ESPN Recruiting Nation Football

A top prospect could soon be in the mix for Tennessee after the school fired head coach Derek Dooley on Sunday.

ESPN 300 linebacker prospect E.J. Levenberry was never a prime target for the Vols after it hired defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri in January. Sunseri, who has long recruited the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md., area, never made the ESPN 300 linebacker a priority, according to the Levenberry family. Depending on who Tennessee hires as its next coach, that could change. If so, the Levenberrys will listen.

"Only other school that he is interested in," Levenberry's father, Eric Levenberry, stated via text message.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Like most verbal commitments for Tennessee, three-star linebacker Dominic Zanca-McDonald (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lake Brantley) wished things could have worked out better for Derek Dooley. The embattled head coach was dismissed Sunday after a 41-18 loss to in-state rival Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior says that Dooley deserved a better outcome.

“Coach Dooley was a great coach and he did a lot of positive things in the program that people didn’t see,” Zanca-McDonald said. “He didn’t deserve a lot of the hate he got from the fan base. He was rebuilding the program the right way and he wanted players that would properly represent the university.”

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Junior college defensive tackle Toby Johnson (Hutchinson, Kan./Hutchinson Community College) recently tore the ACL and PCL in his right knee, but the injury hasn’t stopped him from making the necessary road trips to pick a college. The injury also hasn’t scared away recruiters.

Johnson was one of the visitors in Lincoln, Neb., taking in the Cornhuskers’ win against Minnesota. On an unofficial visit, he and Hutch teammate Ben Bradley, a defensive tackle and Tennessee commit, enjoyed the trip and left Lincoln with a positive perspective.

“At first, I thought we weren’t going down there,” Johnson said. “I didn’t find out until [Saturday morning] that we were still going. It was real good. The game atmosphere was crazy. Walking out the tunnel and greeting fans what something I really liked.”

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Four-star linebacker Corey Vereen (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) wasn’t surprised to hear of the immediate dismissal of Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley.

Still, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“Coach Dooley is a good family man, just a great man overall,” said Vereen, who committed to Tennessee in March. “He was a guy that I felt good about immediately because he was genuine and honest.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider