Commitment analysis: Quavaris Crouch to Tennessee
THE SITUATION
Quavaris Crouch has gone back and forth about his favorite school and those twists and turns have finally led to his commitment to Tennessee. At various points in his recruitment, Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Florida State, South Carolina and others have had the momentum, but Tennessee peaked at the right time and ended up signing him on the last day of the Early Signing Period.
Crouch took official visits to Florida State, Clemson, Michigan and Tennessee, but it was a final unannounced unofficial visit to Tennessee this past weekend that helped tip the scales in favor of the Vols.
MORE EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: Blog | Bama at No. 1 in rankings | The Farrell Awards
WHY IT'S BIG FOR TENNESSEE
The Vols scored big in a few areas with Crouch’s commitment. On the field, Crouch is a big, versatile athlete that can excel on both sides of the ball. He is expected to start as a linebacker and he’s already shown he can rush the passer. As a junior, Crouch was used as a situational pass rusher and he was very disruptive.
If he doesn’t pan out as a linebacker, Tennessee could easily put him at running back, his natural position. Crouch rushed for more than 3,000 yards as a junior and is a wrecking ball that has the ability to play at Tennessee from day one.
The Vols had a need for more depth at linebacker and a big running back, so Crouch will fill one of those needs. Beating Clemson and Michigan for Crouch is also a feather in head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s cap.
SCHOOLS IT HURT THE MOST
Clemson and Michigan were really hoping to land Crouch. Clemson seemed like a lock but the Tigers lost their grip on him. It also helped the Vols that they were the only team to guarantee Crouch a fair shot at linebacker. Clemson and Michigan wavered on that toward the end of his recruitment. They coveted his versatility and wanted to use him on both sides of the ball, but now they’ll have to regroup and zero in on other targets for the run up to the February late signing period.
