VFL's Jabari Davis and Derrick Tinsley Weigh-In on Tennessee's Newest Running Back Commitment Cody Brown

During Tennessee's significant run of success in the '90s and early 2000s, the Vols recruited on a national level. Jeremy Pruitt is attempting to do that again, so it is no surprise to find him back in several of Phillip Fulmer's recruiting hot areas. When the Vols were pounding teams by committee on the ground, they recruited the running back position very effectively in the Metro Atlanta Area. Pruitt just received a commitment from 2021 four-star RB Cody Brown, and we caught up with two VFL's, and former metro Atlanta stars in Jabari Davis and Derrick Tinsley, to break down what they see in Brown's game.

Tinsley is now the running backs coach at his alma mater, Marietta. Coming out of high school, Tinsley was rated as a five-star running back, and the 41st overall prospect in the nation, according to the 247 Sports Composite. He played for the Vols from 2001-200, and touched the ball a total of 103 times, accruing 776 yards and 10 touchdowns, according to Sports Reference. Since returning to Marietta, he has produced multiple talented backs, including 2020 Troy Trojan Signee Kimani Vidal, who was an integral part of Marietta's state championship run last season. 

Jabari Davis played his high school ball at Tucker High School, and he was another coveted recruit. The 247 Sports Composite rated him as the 9th overall prospect and 2nd best running back prospect in the nation. During his time at Tennessee (2001-2004), Davis ran for 1,228 and 22 touchdowns. He is now in the local Knoxville area training youth, and he also leads the Legends of Tennessee Football Camp, formerly known as the Phillip Fulmer Hall of Fame Football Camp. Davis has been highly successful with the event, as it is now state-wide. 

Davis said on learning about Brown, "I heard about Cody from Rodney Williams at Raw Recruiting. Rodney is a good family friend of mine. Rodney's brother, Jordan Williams, has been the quarterback at Parkview for the last four years. So, Rodney was telling me about him, and my buddy, his uncle was telling me about a kid having some similarities to me, so I wanted to check him out, went on HUDL, followed him on twitter, and checked out what he was up to and who all was interested in him."

Tinsley coached against Brown this past season, and he has had multiple opportunities to see him up close and personal, dating back to Brown's 8th grade days. Tinsley said on this, "early on, what I saw was that he was the kid that was bigger, faster, and stronger than everybody as an 8th grader. That has been the same ever since then. You could just tell he was an athlete." 

Davis said on his first impression of Brown, "size, speed, athleticism. A guy that is very physical, and a guy that can break tackles, get the tough runs that we need. A guy who can drive us down the field and capitalize on those situations like 3rd and goal or 4th or goal, or just short yardage." 

Tinsley added on seeing Brown's progression over the years, "from the time I saw him in 8th grade, I saw him in 9th-grade track, then I did not hear too much about him in football. The next year in the playoffs against Archer, he almost single-handedly beat them that day, as a sophomore. Then I realized he was big and strong, and really breaking off 60 and 70 yard runs because he runs track. He plays football and run tracks, he is an athlete. The position he is playing, it is going to be hard to stop him. He is big, fast, and strong, and he is coming at you. We played them this past year, and our team most definitely knew that they had to wrap him up and hit him low. Hitting him high, he was running you over. Hitting him low, he was running you over. He had about a 50-60 yard run against us. He threw a touchdown pass against us. We had our work cut out for us. He has another year, and we have to play them again this year. He has definitely turned the notch up from 8th grade to what he has done now. He is locked in, and he has nothing but room to develop and get better than he already is. So, I saw a great stride from 8th grade to his Junior year, and we are looking forward to seeing him this year." 

Now that Davis has had a chance to watch Brown, he said on the similarities between the two, "I would say number one with him being from Georgia, and going to a school like Parkview, which I have a lot of respect for and playing in Gwinnett County. Even though Tucker is on the border and technically in Dekalb, but a lot of great football players and running backs have come from those two counties. Just his swagger and the physical makeup from the height, the size, the speed, and the type of attitude he runs with."

Tinsley said on what makes Brown so appealing to colleges, "I think Cody Brown brings a lot to the table. You have all of these colleges out here fighting over him for the same reason. He is a cat you can hand the ball to 20-25 times a game, and I think he will probably become even better at catching the ball a screen or check down. Like motion him out of the backfield and get him one on one with that linebacker. Everyone should understand that linebackers are the worst cover guys on the field, and when you have a guy like Cody Brown who is fast and big, so you are not going to jam him, and probably has good hands as well, he is going to be a mismatch problem. He is an all-around complete running back at the end of the day, he checks off every box."

Davis said on seeing the Vols get a commitment from his area, "anytime Tennessee signs a running back out of the state of Georgia, it is always a good feeling because you know he is going to be a great running back, and he is going to have the general makeup to play in the SEC. We just take pride in that, and coach Graham does a great job of getting those big-time backs we need to get us rolling back in the SEC. It does not really have to be from my area or another area. I am just always excited for the kid. Just being a down south Georgia boy is special, and when Tennessee was successful, we kept a lot of Georgia talent on the team."

Davis added on this, " I know Derrick Tinsley was excited, I don't know if Gerald Riggs posted anything or not, but I know Jamal Lewis tweeted. Anytime a kid from that state makes a commitment to our University, we are all going to be proud of them because we know how hard you have to work and the talent you face every Friday night, and to be rewarded from that is very special. So, I am glad he was able to make that commitment early since we don't know what football is going to be the next couple of months. Secure your spot and get coached one of the best running back coaches in the game." 

Tinsley added on this, "it feels really good to see Tennessee come down here in Georgia and be able to pull some elite players out of here. That goes back to the days when I was in high school. In 2001, Jabari, Me, Michael Collins out of Commerce, and William Revill out of Albany all went to Tennessee from Georgia. That let me knows we are back in that recruiting battle. When you win that recruiting battle, that is when you start winning more." 

Tinsley said on game-planning for a guy like Brown, our defense knew what it was. You have to wrap him up. There is no arm tackling Cody Brown. If you hit high or low, he can run you over. There was an emphasis put on him, and he showed why." 

Brown has rushed for multiple 1,000-yard seasons during his career at Parkview, and Tinsley said on the difficulty of this, "It is a real tough task to rush for 1,000 yards in one season, but to be able to do it multiple seasons while sharing carries with somebody, that is really tough and hard to do. I am not surprised that he is the kid that is able to do it."

Tinsley said on Brown's fit at Tennessee, I think he adds a bigger back that has the ability to be a home-run threat." 

Brown will likely arrive at Knoxville in January, and he is currently rated as the nation's 5th best running back.