Tennessee hosted a slew of junior college offensive lineman this weekend on official visits, and while everyone walked away impressed, Jahmir Johnson nearly left making some news.
The Arizona Western C.C. offensive tackle said, “I loved everything about it: The coaching staff, the area, the atmosphere, the fans. Everything.”
Asked if he nearly committed on the visit, Johnson chuckled and said, “I definitely did. I’ll be committing real soon though. Everybody stay tuned.”
Johnson earned a Tennessee offer from the previous staff, but Jeremy Pruitt and Will Friend quickly made the 6-foot-6, 278-pound redshirt freshman a priority for their 2018 class. The former Rhode Island transfer spent a lot of time with Friend this weekend, and he really appreciated the offensive line coach’s candor and frankness. The two spent more than a hour together 1-on-1 on Sunday, calling the long meeting “a great, great talk.”
“When you grow up in Philly, you just got to keep it 100, and I felt like they just kept it 100 with me throughout this weekend,” Johnson, originally a Pennsylvania native, explained.
"They didn’t sugarcoat nothing. Everything was straight. That’s what I live by. You have to keep it 100 and keep it moving.”
Despite Tennessee’s dearth of offensive linemen — especially tackles — Johnson said the new staff didn’t promise him anything other than an opportunity to come in and compete.
“Coach (Friend) talked about reps more than he talked about a spot. Nobody can guarantee you a starting spot. You have to earn everything. That’s what I mean by him keeping it straight. You would never tell a kid that he would get a starting spot. You always have to grind for it. He based it off reps and how many I’d be getting.”
Johnson made the weekend trip with three of his teammates at Arizona Western C.C. — tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, wideout Jaron Woodyard and tailback Greg Bell. He also got to reconnect with former Philadelphia high school teammate Johncarlo Valentin. It all made the trip even more special.
“It was amazing. Just amazing," he said. "It’s all fun when you can come on a visit by yourself, but when you have your boys with you, the guys you grind with everyday, it’s different. It’s different, and different is definitely better.”
Asked if the group discussed playing together at the next level, Johnson smirked and said, “That’s a thought that we had. We’ve talked about it: You feel me?”
After the visit, Johnson said Tennessee is firmly in his “Top 2” but he doesn’t have another favorite school in mind as he nears a decision. He’s already taken trips to Arkansas and Missouri and will visit Southern Cal before making an announcement closer to February’s National Signing Day.
Tennessee left Johnson with a nice final impression to remember, too, as he got to take in a bit of the basketball game as part of a sellout crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena in the showdown with against No. 7 North Carolina.
“Amazing setting,” Johnson said. “When we came in there everybody knew who we was. It was amazing. To know that there was (20K fans there) and there’d be 80K more at the football games? Amazing. That’s something I want to be a part of.”
