By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Fresh off an Ohio Valley Conference regular season title and a run in the NCAA Division I Playoffs, the University of Tennessee at Martin football team continued to restock a talent-rich program with the addition of 11 commitments during the early signing period.
The Skyhawks have announced the commitments of Kaleb Almo, Andre Brackett, Cornelious Brown, Micheal Campbell, Drake Carroll, Tait Deer, Tyler Gore, Charles Perkins, Tahj Shabazz, Micah Simpson, Ajay Smith and Ty Woods.
With the first pieces of the 2022 signing class in place, UT Martin added five players on offense and six on defense. Offensively the Skyhawks added one quarterback, two wide receivers, a tight end and an offensive lineman while on defense the program welcomed two defensive linemen, a linebacker and three defensive backs.
UT Martin will complete the rest of its signing class during the regular signing period which begins with National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
2022 UT Martin Football Recruiting Class
(listed alphabetically by last name)
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown (Previous School)
Kaleb Almo DB 6-0 190 Fr. Memphis, Tenn. (PURE Youth Athletics Alliance)
Cornelious Brown* QB 6-5 200 R-So. Birmingham, Ala. (Georgia State)
Micheal Campbell* LB 6-1 210 Jr. Horn Lake, Miss. (Northwest Mississippi CC)
Drake Carroll* OL 6-2 305 Jr. Alexandria, La. (East Central CC)
Tait Deer* DL 6-2 280 So. McComb, Miss. (East Mississippi CC)
Tyler Gore* DB 5-10 175 Jr. Little River, SC (Georgia State)
Charles Perkins DL 6-4 255 Fr. Memphis, Tenn. (Memphis Aca. of Health Sciences)
Tahj Shabazz TE 6-3 220 Fr. Germantown, Tenn. (Germantown HS)
Micah Simpson WR 6-0 180 Fr. Morristown, Tenn. (Morristown East HS)
Ajay Smith* WR 6-4 190 Jr. Detroit, Mich. (Independence CC)
Ty Woods* DB 5-10 175 Gr. Birmingham, Ala. (Delta State)
*Denotes mid-year signees
Kaleb Almo, DB, 6-0, 190, Fr., Memphis, Tenn. (PURE Youth Athletics Alliance)
Joins the Skyhawks from PURE Youth Athletics Alliance where he played for head coach Melvin Cole…During his senior year he tallied 55 tackles along with eight tackles for loss…Recorded three interceptions while tallying eight pass breakups…Forced a pair of fumbles while recovering another…Began his prep career at Kirby High School.
Cornelious Brown, QB, 6-5, 200, R-So., Birmingham, Ala. (Georgia State) *
Joins the Skyhawks from Georgia State where he played for head coach Shawn Elliott…Spent parts of three seasons with the Panthers where he threw for 2,489 yards and accounted for 26 total touchdowns – including 17 passing and nine rushing…Posted an impressive 2020 campaign in which he was named MVP of the 2020 LendingTree Bowl while finishing second in the Sun Belt in passing (227.8 ypg), total offense (257.9 ypg) and points responsible for (14.6 ppg)…Named to the 2020 FWAA Freshman All-American Watch List…Totaled 24 touchdowns (17 passing and seven rushing) while his seven rushing touchdowns ranked as the most ever by a Georgia State freshman…Completed 178 of 304 passes for 2,278 yards while tallying 301 rushing yards for 2,579 yards of total offense…Directed a GSU offense that set a school record by averaging 33.3 points per game while ranking second in program history with 194.0 rushing yards per game and third in total offense per game (424.3)…Named Manning Award Star of the Week and FWAA Fresh Four (Nov. 30) after throwing for a career-high 372 yards with two touchdowns in a win over Georgia Southern…Named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for four touchdowns against ULM (Nov. 7)…Prepped at Calera High School where he played for head coach Andrew Zow…Rated the No. 5 quarterback in Alabama and the No. 37 pro-style quarterback in the nation by 247Sports…Passed for 2,334 yards and 25 touchdowns as a junior, followed by 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior.
Micheal Campbell, LB, 6-1, 210, Jr., Horn Lake, Miss. (Northwest Mississippi CC) *
Joins the Skyhawks from Northwest Mississippi Community College where he played for head coach Benjy Parker…Named to All-MACCC second team while helping team to back-to-back NJCAA Mississippi state championships…Compiled 40 total tackles…Notched a team-high 9.0 tackles for loss…Recorded 2.0 sacks and five hurries…In three seasons he tallied 103 total tackles, 18.0 TFL, 10 quarterback hurries, eight pass breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception…Prepped at Horn Lake High School for head coach Brad Boyette…Helped the Eagles to a 15-0 record and the MHSAA 6A state championship…Had 43 tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a fumble recovery as a senior…Ranked as a two-star prospect by 247Sports.
Drake Carroll, OL, 6-2, 305, Jr., Alexandria, La. (East Central CC) *
Joins the Skyhawks from East Central Community College where he played for head coach Ken Karcher…Played and started in all nine games on the offensive line for the Warriors at center…Helped the Warriors pass the century mark in rushing three times…Named to All-MACCC second team honors…Transferred from Louisiana Tech where he spent the parts of three seasons…Appeared in four games in 2020, playing primarily on special teams…Saw action in one game in 2019…Redshirted the 2018 season…Prepped at Holy Savior Menard High School for head coach Chris Gatlin…Two-time honorable mention all-state honoree while earning three first team all-district selections.
Tait Deer, DL, 6-2, 280, So., McComb, Miss. (East Mississippi CC) *
Joins the Skyhawks from East Mississippi Community College where he played for head coach Buddy Stephens…Helped team to unbeaten regular season and MACCC North Division title…Compiled 42 total tackles in 2021 with 10 solo and 32 assisted stops…Notched 6.5 tackles for loss for a total of 16 yards along with 1.5 sacks…Tallied a pair of pass breakups…Had a season-high 10 tackles with four tackles for loss at Southwest Mississippi CC (Sept. 9)…Prepped at McComb High School where he tallied 78 total tackles as a senior along with 9.0 career tackles for loss.
Tyler Gore, DB, 5-10, 175, Jr., Little River, SC (Georgia State) *
Joins the Skyhawks from Georgia State where he played for head coach Shawn Elliott…Spent parts of four seasons with the Panthers where he appeared in 38 games while tallying 42 tackles, three interceptions and three pass breakups…Redshirted in 2021, seeing action in just four games while recording three tackles…During the 2020 season he played in 10 games while tallying four stops…As a sophomore in 2019 he played in 13 games while notching 23 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups…Tallied interceptions against Arkansas State (Oct. 5) and South Alabama (Nov. 23)…As a true freshman in 2018 he played in 11 contests, tallying 12 tackles and one interception against Troy (Oct. 4)…Prepped at North Myrtle Beach High School…Named All-Region and Region Defensive Player of the Year…Grabbed five interceptions as a senior along with nine pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks…Caught 37 passes for 414 yards and seven touchdowns…Played in North Carolina-South Carolina Shrine Bowl….Recorded 35 tackles with three interceptions as a junior.
Charles Perkins, DL, 6-4, 255, Fr., Memphis, Tenn. (Memphis Academy of Health Sciences HS)
Joins the Skyhawks from Memphis Academy of Health Sciences where he played for head coach Cedric Miller…Led Memphis with 15.5 sacks as a senior…Helped team to 2A-Region 8 district championship and best record in school history with a 9-1 mark as a senior…Named to all-region first team…Posted a big week against Melrose, recovering three fumbles and returning two for touchdowns of 43 and 32 yards, respectively, while also tallying four tackles for loss to earn Daily Memphian High School Player of the Week honors…Named preseason all-state…Ranked as a top-three senior breakthrough performer by Prep Redzone…Invited to play in Tennessee East vs. West All-Star Classic…Invited to play in AutoZone Liberty Bowl High School All-Star game.
Tahj Shabazz, TE, 6-3, 220, Fr., Germantown, Tenn. (Germantown HS)
Joins the Skyhawks from Germantown High School where he played for head coach Gene Robinson…During senior season, he tallied 368 receiving yards and three touchdowns…Saw junior campaign canceled due to COVID pandemic…Played sophomore season at Houston High School where he tallied 973 receiving yards and snagged five touchdowns…Played in East Coast Offense-Defense All-American Bowl…Ninth-ranked tight end in the state by Prep Redzone…Three-star prospect by 247Sports…Three-star prospect by Rivals…Ranked as 40th best prospect in the state of Tennessee.
Micah Simpson, WR, 6-0, 180, Fr., Morristown, Tenn. (Morristown East HS)
Joins the Skyhawks from Morristown East High School where he played for head coach Caleb Slover…Finished his senior year with 45 receptions for 910 yards and nine touchdowns…Named Citizen Tribune All-Lakeway Most Valuable Player…Tabbed Region 1-6A All-Region Athlete of the Year…Recorded 80 catches, 1,731 yards and 24 touchdowns in 20 career games…Tallied 15 touchdowns en route to all-state honors as a junior…Invited to play in Tennessee East vs. West All-Star Classic…Received invite to East Coast Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.
Ajay Smith, WR, 6-4, 190, Jr., Detroit, Mich. (Independence CC) *
Joins the Skyhawks from Independence Community College where he played for head coach Jason Martin…Played two seasons for the Pirates where he tallied 20 receptions for 344 yards and four touchdowns…In 2021 he grabbed 12 catches for 221 yards and three touchdowns…Averaged 18.4 yards per reception…Scored touchdowns against Fort Scott CC (Sept. 18), Garden City CC (Sept. 25) and Fort Scott CC (Nov. 7)…Posted a season-high three receptions for 87 yards in the opener against Butler (Sept. 4)…Had eight receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in 2020…Averaged 15.4 yards per reception…Played 2019 season at Riverside City College, tallying eight receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown…Prepped at Bradford Academy.
Ty Woods, DB, 5-10, 175, Gr., Birmingham, Ala. (Delta State) *
Joins the Skyhawks from Delta State where he played for head coach Todd Cooley…Spent four seasons with the Statesmen where he played in 24 games and compiled 77 career tackles, two interceptions, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery…In 2021 he tallied 57 total tackles along with 4.0 tackles for loss…Recorded two interceptions, coming against Bethel (Sept. 2) and West Georgia (Sept. 15)…Totaled seven passes defended – including five breakups – while notching a streak of four consecutive games with a breakup…Posted a career-high 17 tackles – including 15 solo – against Mississippi College (Nov. 6)…Forced and recovered a fumble against Bethel (Sept. 2)…Did not play in 2020…Appeared in nine games in 2019 with 16 tackles…Redshirted 2018 season.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information