One of Vols’ Top Commits Flips to Vanderbilt

Recruiting, much like Tennessee’s 2017 football season, has started to take a turn for the worst over the past month. And that became even more apparent this week when one of the Vols’ former top commits in the 2018 class chose in-state Vanderbilt over Tennessee.

Brendon Harris is a four-star safety/defensive back out of Baylor High School in Chattanooga. He had been committed to Tennessee since May of this year, but after the Vols’ rough start to the season, he decided to decommit on October 4th.

Now just three weeks later, Harris has chosen a new college football home.

Harris elected to play for Vanderbilt, giving them their third four-star commitment in the 2018 recruiting class. When Harris was committed to Tennessee, he was their sixth-highest rated commit in their class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and he was the Vols’ eighth commit who was rated as a four-star or higher.

4? DB Brendon Harris commits to Vanderbilt ? pic.twitter.com/XUADqpeMlb

— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) October 25, 2017

Losing out on a highly-rated recruit is one thing. But losing him to in-state opponent Vanderbilt is something really hard to stomach for Vol fans.

The decommitment of Harris and his choice to go to Vanderbilt is just one of another bad headlines for the Vols in the recruiting department. Tennessee lost the commitment of four-star running back Lyn-J Dixon recently, and a handful of other commitments have remained verbally committed to the Vols while re-opening their recruiting as well.

Then there’s the ongoing drama of the Vols’ top commit, five-star Cade Mays. Although Mays has never confirmed nor denied the rumors, speculation has surrounded his commitment and whether or not he’s still dedicated to Tennessee.

The Vols’ season has soured, and Butch Jones is on one of the hottest seats in college football. And now Tennessee’s recruiting is taking hits as well.