Breaking down Jerome Carvin's commitment to Tennessee

Tennessee landed another major target in the 2018 class when four-star Cordova, Tenn. offensive lineman Jerome Carvin made his announcement on Wednesday morning. Carvin had long been deciding between Mississippi State and Tennessee and was faced with quite the dilemma once both schools had new coaches late in the process. He joins four-star teammate and close friend Jeremy Banks in the Vols' class. Carvin’s commitment was a long time coming as the Vols led at various points throughout the process and finally sold him on the chance to stay in-state and potentially see the field early in his career.

This is another major win for new coach Jeremy Pruitt, both in terms of adding on-field talent and in public perception. Unlike Banks, Carvin has been long-coveted by the Vols dating back to the previous coaching staff and that’s because of his ability to play multiple positions along the offensive line. The four-star prospect was once a target of Alabama and was also heavily pursued by UCLA, Memphis and others. Keeping him away from Mississippi State is the biggest achievement, though, as the Bulldogs and Vols are likely to be clashing over recruits from the Memphis area in the years to come.

Memphis recently hired Carvin’s high school head coach to an on-field position, so missing on both Banks and Carvin stings because of their proximity and their ties to the program. Mississippi State did a good job of building on a relationship built by the previous staff and despite a few holdovers, couldn’t quite do enough to land Carvin. Mississippi State will now turn its focus to other offensive linemen and perhaps try to unearth some diamonds in the rough.