Simonton“They’re building (an offensive line) full of in-state guys. Trey (Smith), Drew (Richmond), Jerome (Carvin). Man, he’s about to start for them,” McBride told VolQuest.
“They really want commitments from in-state linemen. We’re representing Memphis.”
McBride is the latest West Tennessee native to commit to the Vols, as Jeremy Pruitt has quickly made Memphis a focal point in in-state recruiting. McBride, a former basketball star who has only played a year of varsity football, earned an offer from Tennessee in June after dominating at a Vols camp. He has visited Knoxville several other times, too, building a strong rapport with Pruitt, wideouts coach and area recruiter David Johnson and o-line coach Will Friend.
“I feel more comfortable with Tennessee,” McBride said.
“The relationship I have with the coaches there is strong. I feel very comfortable with them. I like the way coach Friend can develop me. Send me to the league.”
The future collegiate guard was waffling between Arkansas and Tennessee recently, but a couple phone calls Tuesday night helped cement his decision.
“I’ve talked to a lot of players. I was on the phone with Drew and Jerome all last night,” McBride said.
“I thought about it and weighed my options. I just followed my heart and got it over with. I felt most comfortable at Tennessee. Now I can get this out the way and focus on my season.”
On Wednesday morning, McBride dialed up Pruitt and delivered the good news to Tennessee’s head coach. The Vols staff was elated, with Pruitt telling McBride it’s about time and “he’s been waiting for me to get there and get on Rocky Top.”
HubbsMcBRIDE’S SCOUTING REPORT
"McBride is the perfect type of interior lineman for Tennessee's new offensive scheme. He's athletic, strong and aggressive and excels at run blocking. Because he's relatively new to the game, he has a lot of untapped potential and could continue to get better as his career moves along.
"Landing McBride also helps the Vols continue to work on building a pipeline to Memphis and he will be the second lineman from the city (joining 2018 four-star Jerome Carvin) to pledge to the school in as many years."
— Woody Wommack, Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst
HOW WILL McBRIDE FIT IN WITH THE VOLS?
At 6-4, 310 pounds McBride continues the trend for Jeremy Pruitt in the class of 2019. Bigger is better. McBride is the 8th commitment in the class to weigh 280 pounds or more. At 6-4, 310, the Whitehaven High School prospect projects to be a guard in college but offensive line coach Will Friend cross trains everyone in his unit.
Tennessee not only likes his size, but also his physicality and his style of play as McBride appears to finish blocks well enough though he is raw.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR TENNESSEE?
It's important for Tennessee because first of all it's an in-state player that other SEC schools wanted. Now, Pruitt is going to take who he thinks can play and not follow other schools leads, but this is an in-state guy with offers from UF, South Carolina and Arkansas and Tennessee got it done despite limited spots. That's a positive for continuing to recruit across the state.
In terms of the offensive line in the class of 2019, Tennessee has assembled a big time class with
Wayna Morris
,
Chris Akporoghene
,
Jackson Lampley
and now McBride.
Now, the attention for Will Friend and Pruitt centers around two things. One, holding on to Morris and weathering the Auburn storm. Two, landing
Darnell Wright
. The West Virginia native is a top 5 player and is the sole priority on the Vols OL board. Wright has visited the Vols multiple times and is expected back for the Florida game.
Callahan on the Erik Ainge show insinuated that McBride is our plan B for Wright. Possibility he may push his commitment back, Pruitt may be trying to convince him to do so. If he commits here soon that he thinks the pick is Arkansas. We are saving our last OL spot for Wright.
Also stated that the staff was considering taking 5 OL commitments at one point, but with the progress of our current OL the staff has decided to use that scholorship elsewhere.
I am reading between the lines a little, but that was my interpretation of what Callahan said when the brought up Mcbride.