Volunteer Country

Brayden Rouse Commits To Tennessee

Brayden Rouse announces his commitment to the Tennessee Volunteers
Caleb Sisk|
Brayden Rouse on his Tennessee Volunteers official visit
Brayden Rouse on his Tennessee Volunteers official visit | Brayden Rouse

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Tennessee Volunteers

The Tennessee Volunteers gained a major commitment on Tuesday, after one of their top remaining targets, and their top remaining target at the linebacker position, announced his commitment to the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Tennessee Volunteers gained the commitment from Brayden Rouse, who is one of the better players inside the Peach State. The Vols have found some success in the state of Georgia and dipped into Marietta for Rouse, who was one of the better players uncommitted across the nation.

He caught up with Vols On SI following his commitment at Kell High School.

"Feels great, I feel like deep down I always knew that it was Tennessee. I mean every time that I went there it felt like home, felt like what made it so hard why i shouldn't make it (commit) to Tennessee, and I didn't find a reason, and now that it is over it feels good, it's a long process and all that, but this is the spot for me I'm ready to go grind it out with these boys and win a National Championship!"

He detailed why he kept visited as he visited over six times.

"I felt like the biggest thing was the people. The players were also great, just building those connections and those relationships are huge. Those game-day atmospheres are second to none. When I went to that Florida game, I was like 'That was the best college game that I have gone to', so that is not a question for me, when you think of a college atmosphere, you're not questioning Tennessee or Knoxville."

Rouse then detailed how well Tennessee doid with relationships.

"That was my biggest thing in the recruiting process. Getting those relationships, they had a leg up on everybody, they started recruiting me back in August after my first game, and they took a chance as I only had one game of film in by then, but they were very consistent, and they always recruited me regardless, so they had a long time to recruit me and we just built really good relationships so I felt we did a really good job with that."

Braylon Outlaw is a player who has peer recruited him. TJ White also jumpoed into the mix. He detailed his relationship with those two players.

"We've been on three visits so far (him and Braylon Outlaw) so I feel our connection is great. Yeah TJ, he hit me up right before he was committing and said, 'Let's go to Rocky Top', and I responded with the a side eye emoji, because at the time I didn't know where I was going, but now that I know, I we can make an impact in that defense."

Rouse explained where the initial feeling set in that Tennessee was his decision.

"We were on a family vacation last week and it felt good to just decompress away from the football stuff going on and recruiting, but at the same time you still gotta bring it up, because it is a topic that needs to be brought up, other than that I would say two weeks ago, but I was battling back and forth trying to figure it out, but I would say within the last week I knew for sure that I was going to Tennessee."

Rouse connected well with many of the coaches at this time. He talked more in-depth about his relationships with the staff.

"I really connect with all of them, but the people I talk to the most is Coach Inge, Coach Heupel, Coach Ruzic, Coach Banks, Coach Chop, I mean it goes on and one, Coach Garner, some of the offensive guys, there's Forrest, I feel like every time that I go there I talk to someone new and it's a genuine conversation that I am having with them, with them trying to learn stuff about me. I feel like they are genuine people who are trying to get me better, I'm just excited to go play for them."

Rouse dug deeper into his relationship with Coach Inge and how he is looking forward to learning under him.

"I feel like I bring something different to them, especially as a LB with how versatile I am. I'm definitely excited because of Coach Inge putting linebackers in the league, and that was a question for me coming to Tennessee 'can they produce linebackers' but with Coach Inge coming over there with his past and his history of him coaching linebackers makes me a lot more comfortable going there, and i feel like he is a great developer, he's a great teacher, a great coach, and he will also teach you to be a great man as well. That was a big thing for us, someone who can coach me to be a better football player and a man. The development on both sides would be huge."

Will the talented prospect be peer recruiting as a commit? He explains why this is the case.

"I was talking with Faizon (Brandon) a couple of weeks ago and he told me about LSU Tiger commit TK (Tristen Keys), so I am going to try my best to get him, and I am the type of person who is going to recruit, so I am going to be texting people tonight so we can keep working at becoming the best class in the country."

Tennessee didn't just recruit the prospect, but his family as well.

"Every time we went up I felt like they did a really good job recruiting me and my family. They had people hanging out with my brother even keeping him active and keeping him entertained. They had people just talk to my Mom. I feel like every time we were there they even had people who wanted to hang out with my family. We visited many times, like seven or eight times, so they kind of knew how we are. So I felt like they did pretty good just putting the right people around us."

He finished off with one final statement to Vol Nation.

"We are going to win a National Championship and have the best recruiting class in the country."

According to 247Sports, Rouse is ranked inside the top 70 and is the 4th highest-rated linebacker. He is only one spot ahead of Vols linebacker commit TJ White, who committed with his teammate (Dereon Albert) on July 1st in his home city of Jackson, Mississippi.

The Vols won the recruiting battle over many quality schools. Among these schools are Alabama, Michigan, and Texas. The Vols will have another major battle they will be looking to win from the same high school (Kell) as Rouse. This comes as Jowell Combay is set to make his decision on Wednesday.

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Caleb Sisk
CALEB SISK

Caleb Sisk is a talented sports journalist from the state of Georgia. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sisk's passion for sports grew. Bringing years of recruiting coverage experience, he has been named a National Recruiting Reporter and covers various college sites on the On SI network. He takes pride in covering recruiting and has been featured by numerous companies for his excellent coverage and knowledge. He has also spent time at other companies, including Rivals, where he covered the Tennessee Volunteers.

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