It remains true that even in its best of times, the core of Tennessee football needs to be built around in-state players. Jackson’s own Al Wilson being the heart of the 1998 national championship team is proof of that.
However, it’s also true that the Vols have always prided themselves as a program on being able to go more national than other schools. After all, Peyton Manning, Leonard Little, Peerless Price and Jamel Lewis were all key figures during that late 1990s run and came from all over.
Jeremy Pruitt is trying to get back to that tradition on Rocky Top, and it’s already showing on the recruiting trail.