A parent’s perspective: How Lampley became a Vol

Jackson Lampley has bled Orange since before birth.

Seriously.

In 2000, right in front of Vol alumni Brad and Christy Lampley, Florida’s Jabar Gaffney caught the controversial game-winning touchdown pass to beat Tennessee.

Jackson kicked in disgust.

Roughly three months pregnant, it was one of the first times Christy had felt her baby boy.

“She’ll get mad at me for telling that story,” joked Brad, a former Tennessee offensive lineman and a member of Phillip Fulmer’s first recruiting class with the Vols.

Yet 18 years later, everyone in the Lampley household is smiling. Glowing, really.

Jackson Lampley officially committed to the Vols on Thursday, as the 2019 offensive lineman from Montgomery Bell Academy (Tenn.) chose Tennessee over Auburn, Penn State, South Carolina, Wisconsin and others.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “One of the biggest things coach (Jeremy) Pruitt told me is that he wants me to help start the rebuilding process. I feel like that can go a lot quicker if I was the first to commit.”

Jackson Lampley, now a mauling 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman, received his Tennessee offer from former coach Butch Jones in October of 2016. He wanted to commit on the spot, but Dad wouldn’t let him.

Brad knew his son had his own visions of ‘Running through the T,' but the now-Nashville lawyer was “clear from Day 1” that Jackson’s football future would be decided from an informed perspective. He’d make an educated choice, not an emotional one.

“It was fantastic to get the early offer,” Brad said. “But Jackson’s natural instinct was, ‘Well, I’m going to go ahead and commit.’ But first of all, I told him, ‘Let’s have a good junior year and see how that pans out. Go see some schools and see where it goes from there.’”

While battling the stigma that he was destined to end up at UT, Lampley toured the country and became enamored with several programs far away from Knoxville. He connected instantly with Herb Hand at Auburn. James Franklin made it known he was a priority at Penn State. He visited Wisconsin in November.

“At the end of the day, it had be his decision,” Brad said.

“Yea, he’s a kid who bleeds Orange. Has been around the program. He’s met all the people, but at the same time, if you go to place because your parents went there and that’s where mom and dad are pushing you to go to, it’s never going to work.

"You’ve got to be able to look around and know this is the place for you, and that you came to that decision on your own. Otherwise it’s never going to work. That’s the way we approached it.”

The irony of it all is that Jackson nearly ended up sporting a different shade of orange just several months ago.

“Folks won’t believe it but it was really serious,” Brad said, “He nearly committed to Auburn.”

In the fall, Tennessee was in the midst of its worst season in school history while Hand and the Tigers were leaning hard on Lampley. A week after watching UT lose again — this time in a monsoon with an interim head coach — Lampley was on the sidelines watching Auburn beat No. 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl.

“You’re on the field after the game, rolling Toomer’s Corner and everything. It’s pretty enticing. That’s hard for kids to resist. After the game was over, I think in the couple days and weeks afterward he was really leaning strong toward Auburn and was close to committing,” Brad explained.

“He felt a really good fit down there and a great vibe. It’s a small town. It’s in the South. He liked all of that. He really liked Herb Hand, so all that and a combination of how the Tennessee program struggled this fall. It was tough on him, as it was for a lot of recruits.”

But on the advice of his parents, Jackson waited. He wanted to see who Tennessee hired.

"I owed Tennessee that much.”

Following a circus coaching search, the Vols landed on Pruitt, who quickly reached out to Lampley. In early January, the 3-star lineman went to Rocky Top for the umpteenth time in his life — but the purpose of his latest visit was all business. Lampley wanted to connect with Pruitt and new offensive line coach Will Friend. He asked lots of questions and bonded with fellow offensive lineman Trey Smith and Ollie Lane.

By the end of the trip, Jackson was being recruited like he was already the inaugural member of Pruitt's 2019 class.

“Will told him at the basketball game, ‘We need someone to jump in the boat and get this thing rolling.’ I think that really weighed heavily on him,” Brad said.

“It meant something that they approached him and said, ‘We need you to be that guy.’”On the ride back the Nashville, Jackson mulled over his talks with Tennessee’s new coaches. He felt a strong comfort level with Friend and believed in Pruitt’s vision. His decision was made, and he told his parents, “I want to go to Tennessee.”

“The process is hard. Social media and fans and all that pressure. It’s tough and it’s not easy, and so if you don’t really know in your heart, there’s a lot of days you’ll second guess that if you just jump in early,” Brad said.

“But we’ve been to 20 different campuses in last 18 months. We were very clear, if you’re going to commit, you’re done with trips and traveling. It’s over. Really, it’s the most informed decision we could make. When he finally said, ‘I’m ready.’ I said, ‘Ok.’ It was an informed decision. He won’t have any regrets.”

Now, Jackson becomes the vanguard of the Vols’ 2019 class. He’s willingly accepted that responsibility, and while the hulking, humble offensive lineman isn’t much for the limelight, he’s focused on bringing stars will him to Tennessee.

“He’s excited to move onto this next part of process. He has clarity about what he’s doing next,” Brad said. “He wants to be a part of something and be the first guy in the boat in this class and build something special at Tennessee.”

Jackson has his eye on a number of marquee targets, and he’s leaning on the leadership advice from a former Tennessee legend. In June, UT’s newest commit had the chance to talk 1-on-1 with Al Wilson at the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

With Vol luminaries like Phillip Fulmer, Chad Clifton and others in attendance, Wilson personally called Jackson over to chat, and the pair talked for more than 10 minutes. The former All-American linebacker candidly explained exactly what it meant to be a Vol — and how Jackson could be a leader for Tennessee at the next level.

Soon after, a stunned Jackson hurried back over to his dad and recalled the conversation. Brad simply grinned and nodded.

“If I could start any football team, my first pick would be Al. Not Peyton (Manning). Not Leonard (Little). Al. I’ve never seen a better leader. Period,” Brad said.

Eight months later, Wilson’s comments on accountability, toughness and leadership still resonate with Jackson, and now, Tennessee’s newest commit plans on approaching recruiting for the Vols with Wilson’s wise words in mind. He’s elated to be a Vol and his sole focus is on getting Tennessee back to where it was in the 90’s.

“He’s been really blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. We’re so proud,” Brad said.

“He’s going to get a business degree, but he wants to be a coach. He’s got visions of that and he knows what’s resonated with him during the recruiting process. His conversation with Al. So on Day 1, he reached out to Darnell Wright, Bill Norton and Joe Anderson, who he’s known since the fourth grade.

“He’s ready.”