The Volunteers' recruiting momentum picks up major steam

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica discusses how Josh Heupel and Tennessee Volunteers football gained some massive ground with commitments this week from 3-star athlete Legend Bey, along with LB T.J. White and DL Dereon Albert

Transcript

00:00The Tennessee Vols are red hot on the recruiting trail and building momentum to one thing

00:05that Josh Heupel absolutely must accomplish if Tennessee wants to be a national title contender.

00:14Hey, Lucas Panzeke here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports. Tennessee got more good news on

00:20Tuesday bringing in another round of commitments for the class of 2026 and that class looks better

00:26and better with each passing week this summer for the University of Tennessee. First, over the

00:32weekend, a handful of commitments headlined by three-star athlete Legend Bay. According to 247

00:39Sports Composite, Bay also is a four-star for other recruiting services, but an athlete that can play

00:45on the outside that plays wildcat at quarterback for his high school that just brings straight line

00:51speed who Tennessee had to beat out Texas A&M and Mike Elko for the commitment of Legend Bay. That

00:58was already good news. And then on Tuesday, more good news came headlined by a duo out of Jackson,

01:04Mississippi. They are linebacker TJ White and defensive lineman Darian Albert, both from the

01:10same program in Jackson, both of them four-star commitments. And we're starting to see a lot of

01:16work that Tennessee has put in over the last year or so with these prospects coming to fruition

01:22specifically with the class of 2026. Just in the last 24 hours alone on the recording of this video

01:28on Tuesday afternoon, Tennessee has shot up 10 spots on the 247 Sports team recruiting rankings going from

01:3522nd to 12th in the country. Of course, this class overall is headlined by five-star quarterback

01:42Faison Brandon, and Tennessee is starting to build around him. Now, according to multiple reports

01:47from multiple reporters that cover recruiting on a consistent basis, the Vols are in the discussion

01:53for a lot more high-profile prospects coming down the line. One in particular is Tristan Keyes,

02:00the five-star wide receiver that Tennessee is trying to beat out LSU to get. That would be yet another

02:06crown jewel for this recruiting class because let's face it, Josh Heupel recruiting at Tennessee

02:11so far in his tenure has been good. It has not been elite. And if there's anything that we know,

02:17even in this modern chaotic age of college football with players transferring left and right,

02:22you cannot contend for national championships unless you have an elite talent profile that puts you

02:29in the top three or top five at minimum of the country as it pertains to players that are moving

02:36onto the NFL. Players that are as talented or more talented than their peers. Tennessee has got to be

02:42in that discussion with the likes of Ohio State and Georgia on a year-over-year basis in terms of

02:48recruiting to get to the point where they're considered national championship contenders.

02:53What this class is doing is building momentum to get back to that spot. And if Faison Brandon can

02:59continue to be this headline piece of the class that helps other players fall in line,

03:05then we'll see Tennessee continue to rise up those rankings and try to reload for a 2026 and beyond

03:12run that puts the Vols back in the national championship discussion. But there's no doubt

03:16the last week has been very positive. The Tennessee volunteers.

03:20The Tennessee volunteers.

03:39irus.

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