'24 GA QB Jake Merklinger (Tennessee)

[bignewt]

 

[rgvol]

Excellent decision Jake..

 

[Mightyvol]

BOOM!!!!!

 

[butchna]

I was prepared to like him even if he shocked and picked elsewhere…even UGA. Nice family. Bucket hat nice touch.

 

[barrylee]

BM

 

[TheMagnificantOne]

 

[LakesiteVol]

BOOM!!!!

 

[GameTime]

 

[grouchyvol]

Boom!!!

 

[supersmo18]

Outstanding!

 

[esands88]

Bm

 

[MoB_MoVols]

“It was tough to get to my final decision,” Merklinger told On3. “It required a lot of prayer and saying no to schools who had been recruiting you for so long and relationships that you built for such a long time is really tough. Especially with people who you genuinely could have seen yourself going to that school but it wasn’t the right fit.” “When I was at my photoshoot in the stadium during my most recent visit, it felt like Tennessee was the right spot. I went home and talked with my family but standing in the stadium with that uniform on, it just felt right.”

According to Merklinger, Tennessee really gained the upper-hand in his recruitment when Josh Heupel and Joey Halzle came to one of his basketball games. “That meant a lot to me,” Merklinger said. “I go to a smaller school and our gym is smaller but it meant a lot to my school to see a coach from a prestigious SEC program was there. It made me feel wanted.” Merklinger’s relationship with Halzle goes back to just before the Volunteers offered him. On his first visit last spring he spent the entire time with Halzle getting to know him and a week later Halzle extended an offer to him following a throwing session.

“I think he’s a phenomenal coach,” Merklinger said. “I got to sit down with him and he showed me how he’s developed quarterbacks. He’d show me clips of a quarterback from two years before he got with him and a clip of that same quarterback two years after he worked with him. It’s phenomenal to see that development.” On top of the personal relationship, Heupel’s knowledge of the game in the modern day is something that really stood out to Merklinger. “I think what makes him so successful is his dedication,” Merklinger said. “He’s really in touch with recruits no matter what the position is and he also played at a high level so he knows what it’s like to be recruited. He won as a player and is now winning as a coach.”

-On3

 

[peaygolf]

 

[dtnvol]

Yea-yahhhh

 

[sonofUT62]

Is that Diddario?

 

[bigl3327]

Now we're cooking.....BOOM!

 

[bignewt]

Is that Diddario?

Always a Daddario gif landing when commitments hit.

 

[cncchris33]

Early Enrollee per Jake himself.

Yeah, he sounded a little uncomfortable answering that question...like he hadn't told other people at the school that, yet.

 

[sonofUT62]

Always a Daddario gif landing when commitments hit.

Goodness.

 

[sjt18]

Going to be an interesting QB battle in a year.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Boom baby!!!!!

And there are still a large contigent of fans that don't think we are back yet

 

[SpringBokVol]

Big Boom

 

[NormalVol]

Boom!!!

 

[MoCo_Vol]

BOOM!!!

 

[Vol8188]

This is our 3rd top 100 recruit already. To put that in perspective their first class (not long to recruit so it’s understandable) had 0 top 100 guys and their second class had 4.

We are already at 3 with a long time to go