In-state target Kaydin Pope was in town this weekend on an official visit with Tennessee and its new coaching staff.

“I was really just looking forward to getting there and meeting the coaches in person,” Pope said after the visit. “They would ask me what my favorite part was and I told them that’s what it was – meeting them and being able to talk to them in person.”

The Savannah, Tenn. native stars at wideout for Hardin County. The three-star stands in at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds and is tabbed as the No. 18 prospect in the state of Tennessee.

“I had some good impressions of these coaches and everyone has something great to say about this staff,” Pope told Volquest. “They told me ‘what you see is what you get’ with them and that’s one thing I’m really high on.

“That’s one thing all the players were telling me also. How they act in front of me is how they always act. That’s good to see.”

Tennessee’s new offense under Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Alex Golesh is exciting for offensive prospects.

With the up-tempo scheme, the Volunteers will run a bevy of plays in a short amount of time. That means, there’s plenty of opportunities for the ball to be shared around and likely more offensive drives to do it.

“They told me I’d have the opportunity to get the ball in the offense and to go and make a lot of plays,” the wide receiver said. “They have been preaching to me that they are going to keep the ball in the air and be an explosive and an aggressive offense.

“It’s definitely exciting for me.”

The Tennessee native visited Memphis, officially, early this month and hopes to check in with Auburn at some point this summer. A final decision isn’t likely until later down the road.

“I want to go to a few games so it might be sometime in September,” Pope looked ahead. “I think Tennessee definitely helped themselves out this weekend while I was in town. I’m really intrigued to see how they come together as a team this fall.

“I like the direction the team is heading with coach Heupel and I could see myself in a place like this. Everyone that was here is loving this [staff] more than the last coach. I’m glad to hear that.”

Tennessee wide receiver coach Kodi Burns has been heavy on the trail of Pope throughout the recruiting process and checks in with the nation’s 57th- best receiver prospect [Rivals] several times a week.

“I really like his character and how he is as a person,” Pope said of Burns. “He’s going to push me and he’s going to keep it real with me. He also really likes me – so I like all that about him.”

The three-star owns a Rivals Rating of 5.7.