“It was great. I enjoyed it,” said Salter, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 89 overall prospect and No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the 2021 class. “Loved the coaches. (Offensive coordinator Jim) Chaney, (head coach Jeremy) Pruitt, (quarterbacks coach Chris) Weinke — really enjoyed all three of them. They’re high-energy. Campus is beautiful. Loved the way that they coached at practice. Everything was great. “This really helped them, being able to get down, sitting and talking to the coaches and seeing how they’re really feeling about and watching the practice, seeing the way that they coach, checking out their personalities. The players, the atmosphere, the education, academics, of course — all that was great.”
The 6-foot, 185-pound Salter said he’s hoping to take at least a few official visits starting this spring, and he expects to use one of them to take a closer look at the Vols. “Might take three or four. I don’t know if I’ll take all five,” he said. “I think they’re going to get one.” Following his visit to Auburn on Tuesday, he told 247Sports’ Keith Niebuhr that he’s “going to take an official” visit there, too.
Salter said the time he spent with Tennessee’s coaches was the highlight of his visit with the Vols, which concluded a road trip that also took him to Florida State on Monday, Auburn and Georgia Tech on Tuesday and South Carolina on Wednesday. He also traveled to Ole Miss on March 1 and Arkansas on March 2.
“Most definitely, sitting down and talking to Coach Pruitt, that was a big impression — everything he was telling me — and especially Coach Weinke and Coach Chaney basically telling me how I should be the next man up after their quarterback leaves,” Salter said. “Come in (and), of course, you’re going to have to work for the spot. Of course, I’m going to work for the spot and try to get that spot and be the man.”
Pruitt and his staff made it clear to Salter, who received a scholarship offer from Tennessee in January, that he’s a major priority for the Vols. They have yet to receive a commitment from a quarterback in the 2021 class.
“He was nice,” Salter said of Pruitt. “He’s more straightforward — real cool dude. He told me that, basically, he wants me to be the guy for this class. “Of course, their quarterback this year, he’s a senior, so he will be gone. … Of course, he wants me to come in and build this class up.”
“Basically, (Chaney) says I’m a pro,” Salter said. “He can use me as basically a pro-style that has the ability to move around the pocket, of course, use my legs to get away when I have to and where he’s just going to let me play how I play, use my abilities. “(Practice) was all great. I loved how, off the field, they’re real cool dudes and, on the field, they get at it, get on the players when they need to get at it. When they’re doing wrong, go coach them up — everything like that.”
“It would be a real great opportunity to hang around Coach Chaney and Coach Pruitt and Coach Weinke,” Salter said. “Coach Weinke’s had a lot of quarterbacks that he has coached through the League. And, of course, you know Coach Weinke. He’s a Heisman Trophy winner himself. It’d be real great playing behind his name.”
Salter, who was accompanied by his parents on this week’s visits, said he’s hoping to release a list of favorites soon in hopes of choosing a school by this spring. “I’m going to try to go ahead and shorten down my list,” he said. “I’ll be dropping a top (group) soon to see what I’m feeling and more schools to focus on. … I want to be all done probably around, like, spring ball because, you know, I’m a quarterback. “I’m going to be an early enrollee, so I want to go ahead and get it out of the way, so my senior season I won’t have to focus on more of my recruitment. I’ll have it done with already.”
