Linebacker Recruit Otha Peters Drops Tennessee For Arkansas

Otha Peters, a top inside linebacker recruit from Covington (La.) High School, has decommitted from Tennessee and committed to Arkansas, according to Brad Shepard of Rocky Top Talk. Peters had committed to Tennessee in July. The loss of Tennessee's defensive coaches Peter Sirmon and Justin Wilcox to Washington likely had a lot to do with the decision.

This is a major loss for Tennessee, as the Volunteers recently lost another major linebacker prospect in Dalton Santos to the Texas Longhorns. Previous to that, Tennessee had thought it would not have enough room to take another linebacker, and encouraged Khalid Henderson to look around. Now all three linebacker recruits are gone.

Peters' coach had some thoughts on the move:

Covington Coach Malter Scobel said Peters was concerned about the coaching stability at Tennessee where Derek Dooley is considered on the hot seat after losing records in his first two seasons there.

"Otha had some valid reasons to make his change," Scobel said. "It wasn't anything silly.

"Tennessee's up against a different challenge than they are in Arkansas. Otha was very straightforward with Tennessee about the decision, and I think they still would like to have him."

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