Vols 'on top' for New Orleans pass-rusher Khari Coleman
New Orleans, Louisiana pass rusher Khari Coleman has been hearing from Vol assistant David Johnson for a while. Johnson, a Louisiana native has solid ties to New Orleans and Carver. Coleman finally made his way to Knoxville this weekend and flew home very impressed by Tennessee.
"They are on top," the Kansas commit said about the Vols. "It was a nice visit. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I just feel like the coaches keep it real there. It was just a good time."
The relationship with Johnson has put Tennessee in solid position to land the elite pass rush specialist.
"He's been going hard at me," Coleman said. "I'm one of his top guys that is not committed and I like that he has ties to where I'm from. He knows Louisiana and he's just been pushing the opportunities they have."
And overall that was the biggest impression that Coleman felt all weekend when talking to the staff. They just kept pushing they need help getting to the quarterback off the edge.
"They told me they really need to come in and be able to help them," Coleman said. "Just pushing the opportunity to play early."
On Sunday, Coleman sat down with Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt to talk about how he sees his game fitting into the Vol defense.
"I like the style of defense that he runs," Coleman said. "He has a history of putting guys in the league from his time at Alabama. He knows what it takes to get there and he knows how to develop players.
"They need more speed off the edge and he likes how valuable I can be because I can do multiple things on the defensive side off the edge."
Coleman was accompanied by his family on the visit and they also enjoyed the weekend on Rocky Top.
"My family enjoyed the visit a lot," Coleman said. "They liked the support and everything around the program. They liked the academic side of things and how they help you with the program that you want to study."
Coleman will visit TCU and Vanderbilt the next couple of weeks before signing on December 18th.