“It seems like it’s getting back to the old UT — how, like, all the fans are intrigued, and the players seem like they’re back with it,” said Lawrence. “They’re focused.” The 6-foot-3, 192-pound Lawrence said he had gotten that feeling “a little bit” during his trip to Knoxville two weeks earlier, and he noticed it “even more” Saturday while watching Tennessee play before an announced crowd of more than 50,000.
He said he talked with “pretty much everybody,” including Pruitt,
Derrick Ansley — Tennessee’s new defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach — tight ends coach
Brian Niedermeyer and Patrick Abernathy, who works in player development for the Vols. Since the departure of former Tennessee cornerbacks coach
Terry Fair, Lawrence has spend plenty of time getting to know Ansley, who was the defensive backs coach for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders last season. Lawrence said he’s hearing “a lot” from the Vols, led by Ansley.
“It’s going pretty good,” Lawrence said. "He’s trying to get that bond back. We’re just enjoying it right now. We’re just trying to get back that connection. “(I like) how honest he is with me, how he wants the best for me. Not many coaches are really that genuine, but with him you can tell.”
A week earlier, Lawrence went to LSU on his first official visit. It was only his second time visiting the Tigers, and he said they’re “for sure” a contender in his recruitment coming off his latest trip to Baton Rouge, La. He said he liked “everything, honestly,” about LSU. “This time I got to talk to the coaches, with some players,” Lawrence said. “I got to understand everything they’re about, really, inside and out.”