The Class of 2023 offensive lineman from Mount Juliet (Tenn.) High School said he recently has continued hearing from first-year Tennessee coach
Josh Heupel’s staff multiple times per week. The Vols also stopped at his school twice during the contact period leading up to Early Signing Day, and they have been one of the teams recruiting him hardest since they extended an offer to him in early May.
The 6-foot-5, 285-pound Bussell said he has been “talking to them on a regular basis — like, every two days” — led by Tennessee offensive line coach
Glen Elarbee and Huepel himself. That’s one of the main reasons the Vols are still among the teams standing out to him, along with Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
“Obviously, the teams that are showing the most interest right now, like Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, they’re high for me right now,” said Bussell, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 27 offensive tackle in the 2023 class and the No. 11 junior from the state of Tennessee.
“But schools like Virginia Tech and Auburn and Alabama, obviously, are showing a lot of interest, too. That’s big for me. I like to keep my options open.”
Bussell, who received his most recent offer Monday from Mississippi State, grew up liking Tennessee and said he’s strongly considering the home-state Vols for multiple reasons.
“The main appeal so far is the fan base, and also what I can get from the coaching staff,” said Bussell, who holds offers from a half-dozen schools, including Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech. “Coach Elarbee is very good at what he does. I like him a lot.
“And the fans, wins or lose, they’re going to be there for you. They’ll be rowdy, too. That’s what I like. I like that a lot.
“Obviously, the location is really good. Growing up with them, it was always super fun to see them on TV, even if they weren’t the best at times. But just them being someone my parents grew up with and hearing the stories of the ‘90s and how good they were then, it’s cool to see that they may be on the come-up with Coach Heupel being there.”
Bussell said he has stayed in contact with “mostly Elarbee and Heupel” among Tennessee’s coaches. He said he likes what he has heard from the Vols, including the support they showed him while he was recovering from the torn pectoral tendon that required him to undergo surgery in late May.
“They talk to me mainly about just, like, what they see in me for the future, how much they believe in me and, obviously, giving me support through getting back into it. That really helped to boost my game even more,” Bussell said.
“They haven’t so much talked about where they want me yet, but mainly they’re looking at me for, like, guard and tackle.”
He was able to watch Tennessee in person twice this season, seeing the Vols play back-to-back weeks. He first traveled to Knoxville on Oct. 16 for their home game against Ole Miss before visiting Alabama the following weekend for the Crimson Tide’s game against Tennessee.
While Bussell had been to Neyland Stadium in the past to see at least a couple of the Vols’ home games, he said their loss to the Rebels “most definitely” provided the most memorable game-day environment he has experienced at Tennessee. A sellout crowd of 102,455 — the Vols’ first home sellout in more than four years — attended the game.
“I had been to a few games before, but nothing like that,” he said. “I mean, full house, checkered, with the new lights — it was crazy.”
Bussell, who went to games at several schools this season, said his trip to Tennessee in October stood out above the other games he attended this year in that regard.
“That was probably the craziest game I’ve been to all year,” he said. “I mean, obviously, just the energy throughout the stadium was electric, and it was a lot of fun. They treated me really well. And I didn’t get to see all the stuff that happened at the end because we left with, like, 50 seconds left in the game because of whatever reason. We didn’t know that they got the ball back (at the end). We didn’t get to see that final portion of it.
“But (I liked) the experience as a whole. Getting to do the Vol Walk was awesome. Just everything about it was really good.”
