4-star Nolan Rucci details impressive day on Rocky Top

Lititz, Pennsylvania offensive lineman Nolan Rucci started the weekend at Clemson. That was followed up by a trip across the Smoky Mountains to visit Rocky Top.

"It was great," Rucci said. "It was a.nice drive through the mountains. We toured the facilities and had a nice talk with coach Friend and coach Osovet. I actually got a chance to tour the academic facilities and talk to academic advisors to see how guys juggle those two things. The one thing I was really impressed with was the level of academics. That wasn't something I was expecting. I'm going to do engineering and so looking at their engineering program was highly touted."

Aside from the campus tour. Rucci felt a good vibe in his time spent with Will Friend and the offensive staff.

"Sitting down with coach Friend and the offensive staff and just talking ball was something that was nice," Rucci said. "Just breaking down X's and O's and going over film. Seeing how he coaches his guys was a pretty cool piece for me. Seeing how that process works and how he does it because everywhere we go they do it differently."

And after seeing how Friend operates. Rucci could envision playing at Tennessee. But what put him at ease with how Friend operates?

"I do like how he coaches his players," Rucci said. "It's similar to what I do with my school. My dad who played in the league for a little bit is my offensive line coach so I'm very grateful for having a guy who knows what he is doing teaching me. To see the same type of concepts is cool."

Tight ends coach Joe Osovet is the area recruiter for Rucci and has done a nice job of building a bond with the big Keystone state lineman.

"He's from around my area," Rucci said. "He understands the difference between the northern and southern recruitment. Distance is not a huge factor for me because I have a brother who is 14 hours away in Wisconsin."

Rucci also sat down with Jeremy Pruitt and the family enjoyed their hour long chat in the head coaches office.

"He's awesome," Rucci said. "We talked about the whole recruiting process and where Tennessee is as a program. He was super genuine and we just enjoyed talking about ball."

It was his first time in campus and he wasn't sure what to expect, but left feeling good about Tennessee.

"I didn't come in with any expectations but I was thoroughly impressed by the academic and football," Rucci said. "Maybe the football hasn't been where they want it to be, but talking to coaches they are definitely on the rise and the right things going to get the things up off the ground."

And after today, he can see that Tennessee will be a factor for him going forward. He hopes to make it back to Tennessee in the very near future because he wants to make a decision in the not so distant future.

"Obviously I haven';t done any lists or cuts, but obviously going forward for my timeline, I want to get my visits done this spring and have.a decision sometime this summer," Rucci said.