The University of Tennessee football program introduced its new signees for the 2024 recruiting class on Wednesday. A number of new impact players, including Mike Matthews, Boo Carter, and Jordan Ross, are headed to Knoxville with the opportunity to make an immediate impact for the Tennessee Volunteers. Some are already in town working with the team during bowl preparations (Matthews, Carter, and QB Jake Merklinger, to name a few).
However, recruiting isn’t over yet. Far from it. And Tennessee is using its recent signees to promote the program across the country.
The university announced last week that it is posting billboards in areas from which they pulled their recruits. The billboards will be posted through December 26. For in-state recruits, billboards are posted in Knoxville on I-40, two spots around Nashville off I-63, Cleveland, Chattanooga, and Memphis.
As far as out of state, Tennessee is placing billboards stretching from Texas all the way up to Virginia and Ohio. Tennessee is honoring OL Max Anderson with a billboard off I-35 eastbound in Frisco. RB Peyton Lewis also has a billboard in Roanoke, Virginia, and OL William Satterwhite has one up in Akron, Ohio.
The decision to place billboards is a smart one. It’s a simple thank you from the school that other recruits potentially see. It puts Tennessee’s name out there, again, for other recruits to see. Visibility is almost always a good thing.
It also answers a question that was raised when Tennessee put up a billboard for WR Braylon Staley in Columbia, SC.
Man!! Say they got my boy @BrayStaley on a billboard in Columbia Sc!!! C’mon Rocky Top!! ✊ pic.twitter.com/hItvZMnCV5
— Brian Staley (@BrianStaley_12) December 20, 2023
It appeared at first that Tennessee was perhaps trolling the South Carolina Gamecocks. A local watering hole had put up a message on its marquee during the season urging Staley to sign with the in-state Gamecocks. As it turns out, it was simply one of many billboards from Tennessee promoting their new signees across the country.
I doubt Tennessee is the only one doing it, but it’s still a very good look for the Vols. And again, more exposure and publicity? Why not, indeed.