‘I think they knew they needed to get this done now and not wait’ – Insider explains the timing of Tennessee’s big move this week
The Tennessee Vols landed a 2027 quarterback recruit this week.
Earlier this week, a report from On3 suggested that the Tennessee Vols were the team to beat for 2027 three-star quarterback Derrick Baker.
The Vols have shown interest in several 2027 quarterback recruits over the last several months, so the assumption was that nothing was imminent with Baker.
That assumption, however, was incorrect.
Baker committed to the Vols a day later.
Vols insider explains the timing of Derrick Baker’s commitment to Tennessee
Despite holding interest in other 2027 quarterbacks, the Vols liked Baker enough that they wanted to lock down his commitment now, rather than risk striking out on other targets and then missing out on him.
VolQuest’s Austin Price joined WNML’s Josh and Swain Wednesday and he discussed why Tennessee likes Baker so much.
“Tennessee really fell in love with him at camp last summer,” said Price. “A really impressive performance. I was there. He threw it really, really well. He’s a big, thick kid, a little over six foot tall. He probably could grow another inch.
“He’s thick, and he can run. The biggest thing for him is just staying healthy. He has all the tools. He’s originally from the state of Florida and he moved up to Atlanta a couple of years ago and is playing at Milton. He played for Cam Newton’s seven-on-seven team. And again, he’s one that Tennessee really targeted hard the last three or four months, but they really started to pick up the pace and put on the pressure probably the last 35 or 40 days.”
“I think they knew that they needed to get this done now and not wait,” continued Price. “He really, really likes Tennessee a good amount….Tennessee was pretty adamant about trying to get this one done sooner rather than later, and they were able to do so.”
With Baker in the boat, the Vols can now focus more attention on other key recruiting battles, such as the battle for 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.
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