3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Defensive back is a huge need in this year’s Tennessee recruiting class, and the Vols addressed that today with the addition of Brunswick (Ga.) cornerback Justin Coleman.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound three-star corner is the second defensive back to commit to UT, joining Atlanta safety Brian Randolph, and he’s also the second commitment in the past two days for the Vols. That makes nine commits overall for the Vols, who expect to get #10 on Friday.

Coleman is the 22nd-ranked cornerback in the nation and is expected by many experts to earn his fourth star before the rankings are over. Last weekend, he camped at Florida State and earned an offer from the Seminoles. In the end, he chose UT over Kentucky and also had other offers from Louisville, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and others.  Yellow Jackets fans say they passed on Coleman as well , so, of course, this is “yet another player that nobody wanted” according to opposing fans. Oh well, his film looks pretty good to me. He can fly, but he does look like he could use some weight.

According to ESPN.com: Justin Coleman (Brunswick, Fla./Brunswick) was a safety we liked off film evaluation and he only improved his stock at this NFTC. He has a good blend of size and athleticism and showed good breaking quickness, and strong plant-and-drive skill as an underneath zone defender. Coleman showed fine ball skills as well.

Coleman is also the No. 29 player in the loaded state of Georgia this year — a position that, last year, earned a fourth star. he kind of popped on the recruiting radar when he performed well at the Gainesville Nike Camp, showing up on Rivals list of top performers at that event, where Barton Simmons wrote about him:

This New Brunswick, Ga., standout began asserting himself early in the day during the agility work and position drills and he continued his strong play until the end of the camp. Listed at 5 feet 11, Coleman seems even bigger than that because of his long arms and torso. He has the body to play safety or corner but he has the cover skills to be strictly an island corner. Coleman is explosive off of the ground in attacking the football, he has good reactionary skills in coverage and he has the hips play the position.

Coleman joins Bristol’s Brendan Downs as this week’s UT commitments. Hopefully, Downs’ teammate Mack Crowder — who has a terrific offer sheet [though, he too is GASP! a three-star] — will become No. 3 of the week on Friday.

Welcome to Big Orange Country, Mr. Coleman!