Tennessee loses pair of four-star quarterback commitments on same day

Coaching changes often lead to shifts on commitment lists and that appears to be the case in Knoxville as the Volunteers lost a pair of four-star quarterback commitments on Wednesday. Early in the day four-star Florida quarterback prospect Michael Penix backed off his pledge via an announcement on Twitter and just a few hours later Rivals250 quarterback Adrian Martinez flipped his commitment from Tennessee to Nebraska.

The writing was on the wall for both prospects to move on from Tennessee after receiving interest from new programs. Penix recently visited hometown program USF as well as picked up an offer from Florida State. Martinez became a key target for new Nebraska coach Scott Frost and made his pledge to the Huskers just 11 days after officially being offered.

While Martinez made the decision on his own, it appears Penix no longer fit into the staff's plans.

"After conversations with the new staff it seems that's not the place that I'm being wanted," Penix wrote in a note posted to Twitter.

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Mike Farrell said that these type of moves are common when a new staff comes in, but now the Vols face an uphill battle in finding a quarterback for this year's class.

"It’s a big deal in one respect because now they need to scramble and find their guy," Farrell said. "But they essentially cut ties with Penix so they truly lost only one."

Since the new staff took over in Knoxville the school has yet to offer any quarterback prospects. One potential option could be four-star quarterback Tanner McKee, who was being recruited by now-Vols offensive coordinator Tyson Helton while he was at USC and said over the weekend he had been in touch with Helton. However, McKee is planning to take an LDS mission and isn't expect to enroll in the school of his choice until 2020.

It's also possible the Vols explore a grad transfer or JUCO prospect at the position, but the next move remains to be seen.

The Vols current roster features rising senior Quinten Dormady and rising sophomores Jarrett Guarantano and Will McBride. But Dormady suffered a season-ending injury and may elect to transfer considering he was benched in favor of Guarantano midway through the season.