Tennessee Recruiting Review - June Delivers Commits to the Vols

Jonathan Williams | Jun 28, 2024

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during Tennessee's Orange & White spring football game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, April 13, 2024. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

The Tennessee Volunteers have had quite the resurgence under head coach Josh Heupel. Now, as he enters his fourth season, due to the way Heupel and his staff have recruited and developed, the turnaround can be attributed to more than just offensive identity. This roster has simply gotten better from top to bottom under Heupel.

It's due in large part to the way Heupel and his staff have attacked the recruiting trail — even despite the sanctions left behind from the previous regime. Heupel was officially hired by the Vols in January of 2021. Making the 2022 class his first, and you can see the impact of those signings still today. Three years later, this roster has the Heupel identity. June was a massive month for the identity of the 2025 recruiting class.

Tennessee Recruiting Review - June Delivers Commits to the Vols

• Douglas Utu, OT - 6/24
• Nic Moore, IOL - 6/20
• Jayden Loftin, EDGE - 6/12
• Tre Poteat, CB - 6/25
• Charles House, DL - 6/22

At just 15 commits, there's plenty of work to be done on the 2025 class. The Vols have plenty of top targets remaining in this class, perhaps most notably five-star OT, David Sanders. Sanders was on campus twice this spring/summer and the Vols have as good of a shot as anyone in that recruitment. Five Star receiver Jaime French out of Jacksonville, Florida is another elite prospect who has his eyes on Tennessee to an extent. French's recruitment will come to a close on August 30th, and the Vols were one of just four programs to receive an official visit from French. Another five-star target, Tennessee seems to be in the mix heavily for WR, Caleb Cunningham.

On the defensive side of the ball there are several names at the top of the rankings that Tennessee is in the running for. Five-star EDGE Jared Smith was on campus for an official visit during the second weekend in June before finishing his summer OV schedule at Florida State and USC. LaGonza Hayward is a safety out of Toombs County, Georgia and for the longest time, it appeared the Vols were in really good positioning for the four-star. However, official visits at South Carolina and Georgia could have potentially changed that.

Early National Signing day for the 2025 recruiting class is December 4th. As of today, June 28th, 60% of the top-100 on the consensus 247sports rankings have already made their commitment announcements. It appears today's world of recruiting gets going faster than any year prior.

Other Tennessee News:

• Tony Vitello Turnaround Nothing Short of Brilliant for Tennessee Baseball
• Jaylen Williams Cuts Recruitment to Four Schools
• Tennessee Vols Football Could Make Playoff According to CFB Data Model

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