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Tennessee in the mix for 2019 OLB

Before Jeremy Pruitt got to Rocky Top, Tennessee wasn’t a school seriously on Kevin Harris’ radar.

Sure, the 4-star outside linebacker from Grayson High (Ga.) held an offer from the previous staff at UT and had visited a couple times, but the coaching change in Knoxville has made Tennessee an actual factor in Harris’ recruitment moving forward. While Clemson and Georgia remain the clear frontrunners, Harris said his visit to Tennessee changed things a bit.

“It really has,” he told VolQuest.com “I’m considering them more. It’s just something new.”

Last spring, Harris visited Tennessee and got a look at the locker room, indoor practice facility and Neyland Stadium. This trip was about business though, getting to sit-down with outside linebackers coach Chris Rumph and start a relationship from scratch.

Harris has a strong rapport with former UGA outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer, now the defensive coordinator at UT, but the junior pass rusher spent most of his visit last Saturday getting to know Rumph.

“This (visit) was real different. There was a whole lot of coaches I hadn’t met before, and I felt like I needed to meet and have a relationship with them,” Harris said.

“I was just getting to know coach Rumph. He was pretty cool. We watched a lot of film, shared some stories. He’s real laid back and everybody I talked to says he’s cool.”

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During the film study, Harris watched tape of former Alabama pass rusher Tim Williams and he and Rumph also broke down his own cut-ups, with Tennessee’s new outside linebackers assistant passing along a few tips.

“He taught me some things I can improve on for next season,” Harris said. “All about staying low, coming off the ball, my bend. Just techniques I can work on.”

Harris is an Under Armour All-American and the 6-foot-5, 205-pound outside linebacker really impressed folks down at the Future 50 event in Orlando earlier this month. The Top150 prospect could be in line for a ratings bump after such a strong showing.

“I felt like I needed to go down there and prove something to people,” he said.

As a junior, Harris had five sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 10 hurries, and he’s looking to up that production in 2018. The 4-star prospect expects to add some serious weight and strength this summer during training, especially since he’s no where near done growing.

“Some schools think I might turn into a defensive end because there’s a high chance I might gain a whole lot of weight in the next two years just because that’s how the genes are in my family,” Harris explained, noting that his dad is around 6-foot-6, 290 pounds.

“Either way, I’ll be prepared to play both positions. This summer I’m going to get it rolling. Checking schools off and all that.”

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