Ethan Utley has visited Tennessee more than a half-dozen times over the past few years, and he has found plenty of reasons to be excited about the possibility of staying in-state and playing for the Vols. In the end, he decided it simply didn’t make sense for him to go anywhere else.
The four-star Class of 2025 defensive lineman from Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn., announced Thursday night that he has committed to Tennessee. He celebrated his 17th birthday by choosing the home-state Vols over Texas, giving Tennessee another early commitment from one of its top in-state targets.
Vols gave Utley his second SEC scholarship offer and his fourth offer overall in September 2021, just four games into his freshman season. He has visited them at least seven times since then, with four of his trips to Knoxville coming in the past eight months, and he has remained a priority for Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s staff.
Utley finally determined that he couldn’t pass up the chance to play for Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner — who has known Utley’s mother, former Georgia women’s basketball player Tracy Walls, for years — and join some of the familiar faces who are on Tennessee’s current roster or are planning to team up with him in Knoxville. But there were several reasons Utley was ultimately sold on the Vols.
Another of Tennessee’s top in-state targets celebrated his birthday by announcing Thursday night that he has committed to the Vols
The 6-foot-3.5, 265-pound Utley, who’s a Top247 prospect, became the Vols’ seventh commitment for the 2025 class and the first projected defensive lineman in their class. He also joined five-star quarterback George MacIntyre of Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy and wide receiver Joakim Dodson of Collierville (Tenn.) High School as Tennessee’s third in-state commitment.
“For me personally, it just made too much sense for me not to be at Tennessee,” Utley told GoVols247 before publicly revealing his decision. “It was like, Tennessee was the fit for me.”
