Top247: Top star 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

Ethan Utley has visited Tennessee more than a half-dozen times over the past few years, and he has found plenty of reasons to be excited about the possibility of staying in-state and playing for the Vols. In the end, he decided it simply didn’t make sense for him to go anywhere else.

The four-star Class of 2025 defensive lineman from Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn., announced Thursday night that he has committed to Tennessee. He celebrated his 17th birthday by choosing the home-state Vols over Texas, giving Tennessee another early commitment from one of its top in-state targets.

The 6-foot-3.5, 265-pound Utley, who’s a Top247 prospect, became the Vols’ seventh commitment for the 2025 class and the first projected defensive lineman in their class. He also joined five-star quarterback George MacIntyre of Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy and wide receiver Joakim Dodson of Collierville (Tenn.) High School as Tennessee’s third in-state commitment.

“For me personally, it just made too much sense for me not to be at Tennessee,” Utley told GoVols247 before publicly revealing his decision. “It was like, Tennessee was the fit for me.”

The Vols gave Utley his second SEC scholarship offer and his fourth offer overall in September 2021, just four games into his freshman season. He has visited them at least seven times since then, with four of his trips to Knoxville coming in the past eight months, and he has remained a priority for Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s staff.

Utley finally determined that he couldn’t pass up the chance 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 — and join some of the familiar faces who are on Tennessee’s current roster or are planning to team up with him in Knoxville. But there were several reasons Utley was ultimately 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 conversations between me and Coach G that just kind of pulled me away and just allowed me to have the best opportunity to do what I want to do. And, at Tennessee, the connections and relationships I’ll have for life after football, and that I already have going into my freshman year at Tennessee. There’s just a lot of things I just could not pass up on.”

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.