Volunteers announce last early signee

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s offensive line received another boost for 2018 when the signing of a junior college AllAmerican was announced Wednesday night.

The early signing period ended last Friday, but Jahmir Johnson of Arizona Western College waited until he was with his family for the holidays to announce he had signed with the Volunteers, according to a Tennessee athletic department release.

Johnson is the 14th early signee, fourth offensive lineman and third junior college player in new head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s first signing class. The traditional signing period begins Feb. 7, at which point Pruitt and his staff, which has yet to officially be announced, are expected to add several more players.

Pruitt is finishing his duties as the defensive coordinator at Alabama. The Crimson Tide will play Clemson in Monday’s Sugar Bowl national semifinal, with the championship game the following Monday.

Johnson is considered a three-star offensive tackle by both Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Philadelphia native began his career at Rhode Island before transferring to Arizona Western.

Tennessee offensive linemen Brett Kendrick, Jashon Robertson and Coleman Thomas were seniors this season, and each started at times as the Vols struggled with numerous injuries on the line in 2017. Trey Smith, a freshman, was the only offensive lineman to start every game of Tennessee’s historically bad 4-8 campaign.

Offensive linemen Tanner Antonutti from Nashville, Jerome Carvin from Memphis and Ollie Lane from Knoxville also signed last week.

The addition of Johnson boosted the Vols’ 2018 recruiting class to 22nd in the 247Sports rankings and 21st in the Rivals rankings. Among Southeastern Conference programs, Rivals ranks the class seventh and 247Sports ranks it eighth.

Pruitt is regarded as an excellent recruiter, but he had less than two weeks to assemble the group of 14 early signees before major college football’s firstever early signing period, which started Dec. 20.

In addition to the offensive linemen, the Vols have signed four defensive linemen, two tight ends, a wide receiver, a running back, a quarterback and a kicker. One focus for Pruitt ahead of the traditional signing period may be the secondary, because cornerbacks Justin Martin, Emmanuel Moseley and Shaq Wiggins were all seniors this season.

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfree press.com.