Butch Jones and the Tennessee Volunteers have enjoyed some success on the recruiting trail in recent months. With that said, the staff has also suffered something of a rash of decommitments and the latest comes from 2018 safety Bryson Richardson.
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Richardson, who ranks as a three-star prospect out of Buford High School (Ga.), was committed to Tennessee for a few months but this type of defection is nothing terribly strange for the 2018 class. On the surface, losing a non-elite prospect more than 12 months in advance isn't the biggest hit in the world. Still, this weakens the Vols for that future class considerably, as only two prospects remain, headlined by five-star offensive lineman Cade Mays.
Among the defections in recent days have been two five-star prospects for 2017 in quarterback Hunter Johnson and wide receiver Tee Higgins. It should be noted that the Vols still have a top-10 recruiting class nationally according to 247Sports rankings and, with that, Jones and company should not be panicking to a lofty degree. Stopping the bleeding when it comes to decommitments would be a good strategy, though, and Tennessee will be an intriguing program to follow in the coming months when it comes to both the 2017 and 2018 classes.
