Tennessee commit's wait-and-see approach includes visit plans

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Te'Cory Couch is committed to Tennessee. He’s comfortable with the program and has no immediate plans to back off his verbal pledge to the Vols.

But that doesn’t mean the four-star defensive back is particularly excited about the Vols’ season. Bring up rumors of an impending coaching change, and Couch flashes a smile mixed a shake of his head.

“Man, I don’t even want to talk about it,” he said on Friday. “I’m just going to wait to see what happens. I’m going to stay committed until I figure out what’s going to happen and what’s going on there.”

And so Couch will form backup plans. A class-of-2019 prospect, the South Florida-product has a pile of time at his disposal. There’s no rush. There’s no immediate deadline, either. At this point, he’s talking to schools of interest as a precautionary measure.

“I talk to Clemson, Illinois, Kentucky, and Oklahoma .. Oklahoma a lot,” Couch said. “The coaches at Oklahoma, he talks to me about how things are going with my recruitment and stuff like that. I like Oklahoma. With Clemson, they just send me little motivational messages and stuff so far.”

Couch’s wait-and-see approach is accompanied by tentative post-season visit plans. No dates are set in stone on that front, but the four-star prospect knows what he’d like to see.

“I want to go back to Tennessee once the season is over for sure,” Couch said. “I want to go see Oklahoma. I want to go to Clemson. That’s about it right now.’

Couch, who says he hopes to land offers from Florida State, Michigan, Alabama, and Clemson in the year ahead, is currently ranked as the No. 14 safety and the No. 234 overall prospect in the 2019 class. He attends Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna High School.