Commit Elijah Herring motivated and ready for Knoxville
Tennessee commit Elijah Herring has been in the boat for a while. In fact, the Murfreesboro, Tenn. linebacker was Josh Heupel’s first high school commit as Volunteer head coach.
And with everything that transpired Saturday night in Tennessee’s 31-26 loss to Ole Miss, the three-star might be even more motivated to get to Knoxville.
“It had me ready to play. I was wanting to play, bad,” Herring told Volquest. “I was about to text coach Heupel at halftime to see if I could go in. It’s something I want to be a part of and I’m so glad I committed there.”
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound outside linebacker committed to Tennessee in April. His brother, Caleb Herring, is a priority-target for the Vols in the 2023 cycle. Both brothers have been on hand for several games this season and have taken note of what Heupel is building.
“Coach Heupel has done a great job with the offense and coach [Tim] Banks has done a great job with the defense,” the commit said. “They are setting their guys up for great things and setting this program up to be successful.”
Tennessee battled a number of elements Saturday night in a loss to the Rebels. From a touchdown being taken off the board to a questionable fourth-down spot late in the game, the Vols kept on punching to the final buzzer.
“I think they kept fighting and they didn’t get down on themselves,” Herring remembered. “They played every play. They had some bad calls but kept fighting through it.
“Saturday lived up to expectations for me.”
Herring was one of several committed prospects inside Neyland Stadium Saturday night. He joined the likes of Tayven Jackson, Addison Nichols and Brody Foley in a list just north of 10. It was a time of fellowship for the future teammates and a chance to see what it would be like to play in front of a sold out, engaged fanbase.
“It was so great to see and talk to those guys,” the 2022 commit said. “They loved it too. We were talking about how we couldn’t wait to get here and play here. How we were going to help build here and turn this place around.
“Those fans are great. We were laughing a little because of what happened, but it was great watching them all night. It was a great atmosphere there.”
Tennessee’s defense battled all night and did a lot well. It struggled with one thing – well, one player – in a night that still gave its team a chance to win late in the ballgame.
“The defense made some big stops. They had a tough time dealing with some play-action and all that, but they did a great job stopping the run and some of the pass,” Herring noted. “I talked to coach Banks and B.J. [Brian Jean-Mary]. They were saying that it was a tough game with some missed assignments and some things that went wrong. But they said you just have to continue to fight through it.”
Herring will take his official visit during the Georgia game on November 13 and plans to be back again for one of the two other home games to conclude the season.
