Tennessee Vols are one of two teams in 'best position' for elite 2024 QB
The Tennessee Vols are one of two college football programs best positioned to land a top 2024 QB recruit
If everything goes to plan, five-star phenom Nico Iamaleava will be the Tennessee Vols' starting quarterback in 2024 and 2025 before heading off to the NFL after dominating in the SEC.
In Tennessee's plan, Iamaleava emerges as a star after Joe Milton has a great final season in Knoxville in 2023.
Sounds like a great plan. But executing that plan will require some luck — mostly when it comes to injuries.
That means the Vols can't wait until 2025 to find Iamaleava's successor. They need to land a quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class who they believe can lead the program to an SEC championship.
Recruiting quarterbacks essentially never stops in college football — especially in the SEC.
Tennessee is one of several teams trying to land 2024 four-star quarterback Jake Merklinger. And according to On3, the Vols are one of two teams that are in the "best position" to land Merklinger (along with Michigan State).
From On3: Heading into these visits, Michigan State and Tennessee are in the best position. He has not officially named favorites, and he may not before he makes a decision, but five schools look to be in the mix. He has the best relationships with coaches in Knoxville and East Lansing. Those two staffs are recruiting him the hardest. Merklinger is familiar with each program. It is a tight battle at the top between the Spartans and the Vols heading into this round of visits.
Merklinger told On3 that he talks to Tennessee HC Josh Heupel more than any other coach.
That tells us that Merklinger is definitely at the top of the Vols' recruiting wish list.
Merklinger, 6-foot-2/195 lbs from Savannah, GA (Calvary Day School), is ranked in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 7 quarterback in the nation and the No. 58 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class.
He's not ranked quite as high as Nico, but it's important to remember that Tennessee doesn't just blindly target the top quarterback recruit in each class. It just happened to work out that way with Nico. Heupel and his staff recruit the quarterback that best fits their offensive philosophy and who also fits into the culture at Tennessee.
Merklinger, who will visit Knoxville again in March (he previously visited for the win over Kentucky), obviously checks all of those boxes for the Vols.
The feeling is that Merklinger will make a decision sometime this spring, so this is definitely a recruit that Tennessee fans should keep an eye on over the next couple of months.
