‘23 TN SDE Drake Carlson

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An in-state lineman with multiple family connections to Tennessee is ready for his first recruiting visit with the Vols. Class of 2023 lineman Drake Carlson of Father Ryan High School in Nashville, Tenn., is scheduled to travel to Knoxville on Saturday to attend Tennessee's cookout.

Carlson's father, Rob — a former All-American shot-put thrower for the Vols — confirmed to GoVols247 on Wednesday that his son is planning to visit Tennessee on Saturday. The younger Carlson received a scholarship offer from first-year Vols coach Josh Heupel's staff in late April.


The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Carlson's mother, Heather, also played tennis at Tennessee. Drake Carlson naturally grew up liking the Vols, although he said he also has liked Florida over the years.

“I mean, it was in my blood since my parents went to Tennessee, so I’ve always supported Tennessee," Carlson told GoVols247 in late May. “I was excited (about the Tennessee offer) — like, ‘Hey, I could be going to the school my parents (attended), but also create my own path in Tennessee history,’ and stuff like that.”
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He admitted in May that his family ties to Tennessee might make it tough for him to pass up the opportunity to play for the Vols. But he said he was keeping an open mind in the early stages of the recruiting process and planning to continue exploring other options.

“If I don’t go to Tennessee, it will affect me a little bit, because that’s when I’ve been raised to like and stuff. It will be hard for me,” Carlson said at the time.

“I would maybe get a little homesick here and there. It would be a little tough. That’s the only thing I grew up looking at or going to, was just UT and all. But I do like campuses a lot, so I want to see what other schools’ campuses are like, because that’s where I’m going to spend my three or four years of college at.”

A two-way lineman, Carlson said in May that he regularly played on both sides of the ball last year as a sophomore and “barely came out of the game.” Some schools have shown interest in playing him on the offensive line, while others seem to view him as a defensive lineman.

“Tennessee and EKU were, I think, offensive line,” he said at the time. “And then I think Virginia and Vanderbilt are mostly defensive line, and then Virginia Tech was like, ‘We don’t know yet.’

“I like defense. But if a school’s recruiting me for one thing and it’s a good school — like, a good Power Five school — and they need me for offensive line, I’m going as what they need me as. I’m a team-first guy. I’d love to play defense. I mean, that’s what I want to do. But I’m always where the team needs me to be.”
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-Callahan
 
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