Tennessee hosted several prospects Saturday night when the Vols took on Ole Miss. In-state athlete Marquez Taylor was among the group for his first game day experience at Neyland Stadium.

“That environment was too loud,” the 2023 target joked. “I liked the atmosphere there and it was very appealing as a prospect. I loved it.”

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound athlete does a little of everything for McKenzie High School. He’s playing running back mostly, but lines up at wide receiver at times. The prospect says he doesn’t play a bunch of defense right now, but he envisions himself playing on that side of the ball at the next level.

“I think I’m a good fit over there because of my size. I’m long and could do corner well,” Taylor said. “I liked the way the defense played. They locked down a lot of things. The quarterback just beat them running.

“They had a lot of good and some wrong, but it was good overall. They lost, but that’s ok.”

Taylor enjoyed watching the ‘Vol Walk’ in pregame and noted the pre-kickoff festivities were ‘cool.’ Those festivities included a flyover, lightshow and the team running through the ‘T’, being led out by a spotlight.

With it being a late game, the athlete didn’t get a chance to catch up with the coaching staff on Saturday. But according to Taylor, he speaks with the boss man often.

“Me and coach [Josh] Heupel talk about every day. He asks me how I’m doing and what I’ve been up to. They like me because I can play any position on the field, basically. I’m not just a one-guy person, but I can play a lot of different positions.”

The three-star has 10 offers to date with Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kentucky hailing from the Southeastern Conference. Taylor has interest in both the Vols and Rebels, so it was no surprise that he wanted to come to town for this matchup.

The McKenzie standout was at Kentucky last week for the LSU game and checked out Alabama earlier this season when the Tide took on Southern Miss. Taylor plans to take a trip to Michigan State later in the season.

As an in-state prospect – one who was impressed with the Saturday atmosphere and Tennessee defense – the Vols should be in play as the recruitment heats up over the next calendar year.

“Tennessee is in the conversation,” Taylor concluded. “I definitely have some top-schools coming up and Tennessee will be up there. It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun.”