/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55605033/usa_today_9777742.0.jpg)
Tennessee got some welcomed news yesterday, picking up a commitment from JUCO defensive end Dorian Gerald. That was great and all, but some non-Tennessee news ended up bumping the Vols up the national rankings on Thursday night.
The news was a simple decommitment. Linebacker Adam Anderson — a four star edge prospect — left his LSU commitment last night with this tweet.
Please respect my decision!!! @Mansell247 @AllSprt @NwGaFootball pic.twitter.com/aXAANdja56
— Adam Anderson (@AdanAnderson5) July 7, 2017
(Anderson is a teammate of new Tennessee commit Jamarcus Chatman. File that away for later. Georgia is thought of as the leader here, however.)
LSU was sitting right in front of Tennessee in the national rankings. That loss took the Volunteers to 3rd nationally and 1st in the SEC. That’s quite an amazing feat for a team that sputtered down the stretch and lost to South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Following this news Tennessee jumps LSU for #3 recruiting class in the nation. Vols now have the SEC's #1 ranked recruiting class for 2018 https://t.co/MVMd3Nz0H4
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) July 7, 2017
Butch has taken program that fell on its face at the end of the year and maintained momentum through the Winter and Spring months. Now he sits atop the SEC just weeks before camp is set to start. You may not put much stock into recruiting rankings in July — I get it. But don’t underestimate this staff’s ability to sell the program. The new staffers around Butch seem to be making a huge difference.