The Tennessee Vols have put together a solid 2025 recruiting class, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the nation (via 247Sports).
Tennessee, however, will have to work hard down the stretch to keep their 2025 class together.
Opposing programs are in hot pursuit of several of Tennessee’s commits, such as four-star linebacker Jaedon Harmon (who was at Alabama for a visit this past weekend) and four-star wide receiver Travis Smith Jr.
While it can be nerve-wracking for Vols fans to watch these intense recruiting battles play out, it’s actually a good thing for Tennessee that other programs are coming after UT’s commits.
VolQuest’s Austin Price explained on Tuesday why that’s the case during his weekly appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon, Kayla, and Will.
“Tennessee is recruiting the right kind of players,” said Price. “And other schools are worried about Tennessee. When Auburn’s going after Travis Smith. When you have other players, like Douglas Utu who flipped to Oregon, getting poached away. When Jaedon Harmon is hearing routinely from Alabama still. When Shaedy Howard is hearing from Georgia still and so on and so forth.
You’re recruiting the right kind of players. [For] too many years, nobody really tried to recruit Tennessee’s players away. I think it says a lot about what Josh Heupel and them have done, the kind of class they’ve built this year. And the momentum they have as a program when other schools are like ‘eh, we can’t really have that kid go to Tennessee, we need to try to get him away from Tennessee’. So you’re recruiting the right kind of kids if they’re doing this (trying to steal UT’s recruits), and it’s happening a lot more frequently than it has in a long time.”
Tennessee fans obviously don’t want to see the program lose any key commits.
But it happens from time to time to every program — especially when you’re recruiting against the other top programs in the nation.
For a lot of years, the Vols were shopping in the clearance aisle while hoping to hit on a couple of big fish. That’s changed under Heupel and his staff. Tennessee is shopping on Fifth Avenue these days. And when you live in that world, it’s a constant battle. You can never put it on cruise control or you won’t last long in the luxury recruiting aisle.
So yeah, it can be stressful for Tennessee fans to see Alabama and Georgia pursuing UT’s commits, but that’s the price you gotta pay if you want to be an elite program.