Published Apr 21, 2019
Is Tennessee in the mix for Peach State linebacker Wesley Steiner?
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Austin Price  •  VolReport
Assistant Editor
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ATLANTA — Warner Robins (Ga.) linebacker Wesley Steiner was all smiles on Friday night after his performance at the Rivals camp in Atlanta. He took home the MVP award for his position and was invited to the 5-star challenge in June. It was a rare moment this spring for him to work on his craft and talk about the recruiting process.

"My recruitment has been going well," Steiner said. "I'm really focused on track season right now so I'm not trying to do much visiting or anything. I'm not really interacting with coaches right now. I want to focus on track until spring ball opens up in a few weeks. My schedule is always packed."

Stanford, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson and others are recruiting Steiner. Vols linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer is in charge of recruiting Steiner and the Houston County product plans on coming back to Tennessee for camp later this spring.

"I know Tennessee is pretty and they have tradition and they have Gus's the chicken place near there," Steiner said. "The coaches tell me that they like that I'm big, fast and smart. That's what I hear from them."

Steiner sees the need for linebackers at Tennessee. It's the pitch from Sherrer, who is looking to find more depth at his position.

"I talk coach Sherrer a good bit," Steiner said. "I like how mellow he is. He doesn't go over the top and is pretty straight to the point."

His most recent visit was to Stanford to see one of the schools that he is intrigued by. Obvioulsy the biggest question that comes up is the distance from home. Is that a factor for Steiner?

"I'm comfortable with it, but my family isn't," Steiner said. "They constantly tell me that they know I'll make the right choice. If push came to shove they could watch it on the Pac 12 network. I have some family out there so they could stay with them and plan out a trip."

And when he sits down to focus on a decision, he knows what he's looking for in a school. It's about finding the right fit both academically and athletically.

"How strong my degree is going to be," Steiner said. "I'm not worried about playing time. That's going to come when it comes. The feel of the coaching staff. Who is going to set me up the best with what I'm given to get to the next level and get my degree."

Steiner wants to be a college coach some day. He is looking at schools with good business schools in an effort to get a solid degree and set himself up for the future.

Rivals.com ranks Steiner as a 3-star linebacker in the class of 2020.