McVay, who’s a former teammate of Tennessee sophomore offensive lineman
Javontez Spraggins, accompanied two of his fellow East St. Louis offensive linemen — four-star
Paris Patterson and Brandon Henderson — in visiting the Vols over the weekend. McVay said he came away more interested in Tennessee, one of several schools that currently are recruiting him hardest.
“I’d say it bumped them up quite a few spots,” said McVay, who’s ranked the No. 135 overall prospect and No. 13 offensive tackle in the 2023 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
“With Spraggs being down there, kind of having the Tennessee tie, I wouldn’t say he was in my ear, but you know how it is with guys that come from the same program as you. They want what’s best for you. But at the same time, of course, they want you there with them. It was kind of like that.
“I’d say it most definitely put them on the radar.”
The 6-foot-6.5, 355-pound McVay said he “didn’t really come in with any expectations” about what he might see at Tennessee. He came away impressed by Heupel’s staff, including offensive coordinator
Alex Golesh, offensive line coach
Glen Elarbee and offensive analyst
Alec Abeln
“They’re very honest people. That’s one thing I love,” McVay said. “As far as football-wise, amazing facilities. I like the cultural values of, ‘Attack.’ That’s one thing: I always love to push the ball down the field and, of course, get some run plays in.
“And then we’ve also got guys like
Javontez Spraggins that go there. He’s a big factor in everything, too, so I got to spend some time with him kind of off-campus and stuff. Overall, very interesting.”
McVay said the highlights of the visit were “talking to Coach Heupel and meeting his staff, and then hanging out with Spraggs off campus — kind of seeing what college life is like, especially when you’re a student athlete.”
Spraggins “was kind of like a big brother” to McVay, he said, during his freshman season at East St. Louis. He said Spraggins offered some useful feedback on his experience at Tennessee so far.
“He said it’s very hard-working,” McVay said of Spraggins. “That’s one thing they say: Everybody puts in hard work 100 percent of the time, all the time. Of course, they’re a fast-paced offense, so you’ve got to be in shape. … And, of course, he wasn’t pushing me to come, but he said, ‘Any place you go, make it your own.’”
Saturday’s visit also allowed him and his teammates to attend the Vols’ home basketball game against LSU. A crowd of 21,061 attended Tennessee’s 64-50 win over the then-No. 13 Tigers.
“The fan base was amazing,” McVay said. “We got to watch the basketball game, and, oh, man, do I know the ‘Rocky Top’ song by heart. Man, every time they scored a 3, they were singing it, so that’s one thing I got from the trip. I know that song by heart.”
The time he spent with Tennessee’s coaches included a film session with Elarbee.
“It was me, Paris and Brandon, so (Elarbee) kind of broke down some of our tape and compared it to some of the scheme that they run down there — a lot of inside zone, outside zone,” McVay said. “They run a lot of traps, guard pulls. … They showed us pass protections, gap schemes, kind of breaking down our film, showing kind of the similar plays, so that was one thing.
“We hung out with Coach Elarbee at the start, and then Coach Abeln was kind of the guy the rest of the way through.”
Now that McVay has been to Tennessee, he said he’s interested in the Vols because of “the kind of family that the coaching staff has built.”
“They all worked with somebody or they all came from the same coaching staff, so they kind of know each other,” he said. “So they’ve kind of got that family feel. Of course, coaching changes happen and stuff like that. … But I’d say it’s the coaching staff that’s really pushing them forward.”
As for the possibility of joining Spraggins, McVay said, “He won’t be there for long, so I can’t really go off of that one.”
He said Tennessee is one of the schools talking with him most frequently, along with Oklahoma, Alabama, Oregon, Missouri, Illinois, USC and Michigan State. He traveled to Michigan State on Jan. 15, and he said he’s scheduled to visit Alabama this weekend.
