By Alex Norman
From time to time we like to catch up with a newsmaker in East Tennessee. This week we had a conversation with Farragut senior tight end Jacob Warren, who has been committed to Tennessee since late May. Warren is hoping to be an early enrollee, and would matriculate to UT in January.
Knoxville Focus: Well first things first… Why Tennessee? You had offers from South Carolina, Auburn, and Oregon, among other schools. What was it about Tennessee that made it the place for you?
Jacob Warren: I live here. I’m a local kid. I’m right down the street… my Dad went to Tennessee (James Warren 1989-1993), so it is a whole legacy thing with my Dad playing there. It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to go and be a part of the Vols and run through that T on Saturdays. I think about it all the time. I think about it anytime I see that Power T or talk about it with my friends. Running through that T with Rocky Top playing and everyone screaming and my family around me… so that’s the biggest thing. Just being a dream of mine so… I’m glad to make it come true.
KF: Guys like Jason Witten played the tight end position at Tennessee. What are your expectations heading to Knoxville next year?
JW: It gives me motivation. Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs) is a Butch Jones product I guess you could say… and it looks good for a young tight end coming in that wants to be successful and wants to go to the next level and play in the NFL one day… Just that whole process of being a versatile guy and just being a dominant player overall… It is just nice to look up to those guys and try to model my game after them.
KF: Some people really enjoy the recruiting process. Others abhor it. What did you make of the letters, the texts, the phone calls, and everything that comes with recruiting?
JW: I loved it… I told people I can’t complain about it because a lot of people don’t get to go through it, so I’m lucky and blessed to go through it. I took my visits and loved it. We went all over the place…so I think going everywhere and checking it out so you know what is out there I think it was a great process. For me I didn’t have any problems. It started to get a little hectic when everyone was asking questions about what are you thinking and where are you going… I think there is a lot of pressure. I think that people expect stuff from you when the whole process is going on… but I loved it. I had a great time and it went well for me.
KF: One thing I’ve noticed with this Class of 2018 is that you guys are all acting as recruiters yourselves… How does that work?
JW: It is really special. We got a bunch of big time guys a bunch of big time recruits. We are getting up there in the rankings but you know we don’t talk too much about it because rankings are rankings… but it plays a role. We have a group message that we all chat in. We all talk about prospects that we try to talk to and get on board with this family (at Tennessee) that we are trying to build. We are all coming together and becoming friends and enjoying talking to each other. Cade Mays (Knoxville Catholic commit) and Ollie Lane (Gibbs commit) are guys I spend time with… I work out with them. We are just hanging out and it’s just getting used to those people that we are gonna be spending the next four years of our life with.
KF: This is your senior year at Farragut. Does this team have what it takes to win another state championship?
JW: What I have been telling people is we had that taste of success and we are hungry again. We gotta go to work and get better every day. We gotta come together as a team and be a band of brothers so we can be successful every Friday. Going up to (Class) 6A people are saying maybe we can’t handle it… maybe we don’t have the depth or the size, but I think if we stay together and play together and do what we are supposed to do, that’s not a problem. We are just going to be physical and play our game and it’ll work out for us.
