Vols LB Target Jeremiah Telander Talks Recruitment, Official Visit Plans

Gainesville, Ga.-- Standout Gainesville (Ga.) linebacker Jeremiah Telander currently holds 24 Division 1 offers. USC and Michigan were in to see him practice

Gainesville, Ga.-- Standout Gainesville (Ga.) linebacker Jeremiah Telander currently holds 24 Division 1 offers. USC and Michigan were in to see him practice this week as spring practice started, and Georgia will be in next week to watch a practice. As these schools linger outside of his recruitment currently, Telander has not closed out any school on his list, but is focusing on four select schools that he, along with his family, have visited and studied for the past several months. Telander shares the latest on North Carolina, Lousiville, Florida, and Tennessee with SI All-American.

"We don't have the schedule completely set, but this is how I want it to go," Telander said of his plans for using official visits. "North Carolina the first week of June, Louisville the week after that, Florida the week after that, and Tennessee the final week of June."

Telander stopped in Chapel Hill last month to see Mack Brown's program, and it put the Tar Heels squarely on his radar.

"It is a legendary staff at North Carolina," Telander said of what stands out about North Carolina. "Coach Thig played at North Carolina while Coach Mack was his head coach. Coach Mack won a national title at Texas. He is 70 years old and has been coaching forever, but his staff is full of legendary coaches that know what they are talking about and breed NFL players."

Like all of the schools mentioned here, North Carolina is high on Telander's versatility as a linebacker.

"They think that I can drop into pass coverage, play inside and rush the passer for them," Telander said of how the Tar Heels see his fit in their defense.

Getting to know more about the player aspect of each program is important for Telander, and it will be something he especially focuses on during his first official visit.

"I want to speak to some of the players about life in the player group," Telander said about what he will be looking for on his official visit to North Carolina. "I want to see what life is like for a day in the life of a player at Chapel Hill."

Lousiville is a school that offered Telander early in the recruitment, and they have since shown him how much of a priority he is for them.

"Coach D-Nik (Derek Nicholson) hopped on me early as my 7th or 8th offer, and I love coach D-Nik," Telander said of what stands out about Louisville. "He is a very Christian guy. He is a very good guy that is going to love you outside of football, but he is going to coach you very hard during football. The whole staff feels like a family to me. They are really cool to me, and I feel like I am a top priority for them."

The fact that Louisville has never relented in its pursuit has been important for the Cardinals' ability to remain in this recruitment.

"That is really cool because they are calling me every week," Telander said of Lousiville prioritizing him for so long. "They called me before the draft. They are always checking in on my mom and dad, so that is really cool."

Telander will use his second official visit to return to Louisville for the first time since March.

"I just want to talk to the players there as well," Telander said of what he will be looking for on the visit. "Of course, I am going to nitpick a bit on these visits, but I am just going to be seeing how the thing feels there during that visit."

Josh Heupel's Tennessee program was the team that kicked this recruitment off for Telander almost one year ago, and he has felt the love from that staff since receiving the offer.

"Tennessee was my first offer ever," Telander said of why the Vols are a focus in his recruitment. "Went up there in June for a camp, had a good camp, they offered me right after, and they haven't slowed down. We have probably been on FaceTime with each other every week since last June. Slowed down a bit during the season, but they have been on me. Coach Heup is an energetic guy that wants to go win a natty. I can see it in his eyes every time I talk to him. The linebacker room has growing to do, and I think I could be an asset to them."

Tennessee's inside linebacker coach Brian Jean-Mary has been instrumental in helping Tennessee build a strong bond with the Peach State linebacker.

"Coach BJ is a legendary linebacker coach," Telander said of Brian Jean-Mary. "He has been successful everywhere he has been. He talks with my mom and my dad. He loves you outside of football, but he is going to help you and coach you hard during football."

Telander has been to Knoxville more than to any of the other schools, and he will visit there on Memorial Day Weekend on an unofficial visit before returning the final week of June for his fourth official visit of the process.

"I think what we are going to do since my mom has not been up there as much is dive into more outside of football," Telander said of how he will approach the Tennessee official visit. "We are going to look at academics, the housing, and all of that to allow her to see how that goes. Kind of just dive more into all of the other stuff since we have covered a lot of the football."

Billy Napier's program is the latest team to join the race, but the Gators have worked quickly to climb into Telander's recruitment since offering a little over a month and a half ago.

"They did come in late, but that coaching staff just got over there," Telander said of Florida. "They had been there just long enough to look over recruits; then they got me on their board. They had me down for a visit and showed me that I was a high priority for them. I was able to sit down with Coach Napier for lunch and get to know him more. Coach (Jay) Bateman, I got to watch film before practice with him and his linebackers. Florida is Florida. It is a top-tier program that has nice facilities and everything."

Telander understands how important the first recruiting class is for a head coach, especially in the SEC, so it means a lot to him to be so high on the list for Napier's program.

"It means a lot," Telander said of what it means to be an early priority in Napier's first full recruiting cycle at Florida. "It is crazy to think about, really, because I used to hope they would lose when they were playing against Georgia, but it is really cool being a priority for them now."

Telander will use his official visit to Gainesville to learn more about the players and the environment, as well as to spend more time with the staff on the football side of things.

"Everything is going to be about a feeling and getting to know more about the players and program at all of these schools, really," he said. "I want to talk more with Coach Bateman during the official visit and get to know about the scheme and the linebacker's room."

In the end, the process is going to come down to comfort for the standout linebacker.