One of the nation’s top defensive linemen is planning to return to Tennessee soon. Five-star Class of 223 defensive lineman
Vic Burley of Warner Robins (Ga.) High School confirmed to GoVols247 that he’s scheduled to visit the Vols again the weekend of May 28 for a recruiting event that’s expected to bring a number of top targets to Knoxville.
The 6-foot-5, 276-pound Burley has been to Tennessee’s campus at least a handful of times since November 2019. He most recently traveled there Jan. 22 for the Vols’ first junior day of the year, visiting them for the third time in less than six months.
Tennessee’s former staff gave Burley his first offer in early December 2019, and the Vols have been one of the top contenders for him since then. On March 26, he named a top 12 that consisted of Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Florida State, Tennessee and Oklahoma. He posted April 15 on his Twitter account that he had removed Alabama and Oregon from his list of favorites and replaced them with LSU and Miami.
Burley is rated a five-star prospect in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, where he’s ranked the No. 33 overall prospect and No. 4 defensive lineman in the 2023 class and the No. 2 junior from the state of Georgia. He’s also a top-25 prospect nationally in 247Sports’ rankings, where he currently has a four-star rating.
The lone prediction on the 247Sports Crystal Ball points to Clemson as the favorite to land him. The Tigers are widely believed to be among Tennessee’s main competition for Burley.
After his visit with the Vols in January, he said he has continued to give Tennessee strong consideration because of “just the love for this college.”
“Tennessee was my first offer, so they’ve just been there since the beginning — actually, since I started — and they’ve always been on top of recruiting me, too,” Burley said at the time.
He has a longstanding relationship with Vols defensive line coach
Rodney Garner, who previously recruited him during Garner’s time at Auburn.
“Coach G, he’s just like talking to a family member,” Burley said in January. “He always gives off that family vibe to me and my family. He always greets us, welcomes us. Each time I’m on the phone with him, he always talks to my family and stuff.”