The Tennessee Vols have 16 players committed to their 2027 recruiting class, and they’re looking to add a few more before the end of the summer.

One of the players the Vols are targeting is four-star safety Marcus Jones, who took an official visit to Tennessee earlier this month.

Jones, 6-foot-3/190 pounds from Haverford, PA, is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 22 safety in the nation and the No. 9 player in the state of Pennsylvania.

On3’s Steve Wiltfong predicted last week that Tennessee will land a commitment from Jones.

“Marcus Jones is closing in on a college decision,” wrote Wiltfong. “Tennessee is the program to beat. Talking to sources with knowledge of the recruitment I’ve logged a prediction in favor of the Vols to add the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Jones to the class.”

Jones, however, took an official visit to Michigan this past weekend that has put Wiltfong’s prediction in doubt.

Marcus Jones had a positive visit to Michigan

Jones spoke to On3 about his official visit to Michigan and he dropped some quotes that make it sound like the Wolverines are a real threat to land him.

“They are very real,” said Jones to On3 of the Michigan coaching staff. “There is a family feel with Michigan as the new staff continues the culture. They are chasing championships.

“I could really see myself at Michigan,” added Jones.

Tennessee could obviously still win this recruiting battle, but Michigan clearly made a big impression this past weekend.

Jones is from Big Ten country in Pennsylvania, so that works in Michigan’s favor. Tennessee, however, has been able to mitigate that small advantage with the fact that Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is from Philadelphia (Jones is from just outside of Philly).

We’ll see how this one plays out in the coming weeks, but it looks like a coin flip as of right now.