Tag: Van Fillinger

Van Fillinger decommits from Texas, receives Tennessee offer

2020 Tennessee football recruiting.

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Defensive lineman Van Fillinger has decommitted from Texas. The 2020 prospect is from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah.

Fillinger decommitted from Texas on Dec. 1 after being committed to the Longhorns since July 18.

A day following his decommitment, on Dec. 2, Fillinger received an offer from Tennessee. The 2020 prospect has Power 5 offers from Tennessee, Arizona State, Texas, Utah, Colorado, California, Kansas State, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Washington.

2020 recruiting class signing dates

The 2019 Early Signing Period will take place Dec. 18-20 and National Signing Day will be held on Feb. 5.

The Vols’ 2020 commitment tracker can be followed below.

University of Tennessee’s 2020 football recruiting class tracker

Four-star defensive end Van Fillinger decommits from Texas

Van Fillinger decommitted from Texas on the heels of Tom Herman’s coaching staff changes.

Texas lost out on a star defensive end commit Sunday night.

Van Fillinger, one of the top high school football players in Utah, tweeted that he decommitted from the Longhorns program.

This announcement came on the heels of Texas football coaching changes including the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.

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Fillinger’s recruiting profile has been boosted by his dominant senior year. Midway through the season he was a three-star player on the 247Sports Composite Rankings, but after amassing  88 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in 14 games, he ended the year as a four-star player and the No. 2-ranked overall in Utah in the Class of 2020.

Fillinger helped lead Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) to an undefeated championship season. The Chargers are currently No. 18 in the Super 25 national rankings.

He had 19 offers entering Monday, according to 247Sports, and quickly added to that with one from Tennessee, Fillinger announced over Twitter.

Fillinger will take part in the All-American Bowl on Jan. 4.

2020 4* Defensive End decommits from Texas

2020 4* defensive end Van Fillinger has decommited from Texas. Fillinger is a 6’3, 205-pound strong-side defensive end from Draper, Utah.

2020 4* defensive end Van Fillinger has decommited from Texas, reopening his recruitment. According to 247 sports, Fillinger is a 6’3, 205-pound strong-side defensive end from Draper, Utah. He is the 13th ranked SDE in the country and the second overall player in the state of Utah.

Having 17 other offers, Kansas State was the only other Big 12 school to offer Fillinger. Most of his offers have come from the west coast, with Pac 12 schools like Oregon, USC, Utah, UCLA, and Washington interested. Crystal Ball now gives Utah a 62% chance to sign Fillinger.

The Longhorns now only have one other 2020 commit from the defensive line. Vernon Boughton is a 4* defensive tackle from Houston, TX, but Texas now does not have a defensive end commit in this upcoming recruiting cycle.

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Texas football’s coaching re-set could save Tom Herman’s job, but it may cost him recruits first

Tom Herman’s decision to oust all three of the coordinators he brought in to Austin will dramatically re-shape the Texas coaching ranks and system, but will it negatively impact the team’s recruiting efforts?

Tom Herman was the big actor on college football’s Black Sunday, firing his defensive coordinator and one of his offensive coordinators while demoting the other. It only took a matter of hours for that move to have its first trickle down impact, sparking a decommitment from a four-star defensive lineman.

RELATED: Tim Beck removed from OC role, demoted | Longhorns defensive coordinator Todd Orlando fired

Van Fillinger, a four-star defensive end from Corner Canyon High School (Draper, Utah) announced he was decommitting from Texas. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound All American Bowl player made his decision public shortly after word of Orlando’s firing became public.

Fillinger’s decommitment was the first domino to fall after Herman’s Bloody Sunday took out all three of the coordinators he hired when he arrived in Austin. While there may have been philosophical reasons behind their dismissal, there’s little question that Texas’ lackluster, 7-5 2019 regular season played a significant role in Herman’s decision to move on.

That could ultimately rejuvenate both Texas’ recruiting efforts and game planning on both sides of the ball, but in the immediate aftermath of the decision it threatens to undermine Texas’ Class of 2020. Despite four decommitments from the class since mid-October alone (the same number as Florida State, which actually fired its head coach), Texas’ class is still ranked among the nation’s top-10, with a chance to move back into the top-5 should the Longhorns close on a handful of key recruits.

Of course, all that assumes Texas is able to hold on to the pledges it currently has. Whether that’s easier or harder to do with virtually an entirely new coaching staff remains to be seen, but Herman apparently felt the program had to take that chance.