Make no mistake, Brandon Warren still is committed to attend Florida State. Just how firm that commitment is, though, remains to be seen.

The Class 2A Mr. Football from Alcoa High School will visit Tennessee on Jan. 27, the final weekend of visits before the Feb. 1 signing day.

Warren, who plans to use two of the five official visits allotted by the NCAA, will visit Florida State on Jan. 20.

Those schools are the only ones being considered by Warren.

Florida State tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator John Lily met with Warren on Friday night.

UT coaches have been in contact with Warren as well, and head coach Phillip Fulmer met with him in November.

"As of right now, I'm still committed to Florida State," Warren said. "After all (the visits are) over with, I'll have about a week to decide I guess, and I'll pick the best one. Wherever I feel more comfortable."

Tornadoes coach John Reid said Warren is "torn" and that the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder is considering Tennessee to be closer to his family.

"My family's very important to me," Warren said. "My family's pushing me really hard to go to UT. They want me to stay home and to play in front of them for three or four more years because after that, if I'm fortunate enough to get to the NFL, I don't know where I'm going to go."

Warren, a consensus top-50 prospect, who is the No. 1 defensive end prospect in the nation according to Rivals.com and the country's top tight end prospect according to Scouts, Inc., wants to meet with newly hired UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe to see how he would figure into the Vols' plans on offense.

Warren said both schools' plans include using him on both sides of the ball.

"They've told me I can play offense or defense. I prefer offense right now. At Florida State, they want me to start out on offense, and then on third downs come in and rush the quarterback," said Warren, who caught 24 passes for 478 yards and 10 touchdowns in nine regular-season games last season. "That's what UT said, too."

Another factor that could benefit the Vols is Warren's high school teammate, Dustin Lindsey.

Lindsey, a Mr. Football finalist at running back, already has committed to UT. The two are close and will make their official visits to UT together.

"He's been pushing me ever since he committed," Warren said of Lindsey. "Me and him are pretty good friends. We've talked about it over and over. He knows where I stand. I'm going to pick wherever I feel most comfortable."

Warren obviously has a level of comfort with Florida State, to which he committed in July. But UT's proximity has its own level of comfort, too.

"I'm home. I have a lot of fans here and a lot of people know me," Warren said. "It'd just be great to help the home team get back to where they normally are. And they told me I could probably help immediately coming in.

"Thinking about my family, just being home and around all my friends and family and having people come to support me over there every Saturday, it'd just be great. It'd feel like playing at (Alcoa's) Goddard (Field)."