Nichols has multiple family connections to Tennessee and has visited the Vols a handful of times, including his official visit to Knoxville the weekend of June 18. His mother went to Tennessee, and his grandparents live in Knoxville and have taken him to some of the Vols’ home games in the past.
First-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s staff has made Nichols a priority over the past six months, and Nichols said he likes the changes the Vols’ current players have seen within the program under Heupel.
“I feel like it’s definitely a gamble,” Nichols said. “I feel like their system can really work in the SEC and do well. I know there’s a lot of opportunity for me, networking-wise. I already have a lot of connections at Tennessee, and I feel like I can really build a big network of connections through Tennessee.
“I really like what the new staff is doing. There was, with the old staff, a lot of stuff going on that was really bad, and then I feel like the new staff’s done a really good job to kind of come in and change that. They’ve brought a really good culture to the team. I just feel like they’re doing a really, really good job kind of trying to bring the program back to what it was. ...
“I was talking to some of the players, and they were saying stuff like, the division was so crazy, you just wouldn’t even associate with anyone outside of practice. If you walked into the training center or the football center any time outside of practice, you wouldn’t see a single soul in there. It’d be a desert.
“The players were saying the new staff has made the culture so much better, where people actually want to go and they’ll stay in the facility. They’ll stay together. They’ll hang out. They’ll go to rehab together, or they’ll go to the player lounge together or whatever. They don’t just go home and kind of do their own thing.”
Some of Tennessee’s current commitments, including four-star quarterback
Tayven Jackson, have made a public push to convince Nichols to join them in playing for the Vols, with Jackson and others making social-media posts that include the hashtag “#WeWantAddison.”
“I talk to them a lot,” Nichols said. “I actually was on FaceTime with Tayven (on Tuesday). They’re trying to convince me to just go ahead and get it over with. I’m like, ‘Come on, man. I’ve got to take my time.’
“They’re like, ‘Screw taking your time. Just do it.’”
Nichols, who said he “probably” will announce his decision sometime in early August, also has been impressed with Ohio State since his official visit with the Buckeyes roughly a month ago.
