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Who Is Kahlil McKenzie?

Getting to know one of Tennessee's biggest recruiting targets.

By Hunter Turner
Change that hat to Tennessee orange already!
Change that hat to Tennessee orange already!
Wescott Eberts

Kahlil McKenzie is massive 6'4, 330 pound defensive tackle rated five-stars in the 247 Sports Composite. Considered one of the best players at his position, McKenzie is also one of the top 25 players in the entire country, and a top priority for Tennessee's 2015 recruiting class. Yesterday, Patrick profiled McKenzie's unique recruitment, with Butch Jones hiding a UT bucket hat around campus for him to find in various locations, including:

  1. on the 1998 National Championship trophy;
  2. on Jon Gruden's head; and,
  3. on the Outland Trophy won by star defensive tackle (and #VFL) John Henderson.

McKenzie is also a double Vol legacy, with both his grandfather uncle and his father (current Oakland Raiders GM and former Vols linebacker Reggie McKenzie) having starred on the Hill.

McKenzie destroying everything in his path (credit: Wescott Eberts, SBNation Recruiting).

McKenzie has dominated the competition on the national recruiting camp circuit, and earned an invitation to the prestigious All-Star competition The Opening, which is held in early July at the Nike World Headquarters in Oregon. McKenzie plans to announce his commitment to either Tennessee or Arizona at The Opening, with most recruiting analysts believing the Vols to be the overwhelming favorite.

So who is Kahlil McKenzie, not just as a talented recruit, but as a person? The staff at Student Sports gave McKenzie a GoPro to document his recruitment and training leading up to The Opening, so take a look at one of the biggest future pieces of Tennessee's #RiseToTheTop:

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