“I liked riding around campus, seeing all the facilities. Get a little view of how the students live their life here,” he said. “Coach Pruitt told me he’s recruiting good students and good football players, and I’m both. He said I fit the need for Tennessee as a d-lineman. Coach Rocker told me I can make a difference as a end in the 3-4 and 4-3 playing d-tackle.” The visit was also an opportunity to be around several other priority in-state targets like 5-star outside linebacker Reggie Grimes II, 4-star athlete Tyler Baron and 4-star offensive tackle Marcus Henderson, as well as 4-star quarterback commit Harrison Bailey. Pruitt gathered all the juniors in town Saturday and had a direct message to the group. “We had a meeting and coach (Pruitt) said we have a quarterback, the No. 1 quarterback in the 2020 class, now it’s about everything else. Our (2020) class is the class to win a national championship at Tennessee.” While Tennessee will be heavily involved throughout the process, Hardy is in no rush to make a decision anytime soon. He has a very busy upcoming visit schedule — Kentucky (Jan. 25), Georgia (Feb. 2), Virginia Tech (Feb. 8) — with more trips planned this spring (Clemson, Florida and Vandy), too. “I’ll start narrowing stuff down a little bit in the middle of the summer and then commit at the end of my senior season next December,” he said
