The three-star junior tight end from Cincinnatis La Salle High School said he picked up a huge scholarship offer from Tennessee a little more than a week ago, and hes excited to take a firsthand look at the Vols, perhaps as early as this spring.
Whyle, who now holds offers from more than 25 schools, said La Salle athletic director Keith Pantling, the Vols former associate director of football operations under Jones, recently reached out to Tennessee to see whether the Vols might be interested in him. They immediately were intrigued by what they saw on him.
They just love my abilities, like how I play on the field. They said they dont see too many guys with my height and size that can run like me and catch the ball like me and stuff. Thats just very exciting for me. They said Im one of their number-one recruits like, they need me and stuff. That means a lot to me.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Whyle said new Tennessee defensive line coach Brady Hoke talked with him on the phone and wanted to get me down here for a spring practice or something. The next day, he learned of his offer from the Vols. It was just huge for me. I mean, you see these schools like Tennessee and big SEC schools playing on the TV when youre younger, and youre just like, That would be amazing if I could ever do that, Whyle said.
Its just insane. Actually, coach Butch Jones has texted me the past couple days, and that just stands out to me just because hes the head coach. Im sure he has plenty of other things to do. Hes just texting me and asking, Hows it going? and stuff, so thats kind of huge for me.
I think I would love a Tennessee-type school and how they run their offense, just because they utilize the tight end very well, Whyle said. Tennessee was just saying they could really use me as both a blocker and a wide receiver so they dont have to substitute and stuff.
I mean, Tennessee is probably one of the biggest schools in the nation. Me and my coach, we sat down and talked about it. Usually, after every offer, we sit down and talk about it, just very briefly. He said I would definitely like Tennessee because they utilize their tight end very well, and Coach Scott made that very clear when he called me on the phone. Im excited.
My dream growing up has always been to play in the NFL, and I think they could get me ready for that. And then, obviously, the nature of (Tennessee) and stuff like that is always a plus.
