4-star TE Jonathan Echols flips commitment from Tennessee to USF

IMG Academy four-star tight end Jonathan Echols was on Tennessee’s commit list for almost 18 months. Multiple other schools made runs at him, but he stuck with the Vols.

There was something different about USF, though. Head coach Alex Golesh was his primary recruiter in Knoxville before he took over the Bulls’ program, and was a big reason Echols committed to Tennessee in the first place. The two have stayed in touch throughout his recruitment, and after a lot of thought, Echols knew wanted to be coached by him at the next level.

On Friday, he flipped his commitment from to Golesh and Co., giving them a signature recruiting victory to build on.

“Coach Golesh is my guy,” he told On3. “I love the relationship that we have and I put my trust in him..The program is going back to where it has been. It is on its way up and I want to be a part of that. He is a coach I believe in, I like his personality and he is always fired up. I think he can take USF far and I am excited about playing for him.”

Golesh’s relentless pursuit paid off in flipping in Echols

When Golesh first left Knoxville, Echols was one of his first targets he wanted to flip. The nation’s No. 13 tight end recruit wasn’t looking at other schools at that point.

“I was committed to Tennessee and I didn’t think I would change.”

But as the season went along and he saw what Golesh was building, it piqued his interest. He decided to visit, and things started heating up from there.

“I went to the game when they played Rice, and I started talking to the coaches more throughout the season,” he said. “After I took my official visit to USF last weekend, I left feeling good about USF, but I was still 50-50 between them and Tennessee.”

After a few days of considering both options, Echols knew where he wanted to be.

“I just decided to go with my gut and that was telling me USF,” he added. “I can’t even really explain it. Tennessee is great, and I never thought I would change my mind, but I went with my gut. I thought it for a few days, I prayed about it and I talked to my family about it and decided USF was the best school for me.”