University of Tennessee Athletics
Tuttle More Than A Cover Story
January 22, 2015 | Football
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
That is not exactly news in an era where every move of a five-star player like the Midway, North Carolina-native is watched and followed by fans and media outlets all over the country. But what made the story a little different was not the recruitment itself, but by a very famous project by UT's graphic designer.
The graphic went viral, a Rolling Stone cover featuring pop superstar Beyonce. Instead of husband Jay-Z next to her, it was a photo of Tuttle with the headline "Beyonce on why she thinks Tuttle belongs at Tennessee."
Tuttle tweeted out a photo of the graphic on Aug. 25, which drew national attention. A month later, Tuttle pledged to be a Vol.
"That was a good laugh," Tuttle said. "I tweeted a couple of things about Beyonce in the past and I guess Tennessee got ahold of it and made something out of it. It was pretty cool."
While the famous tweet got all the attention in the recruiting process, the faux magazine cover was far from the deciding in what brought him to Knoxville. Graphics may have been the attention-getter, but it was the relationships that made the difference.
"The coaches, Coach [Butch] Jones and Coach [Steve] Stripling talked to me more as a person than a recruit," said Tuttle. "They care about me and that was important. They're just special people."
Now that he is on campus, the real work begins. Tuttle made the decision to finish high school early to enroll in January. He sees that decision as key for he and his fellow newcomers on the defensive line to start gelling into a unit that will make a difference for Tennessee in the fall.
"It's very beneficial," Tuttle said of his time on campus so far. "I'm looking forward to next season. I will be ahead and comfortable with the coaches and playbook. We have a bunch of top recruits as long as we come in and listen to Coach Stripling and work hard the we'll be good."
He is accomplished in getting to the quarterback and disrupting opposing offenses, his 315 tackles, 66 tackles for loss and 35 sacks over four seasons at North Davidson High School prove that. The other side of his game was causing disruptions on the goal line on offense.
Tuttle was used as a fullback in goal-line situations in high school, a package that he said led to multiple touchdowns. Though he has not had the conversation with Jones about carrying the football, he definitely plans to start lobbying for a spot when spring practice fires up in March.
"I'd like to," he said of getting the ball on offense. "That would be fun."
