Alontae Taylor Commits to Tennessee

Alontae Taylor ended his recruitment on Saturday when the Coffee County junior quarterback pledged his commitment to the University of Tennessee. Taylor, a 4 star recruit who has 10 scholarship offers including Ole Miss, Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Louisville, made the announcement on Twitter. Taylor was the 4th commitment of the day to Tennessee as part of their “Orange Carpet Day.” The Orange Carpet Day is the Vols’ annual one-day recruiting event which resulted in a total of 8 commitments to Tennessee.
Taylor was a MaxPreps All-American in 2015 who ran for 1547 yards and 19 touchdowns on 206 carries, while throwing for 799 yards and three touchdowns last season for Coffee County. Taylor is listed in the recruiting services as an athlete and is projected as a defensive back or wide receiver in college. Taylor is ranked as the No. 6 prospect in Tennessee for 2018 by 247Sports and is the second in-state recruit to commit for the Class of 2018.
Red Raider coach Ryan Sulkowski had glowing praise for Taylor. “His talent speaks for itself. He has worked extremely hard and has been a great teammate” said Sulkowski. “Alontae came in on Wednesday and told (Coach Matt Mueller and I) that he was close to committing to Tennessee. We quizzed him intensively and think he made this choice with his heart and for all the right reasons” added Sulkowski. “We are excited for him, his family and the entire community.”
Taylor’s recruitment has also paid dividends for the Red Raider program according to Sulkowski. “What Alontae has achieved has put Manchester on the map(in terms of recruiting)” said Sulkowski. “College coaches come to the school now and say, ‘I did not know Coffee County was here.’ Our kids will now get opportunities because of his success” added Sulkowski.

Taylor, when reached on Sunday by Thunder Radio, said he was glad to get the recruiting process completed. When asked why Tennessee, Taylor had this to say: “What makes UT right for me? It’s Home you know every time I get on campus I get chills just because I know how great the place is! The fan base, the school, knowing just by getting a degree from UT is something special also.” Taylor’s parents attended the event with Alontae and shared in his decision. “It made my decision easy when my parents said go where you feel at home go where your heart tells u to go’” said Taylor. Taylor also had high praise for coaches Sulkowski and Mueller. “There isn’t a day that goes by that those two coaches (do not)teach me something about life about the recruiting process and about being a Man! I can’t thank those two coaches enough! I have two years left I wanna enjoy those two with them two before it’s all over” gushed Taylor.