Warren reassured after visit with Pruitt, excited for OV this weekend
Jacob Warren committed to the Vols almost seven months ago, but the Farragut tight end wasn’t sure where his future stood following Tennessee’s coaching change in November.
After a long and winding — and nervous — search, Warren got the reassurance he was looking for late last week. New head coach Jeremy Pruitt called Warren last Thursday and told the Vol legacy, whose father James played offensive line for Phillip Fulmer in the early 1990s, that he still had a spot at Tennessee.
“That’s kind of been the whole problem with them not having a coach in there is just you don’t really know if the new guy will come in and want you, still honor your commitment,” Warren told VolQuest.
“I talked to coach Pruitt on Thursday on the phone and he told me then they would honor my commitment and they still wanted me and that the offensive staff was impressed with my highlights. That was very reassuring because obviously a lot of dudes have had their offers taken away and they’ve had to find somewhere else to play out. Thankfully, that didn’t happen to me. It definitely stinks it happened to them, but I’m just glad that’s something I don’t have to worry about.”
Pruitt and offensive line coach Will Friend visited Warren on Wednesday at Farragut High. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound tight end has just a few more days left of high school before graduating early and enrolling at Tennessee in January. Warren said the visit went well, adding, “I’ve been anxious to meet coach Pruitt and talk with him 1-on-1. I’m reassured now that we got the right guy. It was good just to talk to him. It was good to sit down and just talk with him.
“My impression of him is that he’s ready to get to work. He’s ready to go. He’s just a man who works hard and takes pride in what he does. He wants to be the best. That’s definitely a quality of a leader that’s good for the program.”
Pruitt wants Warren to hit the weights hard this offseason and challenged the local product to be prepared for “what it takes to be successful in the SEC.” Warren finished his senior year with 39 catches for 659 yards and eight touchdowns, but he still needs to develop as a physical blocker on the line of scrimmage.
Warren enjoyed just getting to know Pruitt and Friend a little bit, even offer some local suggestions as a longtime resident of the area. Friend solicited some restaurants from Warren, who told him that Market Square and Gay Street are the hot spots in town and to checkout Cafe 4 and Nama.
"He wanted to know places to take his wife out for a date night," Warren said, chuckling.
Warren will be on campus this weekend for his official visit. He’s looking forward to hanging out with fellow commits Ollie Lane and Alontae Taylor, as well as help recruit a bunch of other prospects in town.
Pruitt offered no indications who Warren’s position coach would be, but the 3-star recruit is excited to meet the rest of the Tennessee’s staff this weekend.
“There’s so many rumors of who is on staff, hard to just hear who is in there and I’d just rather shake their hand, look them in the eye and start building relationships from there,” he said.
“I’m just excited to get in there with them and meet some new people.“