Tennessee just received some very good news on the recruiting front. A top in-state defensive line target has committed to the Vols over Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Syracuse.
2025 four-star Ensworth (Tenn.) SDE Ethan Utley held over 40 offers coming into today but wound-up pledging to Tennessee
VolReport takes a closer look at the decision.
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The 6-foot-3, 275-pound end is a top 15 player nationwide at his position and has felt the relentless pursuit of colleges from coast to coast. Utley has hit the road recently, checking his list with various schools. However, Knoxville is where he spent the most time, nearing double-digit visits to Rocky Top during his recruitment.
The background of defensive line coach Rodney Garner definitely played a vital part in his recruitment. Garner is no stranger to coaching and developing elite talent for the next level. Elite guys pay close attention to that, but for this one, that just the tip of the iceberg.
Utley's mother and Coach Garner have known each other for years, and have had a solid relationship, which allowed the Vols to skip a few steps in the recruiting in terms of building relationships with the family along with the prospect. Tennessee was able to focus on relationships from the inside out instead of going from the outside in.
The love and family affair has been a stronghold for this process. Utley told VolReport in a prior interview, 'Being the hometown kid, just feeling the love every day, it makes me feel like a priority now. I feel like I'm one of the guys they want in their 2025 defensive class.'
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That is an understatement as the Vols have evaluated and monitored Utley for quite some time. Utley's commitment gives the Vols two of the top five prospects in the state as No. 1 George MacIntyre is also committed to Tennessee.
This will be the third defensive commitment for head coach Josh Heupel's team as Utley joins a pair of defensive backs from Georgia in Tyler Redmond and Dylan Lewis. The three defenders are no stranger to one another as Redmond and Lewis are teammates at Milton High School, but both have known Utley for an extended time. Five days ago, Lewis himself, went to Twitter/X making the case for Utley to solidify the three musketeers in a sense.
Make no mistake about it, this was a huge recruiting win to land the Rivals250 prospect in-state-wise, as well as nationally.
As the Vols continue to recruit and add to this class, look for Utley to begin to peer recruit some defenders, as well. Now, let's see if MacIntyre and Utley both turn their attention to another in-state priority in Cameron Sparks.
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