5-star 2018 offensive tackle Cade Mays decommits from Tennessee

Elite class of 2018 offensive tackle Cade Mays decommitted from Tennessee on Tuesday morning. Mays, the second-ranked tackle in the country and top player in the Volunteer State, announced his decommitment on his Twitter account.

As you can imagine, this is a pretty big deal. Mays is a blue-chipper and the centerpiece of the Vols’ touted 2018 recruiting class. He’s also a native of Knoxville, an attendee of Knoxville Catholic, roughly 11 miles from the UT campus. The idea was to pair him with fellow five-star offensive tackle and Tennessee native Trey Smith down the road. Obviously, with Mays decommitting, that’s now out of the question.

It’s also a big blow because of head coach Butch Jones’ situation. Enough has already been said about the Volunteers’ lack of success on the field. Jones, though, has been able to bring top-level recruiting classes into Knoxville on an annual basis. This one, with Mays, was set to be no exception.

Now, though, the loss of Mays has caused them to be hit with a big blow. They’re now down to fourth in the SEC and 13th in the country after losing the blue-chip offensive tackle. They had been hanging around 1st and in the Top 10 beforehand.