4-star Isaiah Campbell left ‘flabbergasted’ by Rocky Top
Former Clemson commit Isaiah Campbell had been looking forward to visiting Tennessee for a while. Campbell was in town to see the Vols and Alabama and the visit left him ‘flabbergasted’ about the atmosphere on Rocky Top.
“The atmosphere was clutch,” Campbell said. “It was insane. I was flabbergasted. I was like ‘oh my gosh.’ It was so crazy. I was amazed. I was having the best time, so much fun.”
Overall, he loved his time in Knoxville. He had a perception of Tennessee coming in and was changed by his trip.
“Honestly I loved everything,” Campbell said. “The people were great at Tennessee, the fans were great. The coaches here are really great people. Coach Heup, Coach Garner, Coach Banks, Coach Chop, just great people.
“That’s what’s making Tennessee thrive, it’s the coaching. The people here are great. I’m really impressed. I had to come down here, come check it out. I’m from North Carolina, so I’m like, ‘Tennessee, ok, that’s back woods,’ that’s what I thought. But they have a great culture here, great football culture and just a great culture overall.
“Especially on the God part, that really came forth for me. I give glory to God in everything and at Tennessee I see that they give a lot to God. Big props to Tennessee. Still going to see how things go on the recruiting trail, but I had a great time. It was a fun visit.”
Campbell watched Tennessee’s 24-17 win over Alabama and the cigar smoking that followed as a result. Quite possibly the only thing that he was iffy on coming out of the weekend.
“I couldn’t do all the smoke. I get the tradition, but I couldn’t do all that smoke,” Campbell said with a smile.
So where does Tennessee stand as he leaves town?
“Tennessee is high up there,” Campbell said, “I’m looking at three schools right now (Tennessee, UNC, Clemson). Tennessee is really high. Really high. I can’t put a number out there because I know they’re going to take and they’re going to go with it, but they’re really high up there.”
While some recruits watched their individual positions, Campbell was watching everything, including the body language on the sidelines.
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“I was looking at the sidelines,” Campbell said. “I was looking at the players, they’re demeanor. I was looking at how they moved.
“When I look at the overall defense I’m going to look at the base they started in, is it two high, is it three high? You go down to the linebackers, how many are in the box? You go down to the D-linemen, three man front, four man front? Are there stand up ends?”
Tennessee’s defense has been elite all season and he has been impressed by what he has seen.
“The defense was running great,” Campbell said. “They were firing on ally cylinders. They had good team camaraderie. They were like an engine. You look at the sideline, the players, they’re all cheering. The players that aren’t in, they’re ready to go.
“Even when they were down in the first half they were still all ready to go, it didn’t matter if they were losing or not, they were going to play with heart.”
As for a timeline, Campbell isn’t sure when he will make a final decision.
“Right now there isn’t a timeline, just when I feel comfortable and decide I want to commit,” Campbell said. “I’m going to take all my official visits, or maybe I just need one. When I feel good. When God puts me it in my heart to go somewhere, that’s where I’ll feel like I want to go. Honestly I’m probably not going to commit right now. I’m probably going to take a couple of days off, lower the steam, lower the volume, make your mindset where you want to go and God is leading me there.”
Clemson remains in the mix and North Carolina will get an official visit coming up in the month of November. 
