Coveted OL Fisher Anderson Talks Recent Self-Guided Visits, Recruitment and More

Franklin (Tenn.) offensive lineman Fisher Anderson is one of the top offensive linemen in the country. The coveted prospect has been diligent in his recruiting process, as he has spent time building relationships with coaches in the virtual world, but he was recently able to take four self-guided trips to ACC schools during his spring break. While there is no sense of urgency for Anderson to make a college decision, he recently talked about his recruitment with VR2 on SI. 

"That was pretty fun," Anderson said of his trips to Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, and North Carolina. "I got to see some places I had never seen before. It was spring break, I had just came from the beach, and I had got my spring break in, and that (part) did not feel like spring break with calls every day and stuff."

"All of them had good campuses, they all had pretty nice stuff to show, and the weather was fairly nice," Anderson added. "I was glad to be able to hit some hot spots that each coach was able to tell me about, a restaurant or something that was the most popular. I got to see what it was like to be a student at those places and meet up with some people that I know at those campuses."

For Anderson, academics are a top priority in his recruit, and it is something he is looking at heavily with each school he is involved with. 

"Really, all of the schools I am looking at have that academic reputation in common," he said. "That is the number one priority. I don't know what I want to study yet, but it is just looking at what their business school is like, what their psychology program is like, and all of that stuff, and that is kind of the next step. It is really just about the academic reputation right now."

Anderson has continued to remain in contact with the home-state program, as Tennessee has been in his ear as much as any school on his list. 

"Well, really just constant communication with prioritizing me," Anderson said of Tennessee's efforts. "I know that takes up a lot of their time, it takes time out of their day to write and call, and I respect that. The conversations are really about relationship building. That is the main point right now."

Tennessee likes what they have seen from Anderson on film, and his football intelligence is one thing the Vols are selling him on, as they would like for him to be a tackle body, but he is willing to play anywhere a team asks him to. 

"I guess the thing would be the type of player I am and how I would fit into their fast-paced style of offense," Anderson said of Tennessee's message. "Coach Elarbee has talked about the academic requirements as a lineman to be able to get these calls during a game and be able to run with them, so that is kind of interesting."

The self-guided tours helped Anderson see some things he wanted to in his recruitment, but the mid-state prospect is not ready to press towards a decision just yet. 

"It definitely helps," he said of the visits. "I need to do a little bit more of that before I can think about committing anywhere. I definitely want to get in my officials whenever I know what those are going to be. I am not pressed for time or anything; whenever I feel God telling me where to go, that is where I am going to go."

With one official visit to Virginia already scheduled, Anderson is not sure how he will use his other four trips, but he does know what he is looking for in a school when the time comes. 

"Really just loyalty to the program. All of these schools are great schools. No school I am looking at is a bad school. It is really just separating yourself from the others schools. The people I haven't been talking to recently, it is not that they are a bad school, it is just other schools have all of that and more. That is really the separating factor is how different they can be and how they can set themselves apart."