Golden Eagles ink 10 on first day of December signing period
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s the early signing period for Tennessee Tech football, but if Wednesday’s first haul is any indication, the Golden Eagles have plenty to be excited about before the second recruiting session comes into play. Across the signees on Wednesday are state champions, record breakers, academic success stories and multi-sport athletes. While the early class addresses some defensive needs, Tech also adds some firepower on offense. Head coach Dewayne Alexander is excited about the prospects heading to Cookeville and there’s still plenty of work to do before February’s National Signing Day rolls around. Wednesday's signees so far include:
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's the early signing period for Tennessee Tech football, but if Wednesday's first haul is any indication, the Golden Eagles have plenty to be excited about before the second recruiting session comes into play.
Across the signees on Wednesday are state champions, record breakers, academic success stories and multi-sport athletes. While the early class addresses some defensive needs, Tech also adds some firepower on offense.
Head coach Dewayne Alexander is excited about the prospects heading to Cookeville and there's still plenty of work to do before February's National Signing Day rolls around.
"We are very excited about the young men that have made the commitment to sign early to be Golden Eagles," said head coach Dewayne Alexander. "Our staff has been working hard to identify 'explosive' players on both sides of the ball and I feel we are off to good start with these 10 signees. Eight of the 10 are defensive players with five of those being 'Hybrid' players that can effectively play multiple positions. The one thing they all have in common is that they can run and hit and have shown the ability on film to make big plays.
"We added two defensive linemen with one being active and big interior guys (Myles Parker). We also added an edge rusher that can play with his hand on the ground or stand up and rush the passer from multiple alignments (Idris King). We signed an outstanding high school QB (Jordyn Potts) who is going to enroll early in January and an Iowa State/ Blinn JC QB transfer Hayes Gibson who gives us an experienced QB to help with the replacement of 5th year grad transfer Jeremiah Oatsvall. We also added the 4A Mr. Football winner Marcellus Jackson, who is electric with the football."
Tech isn't done by any stretch of the imagination as the next signing session comes up in February.
"We are still working hard to secure a couple more midterm enrollees on the offensive side of the ball," said Alexander. "The transfer portal has certainly left a ton of excellent high school players unsigned and also a lot of quality junior college players unsigned. We are focused hard on recruiting the unsigned high school players. Many have been dropped late by FBS schools only a few days before signing day. Junior college transfers that graduate in May of 2023 and graduate school players that have earned their undergrad degree and are in the transfer portal that still have two years of eligibility remaining are all good fits for us.
"We have 25 different grad programs at TTU and grad transfers that have two years of eligibility remaining can play two seasons here at TTU while earning their master's degree. Our staff has already identified some outstanding young men from each of the categories mentioned above and have plans to bring them on campus in mid-January once the contact recruiting period starts back up. We also will save some scholarships for after we have gone through spring practice to address any further needs that we feel we may have after spring ball has concluded."
With an additional signee expected on Thursday, Wednesday's signees included:
Jordyn Potts | QB | 6-0 | 180 | Powell HS | Powell, Tenn.
The MVP of the 2021 TSSAA BlueCross Bowl 5A championship game, Potts is also a two-time all-state selection. In his prep career, Potts has thrown for 96 touchdowns, rushed for 20 more and has 10,247 total offensive yards. He has the eighth most passing TDs in TSSAA history as well as the seventh-most total touchdowns and seventh-most offensive yards. He was noted by Sports Illustrated in 2021 as a One To Know.
This past season, Potts threw for 2,757 yards and 28 touchdowns, completing 171 of his 270 passes. He also rushed 40 times for 129 yards with four touchdowns.
Toby Bolton | DB | 5-10 | 170 | Cedar Shoals HS | Athens, Ga.
Bolton was twice named to the Region 8-4A defensive first team, while also claiming an honorable mention all-state nod and an additional all-region honorable mention. Over his prep career, Bolton recorded 163 total tackles, 13 interceptions – including six returned for touchdowns – and 22 pass breakups. He is also a standout in track and field, earning a state runner-up finish in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relay teams.
Myles Parker | DL | 6-1 | 320 | Brookwood HS | Snellville, Ga.
In his senior campaign, Parker collected 63 total tackles and five for loss, while he also had four sacks for 33 yards and two hurries. Parker also forced two fumbles and deflected a pass. He was also named to the first-team defense by the Touchdown Club of Gwinnett as well as a the Region 4-7A first-team defense.
Dyson Bell | DB/ATH | 6-3 | 185 | Riverdale HS | Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Named to the Region 4-6A team, Bell had 25 tackles, including two for-loss, while breaking up eight passes and intercepting two.
Devin Hunter | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Norcross HS | Norcross, Ga.
Hunter was named to the Region 7-7A first-team defensive roster and was awarded the Touchdown Club of Gwinnett's Cecil Morris Award as an all-county caliber player whose season was cut short to injury. It was still a fruitful campaign with a punt block against Meadowcreek and an interception return for a touchdown against Duluth. He finished the season with four interceptions, two forced fumbles, two punts blocked for touchdowns, 16 pass breakups and led his county in turnovers.
Derrick Burroughs | DB | 5-11 | 160 | Nolensville HS | Nolensville, Tenn.
Named to Region 6-5A team, Burroughs had an awesome career for Nolensville, recording 88 total tackles with 12 interceptions. He also had three fumble recoveries, 17 pass breakups, six tackles-for-loss, four sacks and had two defensive touchdowns. Eight of those interceptions came this past season.
Hayes Gibson | QB | 6-1 | 193 | Blinn JC/Iowa State | Ankeny, Iowa
The son of Iowa State Hall of Fame linebacker Dennis Gibson, who also had a nine-year career in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and the San Diego Chargers, the younger Gibson is looking to make a name for himself.
In his final prep season, Gibson threw for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also rushing for 186 yards and four more touchdowns. After redshirting at Iowa State, Gibson moved over to Blinn Junior College. While there, he saw action in five games last season, throwing for 237 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-43 passing. He also rushed 13 times for 45 yards and a score. He also comes into Cookeville with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Marcellus Jackson | ATH | 5-9 | 167 | Fulton HS | Knoxville, Tenn.
The TSSAA Class 4A Mr. Football winner in 2022, Jackson threw for 1,885 yards and 23 touchdowns this past season, while also rushing for 1,468 yards and 17 touchdowns as he helped lead Fulton to a Region 6-5A championship. On defense, Jackson recorded 61 total tackles, with a sack, two interceptions, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He has been a fixture on the Tennessee Sports Writers Association's All-State team. Jackson was also selected to the TACA All-Star Game.
Idris King | DE/LB | 6-3 | 230 | DE/LB | Lakeland HS | Lakeland, Fla.
King finished the 2022 campaign with 50 total tackles and 11 sacks, while also deflecting two passes and recovering a fumble. He also had 11 QB hurries and 25 tackles-for-loss. He helped lead the Dreadnaughts to an undefeated 14-0 season and the program's eighth state championship with a 21-14 victory over Venice in the FHSAA Class 4S title game. King had a solo sack, two assisted sacks and six total tackles in the championship. An all-county selection last year, he was named to the Super 16 list and was the Rivalry Series MVP.
Cayman Spaulding | LB/SS | 6-1 | 190 | Miller Grove HS | Miller Grove, Ga.
Spaulding was named the Region 6-4A Defensive Player of the Year and together tremendous numbers with 121 total tackles – 89 solo and 32 assisted – with 24 of those for-loss with six sacks. He earned a Georgia High School Player of the Week nod after a 13-tackle, two-interception performance against Stephenson. In his prep career, Spaulding finished with 246 tackles and 18 sacks.
