June is starting to heat up for Tennessee Football. The Vols secured a commitment from four-star in-state athlete Boo Carter Saturday and four-star linebacker Jordan Burns Tuesday. However, they still had more work to do.
In order to prove they were truly back and recruiting where they need to be, they needed to score a big commitment from another state that the elite SEC programs were targeting. Filling a big need would also help.
On Wednesday, Tennessee Football did both. Max Anderson, a four-star offensive lineman out of Frisco, Texas, announced his commitment to the Vols on Twitter.
Hereβs to new beginningsπ ποΈ π #GBO #RockyTop pic.twitter.com/5jHCFYiftj
— πΌππ‘ π°πππππππ (@MaxAnders0n1) June 21, 2023
Anderson stands at 6’5″ 309 pounds and is likely to be an interior offensive lineman, although he could play on the outside. The prospect from Reedy High School, just outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, took an official visit back on June 9.
Make no mistake, this is a huge pickup for UT. Anderson committed to the Vols despite heavy interest from the Oklahoma Sooners and Alabama Crimson Tide. His brother, Nate Anderson, is a redshirt sophomore for OU.
Given the fact that OU has a Texas pipeline, has a family member of Anderson’s on their team and is a very prestigious program about to be more prestigious by joining the SEC, this is a big deal. Beating out Alabama is icing on the cake.
Texas isn’t going to be a regular pipeline state for the Vols, but it’s key for them to win a few of these battles in all the major SEC states. Sure, it starts with Georgia and South Carolina, but they need a prospects from elsewhere in the south too.
It does help that the Vols were among the first schools to offer Anderson, scouting him in early 2022, and OU being a program in question under Brent Venables made Anderson an easier get. That doesn’t explain Alabama, though.
The Michigan Wolverines were also a major school in play, and they run an offense that would seemingly be more conducive to a blocker like Anderson. He still chose UT, though.
Looking at the commitments the past three weeks, Carter was a necessary one as an elite in-state athlete. Burns is a solid win out of Georgia, but despite his four-star status, his offers suggest the Vols didn’t have serious competition with blue bloods.
As a result, Anderson is the biggest get in terms of identifying where Rocky Top is when it comes to recruiting under Josh Heupel right now. Fans should be thrilled with this.
When it comes to need, offensive line is a major concern for the future of the Vols, and while they had two other commitments already, Anderson is clearly the best of the three in terms of ratings. This helps them a lot.
If Tennessee Football can continue to beef up the line in the coming weeks, then the class will be exactly where it needs to be. Already, they have moved up to No. 9 nationally and are fourth in the SEC on 247Sports Composite.
