How Josh Heupel landed Tennessee football's best signing class in 11 years

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Josh Heupel is finishing up what might be Tennessee football's highest-ranked signing class in more than a decade, and certainly the best of the NIL era.

The Vols’ 2026 signing class ranked No. 5 in 247Sports Composite late on Dec. 3, the first day of the early signing period. UT ranked behind USC, Oregon, Notre Dame and Alabama and just ahead of Georgia.

Those rankings could change slightly before the signing period ends on Dec. 5.

UT hasn’t been in the top five since the 2015 class ranked No. 4, bolstered by the five-star duo of Kahlil McKenzie and Kyle Phillips and junior college playmaker Alvin Kamara.

Heupel’s 2023 class ranked No. 10 with five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. And his 2025 class ranked No. 11 with five-star offensive tackle David Sanders.

Tennessee reached this year’s top 10 with a pair of five-star standouts, quarterback Faizon Brandon and wide receiver Tristen Keys. But it climbed further in the rankings when a string of recruits switched to the Vols in the final hours before their signing.

Heupel teased some of those recruiting flips at an afternoon press conference before they signed with UT.

“Hopefully we’ll have some good news here as the afternoon continues to go on,” Heupel said. “Stay tuned, but (we are) really excited about what we did in this class.”

How Tennessee flipped coveted recruits from Ohio State, UCLA

Legend Bey started the series of flips that went in Tennessee’s favor. The four-star athlete had committed to UT in June and flipped to Ohio State in November.

Ohio State offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Brian Hartline was announced as the coach of South Florida on Dec. 3. Then the Vols swiped Bey away from the Buckeyes once again with an aggressive push by wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope.

Bey is a playmaker who could fit in numerous positions. He mostly played quarterback in high school, but UT lists him as a wide receiver.

UT then flipped four-star defensive lineman Carter Gooden, who had been committed to UCLA. He told CBS Sports that his relationship with defensive line coach Rodney Garner was the deciding factor.

Four-star edge rusher Jordan Carter then signed with Tennessee. He had decommitted from Texas A&M on Nov. 1. He ultimately chose the Vols over Auburn, Georgia Tech and Texas.

Then defensive lineman JJ Finch flipped from Alabama to Tennessee. He is rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports Composite, but it’s evident that many power conference programs thought he was underrated.

Alabama initially won the recruiting battle for Finch. He also got scholarship offers from Miami, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, LSU, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Penn State, Vanderbilt and many others. But Tennessee got him in the end.

5-star QB Faizon Brandon has elite targets in 2026 class

Brandon is ranked the No. 3 quarterback and No. 7 player overall in the 2026 class. He was the first commitment of UT’s 2026 signing class, pledging to the Vols in August 2024.

Since then, Brandon has been working hard to secure talented receivers to throw to, and he got them. Keys, Bey and four-star Tyreek King from Knox Catholic all signed with the Vols.

Keys is ranked the No. 2 wide receiver by 247Sports Composite. King is No. 15. Bey is the No. 9 athlete, which is his designated position by recruiting services.

UT had a commitment from four-star athlete Salesi Moa, who projected as a wide receiver. But Moa, a native of Ogden, Utah, flipped to Utah. His father, Ben, played at Utah and then in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins.

Vols loaded up on recruits from every Tennessee region

UT landed six of the top 10 recruits in the state of Tennessee and eight overall.

“(We were) able to sign the top defensive player in the state in Joel Wyatt and the top offensive lineman (in the state) in Gabe Osenda,” Heupel said. “Our staff did a great job here inside of the state of Tennessee and the bordering states, as well.”

The in-state signees come from every region of Tennessee.

Wyatt, a four-star safety, played at Oakland in Murfreesboro. Osenda, a four-star offensive tackle, is originally from Alberta, Canada, but he played the 2025 season at Baylor School in Chattanooga.

King was a standout at Knox Catholic. Kamari Blair, a four-star offensive tackle, played at Kirkwood in Clarksville. Zay Anderson is a four-star defensive back from Greeneville. Zach Groves is a four-star edge rusher from East Robertson in Cross Plains.

Javonte Smith is a three-star cornerback from Jackson North Side. Luke Thompson is a three-star defensive back from Franklin.

Tennessee leaned heavy into the defensive line

Defensive line was an obvious priority for Tennessee in terms of adding talent and depth.

The Vols have signed 10 defensive linemen in this class so far, including interior linemen and edge rushers. They signed only five defensive linemen in each of the past four recruiting classes during Heupel’s tenure.

Gooden is the highest rated of this group, and he’ll likely play strongside defensive end. But four-star edge rushers Groves, Carter and Hezekiah Harris, as well as 305-pound defensive tackle Dereon Albert, are also notable pick-ups.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football signing day yields best class in 11 years for Josh Heupel

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