Vols pushing hard for former Kentucky commit, Jeremiah Caldwell

A priority target for Tennessee hit the open market Sunday night when four-star defensive back Jeremiah Caldwell decommitted from Kentucky.

“When I had committed a few months ago, I felt like this was the right choice for me and my family,” Caldwell said his decommitment post yesterday. “With a lot of time and thinking, I will be de-committing from the University of Kentucky and making my recruitment back 100 percent open.”

The Belleville, Mich. native told Volquest shortly after he felt as if it was ‘a little too early for a commitment’ when he made the call in January and that he feels it’s time to ‘re-open things’ in his process.

Kentucky is still in the conversation, however, for Caldwell.

Tennessee, who offered the 6-foot-3, 175-pound athlete following a June camp, is in the thick of the race with defensive coordinator Tim Banks and defensive backs coach Willie Martinez in regular contact with the prospect.

“I’ve been talking to those two a lot since the offer,” Caldwell told Volquest. “We each have pretty normal and basic conversations. They ask about how I’m doing and ask about my team. They both say they like me a lot at safety because they know I can cover and that I’m long.”

The former Wildcat commit has 10 offers to date with Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa State pushing the hardest right now. Other programs such as Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Cincinnati and Toledo haven’t backed down either.

“I’m looking at the coaches to see if they can build relationships with the players,” the four-star said. “I’d like to speak to some of the players who are at these places and some of the players who are already committed as well to see what they say about the program.”

Tennessee is in good shape there as childhood friend and new Tennessee defensive back Kamal Hadden keep in touch.

“My older brother grew up with Kamal, so he was always at the house,” the prospect said. “He is telling me that he likes it there and that it’s a good fit for him. He is straight-up with me. He tells me that if he likes it there, he knows I will too because we come from the same background.”

Caldwell is the 10th-rated player in the state of Michigan, the 24th-rated athlete in the class and owns a 5.8 Rivals Rating. He was busy in June – making stops at Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, Tennessee State, Alabama, Ferris State and a few other places.

“Summer was long and I hardly had any breaks. I had several sequences where I camped in back-to-back days,” the Volunteer target said. “It was a great experience though and I loved the competition. It was really fun traveling around seeing the South and Midwest. It felt like I went everywhere.”

Caldwell plans to play a lot of cornerback and wide receiver for Belleville this season. He’ll also line up at safety and nickelback in certain packages and potentially against certain teams. In the meantime, the prospect will continue to process everything in recruiting by taking it day-by-day.

Still, the Volunteers are in this one.

“I really like coach Martinez because he keeps it 100 [percent] with me,” Caldwell concluded. “At the camp down at Tennessee, we were doing drills and he was telling me right there what I have to improve on. I really liked that.

“I could envision myself being there. I really enjoyed it when I was down there in June.”