Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching staff was responsible for the Tennessee Vols’ “biggest recruiting find” of the last decade according to The Athletic’s Manny Navarro.

Navarro put together a list of the top recruiting find by each Power-4 program over the last decade.

And he went with wide receiver Cedric Tillman for the Volunteers.

Tillman, who played at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, was rated as a three-star recruit. He was ranked in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 246 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 1,677 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class.

“The Volunteers offered the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman grad three days before signing day to sway him away from committing to either Hawaii, UNLV or Weber State,” wrote Navarro. “Tillman was a backup in Knoxville for three years before breaking out with 64 catches for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021. He was drafted in the third round by the Browns in 2023.”

Cedric Tillman was signed by Jeremy Pruitt’s staff, but he had his best seasons under Josh Heupel

Pruitt and his staff discovered Tillman when then offensive coordinator Tyson Helton was told by his brother, then USC head coach Clay Helton, about the talented wide receiver.

“(Clay Helton) came down to the school to visit one of our players, and he wanted to talk to me,” said Tillman to GoVols247 in 2018. “He said, ‘I like you,’ but all their spots are basically taken up, so that was kind of the situation there. He was just upset that nobody had picked me up, so he wanted to help me try to get into a good school.

“He told me that he was going to show me to the (Tennessee) coaches and told me he was going to do everything he could. But you’re like, ‘OK, you say that …’ But you know what? Actually, he did, and he helped me out a lot and his brother actually did hit me up.”

Tillman caught just eight passes for 124 yards during his three seasons under Pruitt.

It wasn’t until Heupel was hired that Tillman took off. The Las Vegas native caught 64 passes for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns during his first season under Heupel. Injuries limited Tillman to just 37 receptions for 417 yards and three touchdowns in six games during his final season at Tennessee.

Pruitt’s staff may be responsible for signing Tillman, but it was Heupel’s staff that turned him into an NFL draft pick.