Nation's No. 1 QB for 2017 flips from Tennessee to Clemson

By foxsports
Published

Tennessee's recruiting efforts continue to take hits, as 2017 five-star quarterback prospect Hunter Johnson decommitted from the school Monday night and flipped his commitment to Clemson. 

Johnson originally committed to the Vols in August and had spent last weekend in Knoxville on a recruiting trip, making this abrupt decision all the more strange. With the Tigers now having Johnson committed to their 2017 class, expect Clemson to have one of the best overall recruiting hauls of 2017.

The five-star prospect had this to say on his commitment to Clemson, via 247Sports:

While the defection certainly hurts Tennessee at the moment, the Vols still have arguably the best dual-threat quarterback prospect in the nation for 2016 in Jarrett Guarantano committed and are among the favorites to land 2018 five-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

"Myself and my family both just felt like it was the right spot for me," Johnson said. "I felt like I had a connection there when I went there. It wasn't something I was seeking out. I felt confident with my earlier decision of Tennessee at the time, but once I got there it felt right to me.".

"I respect the heck out of the coaching staff at Tennessee but I felt like the decision for me to go to Clemson was the right one and I'm confident about it. The fanbase at Tennessee is really special and the coaches there are great coaches and I'm confident they're going in the right direction too."

Losing one five-star quarterback may just be the thing that lands Tennessee its next five-star prospect.