Tennessee football commit Joakim Dodson transfers to Baylor for 2024 TSSAA season

Tennessee football commit Joakim Dodson is leaving Collierville to go to Division II-AAA powerhouse Baylor, he confirmed to The Commercial Appeal on Friday evening.

Dodson, who is a rising senior, is the No. 15 college football recruit in Tennessee, according to the 247Sports Composite. The three-star wide receiver said his family is moving to Chattanooga; he will not be a boarding student.

"It wasn't an expected decision," Dodson said. "Me and my family decided to relocate for my last year. . . . When it came up, Baylor School was one of the options I was looking at and I feel like it was the best fit for me to play at from academics and also they have a great (football) team."  

Dodson, who committed to the Vols recently, decided to move to Chattanooga as he believes it's the best option to prepare him for SEC football and hopefully a career in the NFL. He'll have some huge shoes to fill in replacing Amari Jefferson.

"I'm ready for it," Dodson said. "A big challenge. He's going to Alabama, had two great back-to-back seasons and I'm really ready for the challenge. I know what type of player I am, I can definitely do it and step up in a huge way, a way that they're not losing anything at all. If anything, they're going to gain a step."

Baylor won the 2022 TSSAA DII-AAA state championship and was runner-up in 2023 to McCallie.

This past season at Collierville, Dodson was the top target for Missouri signee Aidan Glover, with 1,012 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He was named to the Region 8-6A first team, was a Commercial Appeal All-Metro football first-team selection and named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association 6A all-state team.   

As for Collierville, it is losing a weapon on an offense that averaged 286 yards a game and just under 30 points points last season.

"This is definitely a big step," Dodson said. "Coach (Erik) Kimrey actually came from South Carolina two years ago. He's pretty fresh of what it looks like to get to the NFL and to play in the SEC, which I'll be going to play in so I'm definitely going to be prepared. It's a huge step in my development."

Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.