Coffee County's Alontae Taylor signs with Tennessee Vols football

MANCHESTER — Alontae Taylor made things official on Friday.

He is a Vol.

"I'm ready to get to work," Taylor said. "I'm ready to get up there in January."

Taylor was flanked by members of his family near midcourt in the Coffee County gymnasium. Coffee County football coaches and administration stood behind him as he signed his letter of intent with Tennessee.

Taylor plans to enroll at Tennessee in January, making him eligible to participate in spring practice.

The Coffee County senior became the 13th to sign with Tennessee during the December early signing period. His signing came on the final day of the three-day period.

His signature came two days after he watched future teammates Tanner Antonutti of Ensworth and Brant Lawless of Nashville Christian sign with the Vols.

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Taylor, a 6-foot, 184-pound four-star prospect by 247Sports, was recruited by Tennessee as a wide receiver. He did a little bit of everything for his high school team.

This season, Taylor was 24-of-46 passing for 391 yards with three touchdowns for the Red Raiders (3-7). He also rushed for 1,409 yards on 141 carries with 21 TDs and caught 11 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown. Taylor had 13 tackles and an interception on defense.

Taylor, who is the No. 5 prospect in the state, committed to Tennessee on June 18, 2016 before decommitting on Nov. 12, the day Butch Jones was fired. At that time he said his top five schools were Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Wake Forest with Georgia being the frontrunner.

Taylor picked the Vols over Georgia.

"(Tennessee is) home," Taylor said. "I'm from Tennessee. Tennessee is on the come up and I want to be a part of that process."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@tennessean.com or 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @Kreager.