Tennessee has opened the fall on an absolute recruiting heater. The Volunteers completed a trio of flips on Monday, landing four-star edge rusher Hezekiah Harris. He joins five-star receiver Tristen Keys and four-star tackle Kamari Blair, giving Tennessee 25 total commitments heading into the fall months.
Tennessee’s class now ranks 7th in the country, according to 247Sports. What do the Volunteers have in the class? What’s left to add? Let’s take a look around.
QB: 5-star Faizon Brandon
No news is
good news here. Brandon has stayed firm to Tennessee and showed no signs of changing his mind. Some worried about Bill Belichick arriving at North Carolina, but things there never materialized. Brandon and Tennessee seem locked in, giving Josh Heupel another chance with a truly elite quarterback prospect.
Heupel continues to take the high school route at the position instead of the transfer portal, developing his own guys from the start. He was forced to change that up this season following the Nico Iamaleava situation, landing Joey Aguilar out of the portal as a one-year fix.
Jake Merklinger, George MacIntyre and Brandon will battle it out starting next spring. It’s fair to wonder if Merklinger or MacIntyre will hit the portal should they lose the starting gig to a true freshman, which would put Tennessee in a situation to add a veteran for depth in the spring period.
RB: None
Tennessee swung hard on 5-star running back Savion Hiter, a recruitment that went on between Tennessee and Michigan for several months. Hiter ultimately chose Michigan a few weeks ago, leaving the Volunteers currently empty at the position for 2026.
Star Thomas will play one season in Knoxville before hitting the exits, leaving playing time open for Daune Morris or Justin Baker. Tennessee certainly could hit the portal here if they feel like they need another veteran body in the room, just as they did with Thomas. DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis should stick around for the 2026 season.
One 2027 name to know is David Gabriel Georges out of Chattanooga. Tennessee is already heavily in the mix here with several powerhouses across the country. Keeping him home will be a big goal of that ‘27 group.
WR: 5-star Tristen Keys, 4-star Salesi Moa, 4-star Tyreek King, 4-star Legend Bey
Arguably Tennessee’s biggest position of need, Kelsey Pope and Josh Heupel have crushed it here. The Volunteers wrestled Keys away from LSU to get a true potential game-breaker. They went into Utah of all places and plucked Moa away from the home state Utes. They went into Texas and got Bey, who will convert from quarterback to receiver upon arrival. All that pair with home-grown Tyreek King, who has ascended up the rankings as the cycle moves forward.
That’s quite a bit of talent coming into the program to pair with No. 1 overall player Faizon Brandon.
TE: None
Carson Sneed’s relationship with Tennessee seemed to head south after his brother Dayton transferred to North Carolina. Sneed made that official swap several weeks ago, leaving Tennessee without a commitment at the position. Keep in mind though that Tennessee brought in two highly-ranked players last cycle — DaSaahn Brame and Jack Van Dorselaer. Ethan Davis still has two years of eligibility remaining and should take over the top role with Miles Kitselman exiting after this season. Redshirt freshman Cole Harrison will also be in the equation.
Following the Sneed news, Tennessee offered and turned up the heat on 2026 Kentucky commit Lincoln Watkins. If Tennessee wants to add a tight end in this class, that’s the name to know.
OL: 5-star Gabriel Osenda, 4-star Kamari Blair, 3-star JB Shabazz, 3-star Edward Baker
Tennessee is set to add another solid offensive line group this season, adding to a room that is currently set for the next couple of seasons. Barring any transfer portal surprises, Tennessee could bring back their entire starting group back for the 2026 season.
Osenda and Blair would be in the mix for starting jobs in 2027, where Tennessee projects to have openings at a tackle and guard spot.
DL: 4-star Dereon Albert, 3-star Darryl Rivers
Dominic Bailey, Tyre West, Bryson Eason and Jaxson Moi will all exit the program following this season, but Tennessee has recruited really well here and has several young guys ready to step into bigger roles. You already saw that last weekend with Ethan Utley stepping in for an injured Daevin Hobbs and Jaxson Moi. Isaiah Campbell, Charles House and Marion Dye are also in that freshman group this season.
So while it may seem a little light here, expect Tennessee to hit the portal and get Rodney Garner a guy or two to round out his rotation. They’ve done that the past two seasons with Moi and Josh Schell and will more than likely do it again this offseason.
EDGE: 4-star Hezekiah Harris, 4-star Zach Groves, 3-star CJ Edwards, 3-star Kedric Golston
Tennessee’s going to pull another strong, deep edge rusher group in this class as they start to groom the next wave of LEOs. The Volunteers flipped Hezekiah Harris from Auburn this week to complete the group, pairing him up with fellow four-star Zach Groves.
Coach Chop will look to keep the pipeline going with Joshua Josephs playing his final season in Knoxville this fall. Jordan Ross and Caleb Herring will take over from there, then this group will get a crack at it along with 2025 signee Christian Gass.
LB: 4-star Brayden Rouse, 4-star TJ White, 3-star Braylon Outlaw
It wasn’t that long ago that depth was a real issue for Tennessee at linebacker. William Inge has fixed that, and he’s going to continue to bolster his position here with more blue-chip talent. Inge has pulled two of the top five linebackers in the country here with Rouse and White, building off of Jadon Perlotte and Jaedon Harmon last year. Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander both will have a season left, while Edwin Spillman is just a redshirt freshman.
Tennessee’s linebacker room is set to be absolutely loaded going forward.
CB: 4-star Zay Anderson, 3-star Jamyan Theodore, 3-star Javonte Smith
Tennessee will likely lose Jermod McCoy (NFL Draft decision) and Jalen McMurray here, which will bump up Rickey Gibson, Colton Hood and Ty Redmond to the top spots. The Boo Carter situation remains fluid, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised if he ended up at Colorado next season.
Willie Martinez has several young prospects on the roster, but very little known commodities. He’ll add three more into that picture next season. This certainly seems like a spot where Tennessee would like to add a veteran out of the transfer portal, as they’ve done in the last few seasons with McCoy, McMurray and Hood.
S: 4-star Joel Wyatt, 3-star KJ McClain, 3-star Jowell Combay, 3-star Luke Thompson
Perhaps the thinnest position on the entire roster, Tennessee will get a good jolt of numbers here. The Volunteers will lose Andre Turrentine following this season, leaving Edrees Farooq and Kaleb Beasley. Beyond that, it’s really unclear what Tennessee has. Willie Martinez cross-trains his defensive backs, so it’s possible we see some shuffling here over the course of this fall.
Joel Wyatt is a big-time prospect without a true home. Based on roster numbers alone, we’ll guess he lands at safety over receiver or edge rusher. Combay, McClain and Thompson will get started to get comfortable right off the bat, providing Martinez with some much-needed depth.
This is another clear spot where Tennessee could hit the portal for, but that decision will become more obvious as we start to figure out what the Vols have in Farooq and Beasley this fall.
