Dandy Dozen: Vandy commit Jayden Harrison keeps up Pearl-Cohn's Commodore connection

Vanderbilt wasn’t the first college football program to come calling for Pearl-Cohn’s Jayden Harrison.

But the Commodores, who spent more than 18 months recruiting the three-star receiver, were the last ones standing.  

“They weren’t ready to offer when Tennessee did,” said Harrison, who received his first FBS offer from the Volunteers in June 2016. “That really made me want to go out and work and earn it.”

By the end of his sophomore season, Harrison had done just that. And once Commodores coach Derek Mason and company had gotten their feet in the door, they refused to leave.

“Once they offered me I just built a great relationship with their coaching staff,” said Harrison, who is No. 8 on this year’s Tennessean Dandy Dozen — a collection of the Nashville area’s top college football prospects. “They check up on me like every other week.”

Harrison, who’s listed as the state’s 27th-ranked prospect and nation’s No. 100 wide receiver (No. 852 overall) according to 247Sports Composite rankings, committed to Vanderbilt late last month.

Vanderbilt football connection at Pearl-Cohn

He chose the Commodores over Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and Tennessee.

“Coach Mason has been talking to him a lot, and I think he realizes these people have stuck with me since day one,” Pearl-Cohn coach Tony Brunetti said. “They’re putting their all into me, so why don’t I put my all into them? That’s how he looked at it.”

Having a pair of former Firebirds already on campus in junior running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn and redshirt freshman linebacker Brayden DeVault-Smith certainly didn’t hurt the Commodores' chances.

“I was only an eighth-grader when (Vaughn) was a senior,” Harrison said of the former Mr. Football winner who signed with Illinois before transferring to Vanderbilt after his sophomore season. “I really looked up Brayden. He was one of the hardest workers on the team. And for him to go there and see him doing well, that really influenced me.”

Why Pearl-Cohn needs Jayden Harrison now

Harrison, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior with 4.4 speed, has hauled in 75 receptions for 1,077 yards and 13 touchdowns over the past two seasons, helping lead the Firebirds to consecutive semifinal appearances (Class 3A in 2017; Class 4A in 2016). 

He has, however, been playing behind one of the area’s most prolific offensive players during that stretch in Austin Peay freshman Jimmyrious Parker.

Parker's production — nearly 4,000 total yards and 44 touchdowns in the last three seasons — will need to be replaced, and Harrison is a prime candidate to do so. 

“We’ve been blessed with a lot of talent over the years, and he’s always held his own and doesn’t mind competing,” Brunetti said. “But this is his time now.”

Harrison won’t be third-year starting quarterback Xavier Shepherd’s only target this fall, but with already two seasons together, he will certainly be his most trusted.

“We’ve been building that relationship since freshman year on,” said Harrison, who posted fourth-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the TSSAA Division I large class track & field championships in May. “It’s rare when that happens.”

Football recruiting:Tennessee high school football commitments for the Class of 2019

The Dandy Dozen

The Dandy Dozen is a collection of the top 12 college football prospects in the Nashville area as selected by The Tennessean high school sports staff. The Tennessean began to release The Dandy Dozen on Wednesday.

Wednesday: No. 12, Jackson Hannah, MBA linebacker

Thursday: No. 11, Jashon Watkins, East Nashville athlete

Friday: No. 10, Joseph Anderson, Siegel defensive end

Saturday: No. 9, Tymon Mitchell, FRA defensive tackle

Sunday: No. 8, Jayden Harrison, Pearl-Cohn receiver

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026, and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.