Tennessee Vols have an opportunity to make life a little tougher for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss
The Tennessee Vols have an opportunity to make life a little tougher for Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels. Tennessee and Ole Miss are both pursuing 2023 four-star running back Dante Dowdell. Dowdell, 6-foot-1/207 lbs from Picayune, MS, is ranked in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 19 running back in the country and […]
The Tennessee Vols have an opportunity to make life a little tougher for Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels.
Tennessee and Ole Miss are both pursuing 2023 four-star running back Dante Dowdell.
Dowdell, 6-foot-1/207 lbs from Picayune, MS, is ranked in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 19 running back in the country and the No. 4 player in the state of Mississippi.
The Mississippi native is planning to announce his commitment on May 13. Tennessee and Ole Miss are in the mix, along with Arkansas, Florida State, and Oregon.
Kiffin and the Rebels are selling Dowdell on being the face of the program.
"They're (Ole Miss) really big on a Mississippi kid being the face of that school," said Dowdell to Rivals.com recently.
It's easy to see why the Rebels and the Vols are so interested in landing Dowdell — he's an NFL-sized running back who put up gaudy numbers as a high school junior in 2021 (2,555 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns).
Landing Dowdell isn't a "must" for Tennessee. He would simply be a luxury for the Vols. Josh Heupel and his staff haven't had any trouble landing talented offensive recruits. And if they don't get Dowdell, there are plenty of other 2023 running backs they could bring to Knoxville.
But Ole Miss, on the other hand, badly wants/needs Dowdell. It's imperative that Kiffin keeps elite in-state talent from leaving Mississippi. If the Vols went into Kiffin's backyard and stole one of the top recruits in the state, it would essentially be a slap in his face.
Tennessee never wants to pass on an opportunity to make Kiffin look bad.
So while this isn't a player Tennessee needs, it's still a player they should work hard to land. Dowdell is a good player that could find a lot of success in the Vols' offense. And maybe he could open the door to landing more players from Southern Mississippi.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
