They say life comes at you in a hurry. So does recruiting if you talk to Chattanooga Brainerd athlete Joseph Norwood.

It wasn't long ago that he had very little traction and was committed to Chattanooga. More schools came calling and that included a late call from Tennessee to offer him a full scholarship on Wednesday m. Norwood answered simply by picking orange and will sign with Tennessee at 1 pm.

"Tennessee is college football to me," Norwood said. "Growing up I didn't know the Tennessee Tech's, MTSU's or Tennessee State's. Playing for the Vols has always been a dream. I remember going to my first Vols game and walking into the stadium and I lost my breath. You just feel the adrenaline. I've always wondered what it would be like and now I'm getting that opportunity to make a name for myself and help change the program."

Norwood visited Tennessee un-officially last weekend, as the coaches did their research on the Chattanooga product. On Tuesday, he told Volquest that coaches FaceTimed with him and had him dunking basketballs. It was clearly in an effort to continue to evaluate him.

They had seen enough and that's when Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt reached out to Norwood on Wednesday morning to give him the good news.

"I'm so excited," Norwood said. "I just appreciate everyone on the staff and their patience throughout this process. I can't wait to get to Tennessee."

Norwood was going to sign with MTSU this afternoon, but will now head north on I-75 where the coaches are excited about their diamond in the rough.

"They like my length and my ability to be physical," Norwood said. "They see a lot of potential in me because of my frame and athleticism. I play three sports and I have good ball skills and they like that. They just see a lot of potential in me."

This past season was Norwood's first time playing defense. It was eye opening and rewarding as the Vols love his future on defense.

"I felt like defense is more of a challenge," Norwood said. "My main focus was learning the fundamentals of back pedaling and getting my hips turned. It made me take a whole different look at football. Running routes is a lot easier than guarding someone who is running routes. I had fun with it and tried to be a ball hawk and just be where ever I could be to make plays."

His first offer came from Kennesaw State and Norwood thought he may end up there for the first part of his recruitment. Then things started to change in both his recruitment and his outlook on how he can make an impact.

"When I first went there I loved it," Norwood said. "I was seeing my hard work paying off and I embraced it. Now that the bigger offers have come in, it's humbled me more. It's made me realize you never put a limit on what you can or can't do.

“I never thought I'd land a Tennessee offer or others. I just learned you don't put a ceiling on your dreams because when I look back my life has changed for the better. It's helped me a better young man because people are looking up to me. It's taught me to speak to people the right way and have an impact on young kids and motivate them to keep working hard to be in the same position I'm in."