Top247 DL Ethan Utley commits to Vols, says Tennessee ‘made too much sense’

Another of Tennessee’s top in-state targets celebrated his birthday by announcing Thursday night that he has committed to the Vols

Over the last few years, Ethan Utley has made over six trips to Tennessee, and each time he has discovered many reasons to be thrilled about the prospect of living in the state and joining the Vols. Ultimately, he concluded that going elsewhere wouldn’t make sense. The

four-star defensive lineman from Nashville, Tennessee’s Ensworth School,

class of 2025, made his Tennessee commitment public on Thursday night.

Choosing the home-state Vols over Texas on his 17th birthday, he gave Tennessee

another early commitment from one of its top in-state targets.

Utley, a 6-foot-3.5, 265-pound prospect rated as a Top247 prospect, committed to the Vols in the 2025 recruiting class as their seventh player and first projected defensive lineman. Additionally, he became Tennessee’s third in-state commitment, following Collierville (Tenn.) High School wide receiver Joakim Dodson and Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy’s five-star quarterback George MacIntyre. Utley told GoVols247, “For me personally, it just made too much sense for me not to be at Tennessee,” immediately before making his decision known in public. “It was like, Tennessee was the fit for me.”

Just four games into his rookie season in September 2021, the Vols extended their second SEC scholarship offer to Utley, making it his fourth offer total. Since

then, he has made at least seven trips to Knoxville, four of which have occurred

in the last eight months, and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s staff has continued

to prioritize him. After a while, Utley came to the conclusion that he couldn’t

turn down the opportunity to play for Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner,

who has known Utley’s mother, former Georgia women’s basketball player Tracy

Walls, for years. He also wanted to join some of the familiar faces that currently

play for Tennessee or are slated to play with him in Knoxville. However, there

were a number of reasons why Utley was eventually sold on the vols.

“What basically led me to that decision was just the trust that I have in Coach G to turn me into the person I want to be,

to be prepared to play at the next level,” said Utley, who’s ranked by 247Sports as

the No. 181 overall prospect and No. 21 defensive lineman in the 2025 class and

the No. 4 junior from the state of Tennessee.

 

“Obviously, college is a step in the process of getting to the NFL. But I want

to become the best possible version of myself, and I think Coach G will help me

become that person and guide me the right way.

 

“As far as my development, I think nobody else in the country could develop me as well as he can. I think he’s the best

defensive line coach in the country, and playing for him and also having the

opportunity — with a lot of guys leaving before my freshman year — also having

an opportunity to play often and early is just another thing you can’t pass up on,

especially close to home in front of the best fans in college football.

“It was just all those factors, and then obviously the relationship I have with my teammates now — well, (players who) will be teammates. Just knowing I’ll be around a bunch of guys I already have great relationships with is just another thing that just added to the list of reasons why I chose Tennessee.”

 

He said he informed Tennessee of his decision on Sunday, first telling Garner and then delivering the news to head coach Josh Heupel, and “they were both really excited.” Utley said he narrowed his focus to the Vols and the Longhorns before settling on Tennessee.

 

“Texas and Tennessee were the top two teams that I was really going back and forth about,” he said. “But I want to say, like, mid-last week I was talking to my mom and I was like, ‘Yeah, Tennessee’s the place.’

“It was really our chats with Coach G that helped me to kind of step back and give myself the best chance to pursue my goals. In addition, I already have friends and connections at Tennessee heading into my freshman year that will carry over into my post-football life. There are just so many items that I simply had to have.”

Utley was born in Nashville but also lived in the Atlanta area before moving back to Middle Tennessee. One of his longtime friends, Class of 2025 cornerback Dylan Lewis of Milton (Ga.) High School, has been committed to the Vols since October. Utley said Lewis and MacIntyre both worked hard to convince him to choose Tennessee.

 

“Those two guys and then Kaleb Beasley, those are just guys I’ve known for most of my life,” Utley said, referring to the Vols’ freshman cornerback who’s a former Top247 prospect from Nashville’s Lipscomb Academy. “They were just applying pressure, just constantly reminding me how great it would be if we could team up, especially close to home. …

 

“And then, obviously, my lifelong best friend with Dylan, we were a pretty good tandem back then, so I could imagine that still being a thing up on Rocky Top.”

 

Utley said Garner envisions him potentially playing multiple positions on the defensive line, lining up as both a strongside defensive end and defensive tackle. Utley’s possible role for the Vols, he said, is “basically what I’m doing now” at Ensworth.

 

“When we go odd front, I’ll be playing 4i and five(-technique),” Utley said. “When

we go even front, probably first and second down, being a strongside end

with my length and speed, and then move interior. If not, stay on the outside.

Obviously, a bunch of depending-on factors. But I’ll be playing a lot of three(-

technique), 4i, four and five in my time there.

“Coach G just wants to keep me versatile and allow me to use my athleticism to my advantage over offensive linemen,

obviously, so that’ll be the plan. And then, obviously, to play early and often,

as he’s been telling me, because I kind of have no choice. Put myself in a great

situation that some people may be intimidated by, just with a D-line room

that’s going to be missing eight returning D-linemen.

 

“Being in that situation is a blessing and a curse, because you know you’re going

to have a lot of expectations from your coaches for me to be who they know I

am. But, at the same time, just being ready to play come Saturday in the SEC,

that’s just a dream come true, especially as an 18-year-old kid.”

 

Utley said Garner has indicated that he wants “me to be, like, 270, 275 (pounds)

freshman year and then play sophomore year at, like, 280 and then float between

280 and 285 for most of my collegiate career.”

 

With his own decision behind him, Utley said he plans to try to convince other players — starting with some of the Vols’

remaining in-state targets — to join him at Tennessee. He specifically mentioned

four-star wide receiver Radarious Jackson of Memphis, Tenn., Top247

athlete Cameron Sparks of Chattanooga, Tenn., and four-star safety Jaylan

Morgan of Rockvale, Tenn., as a few of the players he intends to pursue.

 

“I’ve really been looking forward to this, actually — you know, like, finally

committing somewhere, being able to go at guys,” Utley said.

 

He said he’s “going to try” to arrive at Tennessee in January as an early

enrollee, although he’s still looking into whether he will be able to graduate from Ensworth in December.