Fast-Rising Peach State DB Strozier Talks Recent Vols Visit

Branden Strozier, a rising senior at Saint Francis High School (Ga.), recently saw his recruitment take off. 

Strozier caught up with Volunteer Country on Sports Illustrated to recap his recruitment and a recent visit to Tennessee. 

Over the last decade or so, college football fans have seen the evolution of long-rangy defensive backs sweep the landscape of football.

Strozier is just the next up in that similar mold of athletes playing defensive back. At 6-foot-2 and 175-pounds, Strozier has a great base frame to work with that will have most college coaches beating down the door to get involved in his process. 

"My recruitment process right now has been amazing over the past month," he said. "I'm hearing mostly from Tennessee and Kentucky."

Strozier holds nearly ten offers as he approaches his senior season.

The offer list for Strozier's services consists of Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia State, Memphis, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Holding an offer list like this early on offers up some good feedback for the athlete, so it is known what needs polished, worked on, developed, etc. 

"The most common thing coaches seem to love about my game is that I'm very lengthy and I'm able to use my feet well," he said of the message from most coaches. 

Playing most skill positions, footwork is vital to the success of the athlete, especially playing defensive back where overall speed is a big deal, but with the right footwork, an athlete can always maintain the proper leverage in order to help keep position on the opposition.

A little over a week ago, during the January recruiting period, Strozier took an unofficial visit to Rocky Top that went very well for the fast-rising senior.

"My visit to Tennessee was great," Strozier said. "The biggest thing that I was able to take away was that I was a top priority in their program."

Strozier had a chance to bond with the Tennessee staff during the visit, and he felt their message was clear. 

"Their overall message was that they wanted me to get there, and they felt as if I can make an early impact," he said. 

Tennessee's defensive back coach, Willie Martinez, who has a stellar background and a great pulse on developing defensive backs for the next level, made a strong impression on Strozier. 

"My first impression of Coach Martinez was that he was a great coach and an even better person," Strozier said. " (He just spent time) getting to know about me and my family. He said that he loved my game and that if I'm there, I will be playing all around the field, not just cornerback."

Before the weekend finished, Strozier was extended an offer from the Vols, becoming his ninth offer so far in the early recruitment stages.

Though it is early on in the process, Strozier seems to have a base timeline on when things are projected to be wrapped up for the current junior.

"I plan to have my top schools before the end of spring so I can focus on them during the summer, and I plan to commit towards the end of the summer," he said of this. 

 As distant as the timeline is, it will be here before we know it, and Strozier will have some decisions to make. With a few more months before spring gets rolling, who will jump in the pool for the chance to land Strozier and his services? The Vols seem to have placed themselves in a solid position to make a run for Strozier and hopefully pull him to Rocky Top.