Pollard said last week that he was still considering “everybody that is showing me love right now.” That includes Michigan, which hosted him on an official visit the weekend of June 11, and Florida — where traveled on an unofficial visit last week — along with Oklahoma and Auburn. He’s coming off an official visit to Oklahoma last weekend, and Auburn is set to host him on an official visit this weekend.
But he said he also isn’t closing the door on Tennessee just yet after talking with the Vols last week.
“Tennessee, I mean, I can’t even rule them out,” Pollard said last week. “I’ve still got to see what they’re talking about.”
He’s ranked the No. 429 overall prospect and No. 39 cornerback in the 2022 class and the No. 16 rising senior from Tennessee, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
Heupel’s staff has spoken with Pollard, he said last week, about “the need for DBs” the Vols have and stressed that “I’m a home-state guy” they want to keep in Tennessee.
“And, I mean, I believe it, too — they think that the program is about to change,” Pollard added at the time. “I mean, they want me up there.”
He said last week that a possible trip to Tennessee would be primarily to “give them a look” for the first time under Heupel.
Pollard said he believes Tennessee is headed in the right direction because of Heupel’s track record from his previous stint at UCF. Pollard said he also has been impressed by what he has heard about Vols defensive backs coach
Willie Martinez’s history of producing NFL players.
“Coach Heupel, he’s just a real good coach,” said Pollard, who has received scholarship offers from at least 40 schools. “I know, at UCF — I didn’t know him from then — but I just knew UCF and all that, they were just a real great program. I mean, there’s nothing much you can say.
“Martinez, he’s a real good DB coach, from what I can tell, just talking to him. He’s developed and sent 40-something guys to the NFL. I mean, that’s real big. They’ve got some good players up at Tennessee right now. They’ve got a good class that are about to be freshmen. I think they’ll be way better than what they’ve been. They’re definitely going up.”
Pollard said he has been to Tennessee’s campus once before, to attend the Vols’ home game against Florida in 2018. He was only a freshman in high school at the time.
“The atmosphere was wild,” he said last week. “That’s all I can say.”
Pollard is hoping to decide on a college next month.
“I really want to do it in July, but I’ve just got to see,” he said. “Recruiting’s crazy, but really July is when I want to do it.”
