In a Year Full Of Unexpected Turns, Kelsey Pope Wins Two Vital Recruitments

The Volunteers had a tumultuous year at wide receiver. They produced two NFL Draft picks at the position after the 2022 season, a big selling point for these coaches on the recruiting trail. However, the room got thin, especially when Bru McCoy and Dont'e Thornton went down with long-term injuries.

Tennessee went through its share of struggles at the position, even on the recruiting trail. They missed out on a few top pass catchers that they wanted, but wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope came away with two big wins in the 2024 class: Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley. Matthews is the No. 20 prospect in the class, according to 247Sports' Composite Rankings, while Staley slots in at No. 156. They're the only two pass catchers for Tennessee in the class after long-time tight end commit Jonathan Echols flipped to USF this week.

These are two of the top receivers in the cycle and will make an immediate positive impact on the room. Matthews has been in the limelight for years, becoming a national recruit during his sophomore season. He's playing receiver full-time for the first time in his career, and the early results are exciting. Matthews runs smooth routes, attacks leverage at an elite rate and competes hard.

Staley flew under the radar for a long time but has come onto the national scene over the past few months. He put up monster numbers in his senior season for Storm Thurmond High School in South Carolina and is one of the most explosive players at the catch point in this class. Staley attacks at all times, bursting into the open field with the ball in his hands and locating it at the catch point downfield.

Matthews and Staley give a young room more bodies that want to compete, that want reps from day one. Adding more premium names into a stable of highly-recruited guys will bring out the best in many of them, and Pope has managed to improve his group even in a year that brought him many challenges.