Tennessee football has built its strongest recruiting class in a decade by raiding bordering states and the backyards of SEC rivals.
That became abundantly clear when the Vols landed five-star offensive tackle David Sanders, the No. 2 recruit in the 2025 class, from Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 17. He chose UT over SEC powers Alabama and Georgia among others.
The day after the Vols flipped four-star linebacker and Georgia native Jaedon Harmon from Alabama to UT in a battle of bordering states.
UT’s 2025 class shot up to No. 6 in the 247Sports Composite rankings, its highest since its 2015 class finished No. 4.
Ten of UT’s 23 commitments in this class are from states that border Tennessee, including seven are from Georgia, two from North Carolina and one from Alabama.
“Tennessee’s unique in all the states that touch it and how close in proximity it is to so many great players – north, south, east and west,” UT coach Josh Heupel said Monday. “(The key to recruiting out-of-state players is) time on task. That’s with coaches. It’s being able to get (recruits) here to campus, then them having an opportunity to see what Rocky Top looks like.”
Getting out-of-state recruits on campus is half the battle
Heupel’s staff has built strong ties in neighboring states, and those relationships are bearing fruit.
Once UT gets out-of-state recruits on campus, the chances of landing them increase dramatically. The gameday atmosphere at Neyland Stadium and competitive NIL opportunities help close the deal.
“I think the success in recruiting for us isn’t something that just happens in the last six weeks,” Heupel said. “I think that there’s so much hard work that goes into it from your staff (and) from your players here on campus having long standing relationships with coaches. People have their feet on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/josh-heupel-got-tennessee-football-090616600.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-08-20 09:06:16
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