Elijah Herring recaps 'great' in-home visit with UT coaches
With the regular-season now in the rearview, Tennessee’s coaching staff is now permitted to hit the road and meet with prospects in-house. Fittingly, the Vols started with the inaugural commit for the 2022 class, Elijah Herring.
“It was great and everyone had a good time,” the linebacker told Volquest of the Sunday visit. “We talked about life and life after football. It was a great time.”
Josh Heupel was accompanied by linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary, defensive backs coach Willie Martinez and running backs coach Jerry Mack for the in-home stop. The message from the coaching staff to the prospect was simple.
“They said they are going to develop me and make me into a great person. They said they were going to expand my knowledge on anything I want to know about the game,” Herring said. “It was a great experience and something I never thought would happen. Everyone got along and we talked about everything.
“Coach Heupel and Jean-Mary were mostly leading the conversation. Coach BJ has been recruiting me the entire time. He’s my guy and I love him. He’s been talking to me about competing for playing time and said to trust in us and believe in myself and I’ll get there.”
The Riverdale standout was Heupel’s first pledge as Tennessee head coach as the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native committed back on April 14. Herring is a three-star linebacker standing in at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and should add some depth immediately to a razor-thin linebacking group.
Lining up on the edge at ‘LEO’ could also a possibility for Herring at times, but he’s mostly slotted for inside.
“They like how I’m aggressive and how I read well. I’m fast off the ball and get to the quarterback. I make plays all-around,” the commit said. “I’ve gotten better with the use of my hands and have improved reading players and recognizing plays.”
Tennessee’s committed class now sits at 15 players with five on the defensive side of the football. The Vols have started to gain some momentum with the commits of Joshua Josephs and Christian Harrison the past two weeks, but there is still work to be done.
Herring believes he plays a role in that as the founding member of the class.
“I’ve been texting a couple of guys. My role is to show them that Tennessee is a great place to be and that we all have faith in UT,” the linebacker said. “We all believe in each other and want to take this program a long way.
“This group has a great future. Everybody in this class is talented and wants to work. We have all gotten really close over the last few months and want to make Tennessee better. We want to win a national championship.”
Herring plans to begin his Volunteer journey in the very near future, signing his National Letter of Intent during the Early Signing Period with plans of enrolling in January. And with the journey just a few weeks away from becoming reality, there’s a lot to be excited about.
“I think they had a great season - way better than last year,” the prospect said of the Vols in conclusion. “They will do amazing in the bowl game. The offense and defense have gotten a lot better this year. They exceeded my expectations.
“It seems like they can do a lot on defense and play a whole bunch of people. I like how everyone runs to the football and how everyone is aggressive in making plays.”