TE Jacob Warren walks in family footsteps, commits to Tennessee

Jacob Warren grew up rocking Pantone 151 T-shirts and attending games in Neyland Stadium.

His father, James Warren, was an offensive lineman at Tennessee in the early 1990s, so when the 2018 Farragut tight end emerged as an SEC-caliber prospect, everyone just assumed Warren would simply end up at Tennessee, too.

Well, they were right.

Warren committed to the Vols on Wednesday, but not before the 6-foot-6, 205-pound tight end made sure he gave every other program from coast to coast a fair shake.

“I’ve been all around,” Warren said. “I’ve been to all the schools and everything on my visits, in the back of my mind, I always thought, ‘Is this place going to be able to take me away from Tennessee?’

"Really, this place is my home. I grew up coming to games here in Neyland Stadium. It’s just exciting to finally make a decision. … It’s just crazy how all these dreams I’ve done as a child are going to come true. I’m going to be a Vol. Representing my hometown, my home state is a big part of my decision.”

Warren is now the 11th commit — and third local product along with offensive linemen Cade Mays and Ollie Lane — in Tennessee’s 2018 class. He chose the Vols over pushes from Oregon, South Carolina, Auburn, Vanderbilt and others.

This spring, a long, arduous trip to Eugene, Ore., cemented Warren’s decision to stay home. After missing a connecting flight, Warren and his family were forced to sleep in the Portland airport before driving a couple hours to the Ducks’ campus the next day. Although the visit was good, Warren and his mom immediately decided the distance was too much.

“With all the visits, it was just about making sure I wasn’t selling myself short, he said. “Making sure there wasn’t a school out there I really, really wanted to go to. … But I really like this place.”

For a time last fall, Warren wasn’t sure he’d actually have the opportunity to ‘Run through the T’ in college. He was being recruited by a number of other schools, but Tennessee didn’t extend an offer until early December.

The Vols aggressively jumped into the mix after Warren exploded to end his junior season, helping the Admirals win a state championship. Halfway through the Farragut’s 2016 season, a conversation with another college coach — who challenged Warren to couple his impressive physical attributes with some good film — completely changed the tight end’s future.

“A spark kind of hit me. I was like, ‘You’ve got to get going. You’ve got to work. You’ve got to play hard. I think (I’m) still going up,” Warren said.

The rangy playmaker scored a touchdown in the final six games of the season, finishing the year with 29 receptions for 479 yards and 9 touchdowns.

“A coach really motivated him, asking him to get some plays on tape, and that helped us because he went out there and did that,” Farragut offensive coordinator Rusty Parton said.

“He’s made some great catches in traffic (last year).”

This spring, Warren was a regular at Tennessee’s practices, developing a strong bond with tight end’s coach and offensive coordinator Larry Scott. He’s excited that Scott will be both his position coach and manager of the offense.

“It’s great coming into a program where the offensive coordinator is also the tight ends coach,” he said. “I’m excited to see what he’s going to do this season.”