have any favorites as this point. “My recruitment is going good right now, all of the schools are even right now. I am open to all schools.”

Two of the teams that are in the hunt are in-state schools North Carolina and North Carolina State. However, they will not get the advantage of the home state pull in this recruitment, as they will have to recruit him as hard as if he was out of state. Mayes adds on staying in state, “There is tons of hype about staying home and not leaving the state. I do not play to that type of stuff, location will not be too big of a factor for me. I would like my parents and family to be able to see me play but I know there is a TV and a TV station for every school practically. It is not huge but it matters a little bit.”

The 6’5 295lb offensive lineman did talk about some factors that would weigh into his decision. He stated, “I am planning on my major being sports medicine, so one of the factors will be a school that has a good sports medicine program.”

Another factor for Mayes is finding a college and coaching staff that has, “a good family feel.” One factor that will not play a role is the depth chart. Mayes is confident in his ability to go into the school of his choice and work for his playing time.

The Tennessee staff is recruiting Mayes by committee, to try to create that family feel that he mentioned. Mayes said that Tight Ends Coach Brian Niedermeyer and former assistant Montario Hardesty initially lead the charge for the Vols. Niedermeyer is the area recruiter and Hardesty is a North Carolina native with strong ties to the area.

However, as of late, the Vols are turning up the heat on Mayes. He said, “It used to be coach Hardesty and Niedermeyer, but now it is more Coach Niedermeyer, Coach Friend and Coach Pruitt sometimes DMs me.”

The Vols plan to use Mayes at a guard position to start out if he chooses Tennessee. “They see more of an offensive guard to start out. They have so much talent on the outside at the tackles and everything, they think I could be a great fit as an offensive guard. So, I will probably start there, and as time goes on I can prove and earn playing time outside. That is how they see me athletically.”

The Vols started building this class around Wanya Morris who will likely play tackle, and did so with the hopes of adding fellow elite tackle Darnell Wright in the coming weeks. Adding a player of Mayes caliber inside of the two elite tackles would prove as a solid foundation for the Tennessee offensive line moving forward.

Mayes does not currently have a relationship with any of the current Tennessee players or 2019 targets, but is familiar with Trey Smith. However, the cornerstone of the 2020 class, Harrison Bailey has already started to recruit Mayes to Rocky Top with him.

“The person that I have a relationship with is Harrison Bailey, the 2020 QB commit. We are cool,” Mayes said. He went on to say, “He wants me to help them out in this class. He knows that I could be a great fit with them, and we could do a lot of great things at Tennessee. He just DMs me, texts me or snapchats me every once and a while to talk about.”

Mayes does not currently have plans to narrow his list anytime soon. He is taking his recruitment as it comes, and may or may not decide prior to the 2020 early signing period.

The Vols will get a chance to host the four-star tackle once again on February 2nd. That weekend could serve as a crucial point in this recruitment, as Darnell Wright is set to be on campus for his official visit. Mayes will have a chance to talk to the elite lineman about his recruitment, and thoughts on Tennessee.
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-VRR

2020 Four-Star Offensive Tackle Set to Visit Vols Again
 
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#69
#69
Wouldn't be surprised if Harrison Bailey drives up and does a little peer recruiting.
 
#70
#70
Give me Ratledge (#45), Tucker (#68), Mayes(#88), Morris (#119), Henderson (#99) and Cooper. Hell bring on Wray (#123) too. We’re losing Kennedy, Johnson, Johnson, Locklear, Tatum, Smith and Hall sometime in the next two years, and we’ve got an in for every one of these 2020 guys and they’re all basically in the top 100 overall players in the country, besides Cooper. Need to keep reloading
 
#71
#71
swchandler1988 said:
Give me Ratledge (#45), Tucker (#68), Mayes(#88), Morris (#119), Henderson (#99) and Cooper. Hell bring on Wray (#123) too. We’re losing Kennedy, Johnson, Johnson, Locklear, Tatum, Smith and Hall sometime in the next two years, and we’ve got an in for every one of these 2020 guys and they’re all basically in the top 100 overall players in the country, besides Cooper. Need to keep reloading
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Big dude from Colorado, Paris, lots of quality OL next class. And we in early for a bunch of them. Really hoping Friend finds a great line up this year and shows these dudes we starting to roll on everybody.
 
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#73
#73
“Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt, I had another good talk in his office with my family today, and I completely believe in Pruitt and what he’s going to do. And I enjoy every time I come back.” Mayes said N.C. State, Clemson and North Carolina are the only other schools he has visited at least three times. “My family, Coach Friend and Coach Niedermeyer and I, we spent a lot of time together,” Mayes said. "And we weren’t exactly getting too serious. We were just enjoying each other, talking about everything, anything from basketball to other schools and stuff like that. We were just talking. “With Coach Pruitt, I talked more about the recruiting class and how the offensive line is set up these next couple years.”

Mayes said Tennessee’s coaches “make me feel like I am important to this class.” He said he talks with the Vols “about two or three times a week,” led by Niedermeyer and Friend, and new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney recently stopped at his school. Chaney briefly met with Mayes on Saturday while he was on campus. “He’s very excited about me,” Mayes said, recalling his conversation with Chaney. "He thinks I’m a great player and I could do a lot for them.”

“Coach Niedermeyer is great,” Mayes said. “He has a colorful personality — very funny guy. He connects well. He’s very personable, and he connects well with me and my family.” Friend also has impressed Mayes and his family. “I have a great feel for his personality. My mom thinks Coach Friend’s very funny,” Mayes said. “I haven’t seen him personally coach yet. That’s why I’m going to come back during the spring. I plan to come back during spring to see more coaching out of him.”

While the opportunity to play in the SEC while staying relatively close to home “is appealing” to Mayes, he said, Pruitt’s staff is one of the main reasons he holds the Vols in high regard and continues to visit them. “I don’t play too much into the hype of conferences. You can go to the NFL anywhere. You can play big games anywhere,” he said. "I really enjoy the coaching staff a lot.”
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-247


Sounds pretty good for the Vols.
 
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#75
#75
Big Gucci Sosa said:
Will he leave NC. That is the question.
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To NC or not to NC? That is the question..

My parents were from NC. I could've been a tar heel if my dad hadn't gone to work for the Eastmahnnn...

Scary thought... Haaa
 
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