“It went really well,” Sanders said. “Got to see all the coaches again. Got to meet individually with most of them, which is always nice. It helps with the relationship a lot more than just talking over the phone. Got to tour the facilities, got to see all the other recruits here, so it was definitely a fun day.”
He added that “just the level of talent here” stood out from his latest visit.
“There’s multiple five-stars, a lot of four-stars here,” Sanders said. “There’s a lot of big names here, so it’s definitely cool to see all the talent that’s interested in Tennessee.”
The Vols are recruiting Sanders as an interior offensive lineman who would play guard or center, and part of his visit included a film session with Elarbee, who played with Sanders’s father Gary at Middle Tennessee State. The younger Sanders liked what he saw from Tennessee’s offensive line and believes his skill set translates well to what the Vols do up front. He likes Tennessee’s style of offense and is interested in playing in it.
“We watched a lot of film,” Sanders said. “We watched a lot of their plays, their technique and just what they do here. It’s a lot similar to what I do in high school.”
He added: “This past season they were top 10 in the country in almost every offensive category. Just how they fast they play and how much they score definitely is one thing that stands out to me. … Coach Elarbee’s a great guy. He’s easy to talk to and his technique, the way he teaches it, is very good.”
Sanders said the Vols like how he plays and his understanding of the game.
“My dad’s my O-line coach, so I’m very smart. I’m aggressive,” he said. “I’m going to know what I’m going to do and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability and they know that.”
With wrestling season taking up most of his time, Sanders, who has compiled a 10-5 record in the heavyweight class and also threw the shot put and discus as a sophomore last spring, is already eyeing some visits in the spring. Among the schools he said he’d like to see in March and April are Stanford, Clemson and perhaps Florida State, which just offered last week. Sanders, who also visited Tennessee for its "Night at Neyland" camp last summer and the Pittsburgh game in September after getting offered by the Vols last March, said he might start taking official visits as early as April because he wants to commit “maybe by May.”
He’s already planning his return to Tennessee in the near future.
“I haven’t planned one yet,” he said, “but I’m definitely going to try to come up back here in April or March for a spring practice.”
