The Tennessee Volunteers should be considered the biggest winners of the summer recruiting period in college football.

Since the beginning of summer, a lot of moves have been made in the 2025 recruiting class and quite a few programs made some massive strides toward getting their class wrapped up before the season even starts. However, there might not be a program that made as many big waves as Tennessee did this summer on the recruiting trail.

Since the start of June, Tennessee has landed 13 commits in the class out of 23 total. It isn’t just the quantity though that makes the Volunteers stand out though, it’s the manner in which they won some of these recruiting battles and the caliber of players that they have landed over the last couple of months. Here is a recap of the players that have committed to Tennessee during that time period:

Let’s start with the biggest name in the class: David Sanders Jr. This is one of the most recent commits for the Volunteers and it was a massive victory for the program. Sanders is rated as the second-best player in the country and he chose Tennessee over Georgia, Nebraska and Ohio State. Tennessee survived a late push by Nebraska and separated itself from two major powerhouses in Georgia and Ohio State.

Lagonza Hayward, Christian Gass and Travis Smith all fall in the same category: Georgia kids who didn’t stay home. The Bulldogs were in the mix for all three of these athletes, but Tennessee came out on top for all three of them. It’s not often that Georgia isn’t able to hold onto prospects from their own roots, but the Volunteers not only went head to head with the Bulldogs, but they asserted themselves and won. Three major recruiting wins for the Volunteers.

Jaedon Harmon and Da’Saahn Brame are part of the final category that made the Volunteers stand out this offseason. Both Harmon and Brame were committed elsewhere until Tennessee swooped in and swayed them to come to Knoxville. Harmon was an Alabama commit until this past weekend when he announced he was flipping to Tennessee and Brame was committed to Oregon and then flipped his commitment to the Volunteers.

This list of players doesn’t even include the commitments of quarterback Faizon Brandon and tight end Carson Sneed who are part of the 2026 recruiting class and both committed to the Volunteers this summer. If head coach Josh Heupel and his staff were looking to make some waves this offseason and prove they belong with the other elite recruiters, then they certainly accomplished that.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – After being held scoreless for over an hour on Sunday, Tennessee used a pair of second half goals and a stifling defensive performance to take down in-state foe Chattanooga 2-0 in the team’s home opener.

The win puts Tennessee in the win column for the first time this season after falling to Indiana 1-0 in Thursday’s season opener.

An own goal from UTC gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the night before Sammi Woods iced things with her first career goal at Tennessee in the 89th minute of play.

The Lady Vols held Chattanooga to just one shot on goal for the entire match.

Tennessee improves to 1-1 on the young season and will travel to Johnson City on Thursday to battle ETSU.

Copyright 2024 WVLT. All rights reserved.

Tennessee Football’s summer recruiting tear continued Sunday afternoon with the flip of four-star linebacker Jaedon Harmon, who was previously committed to Alabama. It continued a massive weekend for the Vols, who added On3 five-star+ offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. on Saturday.

The two new additions put Tennessee at 15 commitments since the start of June, including five-star quarterback Fazion Brandon and four-star tight end Carson Sneed as the first two commitments in 2026, giving the Vols an elite start to the next class.

Of the 15 commitments, 12 are four-star prospects or higher in the On3 Industry Ranking, including two five stars. Harmon was the second flip, too, following four-star tight end DaSaahn Brame, a former Oregon commit who switch to Tennessee on July 28. 

Here’s a look back at Tennessee’s summer recruiting run to date: 

June

Jayden Loftin: The four-star edge rusher started Tennessee’s summer with a commitment on June 12. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Lofting, out of Somerville, N.J., is ranked No. 158 overall in the On3 ratings. He’s the No. 16 edger rusher in the class and the No. 5 player out of New Jersey. 

Nic Moore: Tennessee kept the four-star in-state interior offensive lineman home with his commitment on June 20. Moore, the 6-2.5, 290-pound prospect out of Jefferson County High School in Dandridge, Tenn., is ranked No. 211 overall in the On3 ratings. He’s the No. 12 interior offensive lineman and No. 6 player in Tennessee.

Charles House: The 6-3, 300-pound defensive lineman out of Charlotte, N.C., committed on June 22. He’s a four-star prospect in the On3 ratings, ranked No. 284 overall. He’s the No. 26 defensive lineman in the class and the No. 9 player in North Carolina.

Douglas Utu: Before the David Sanders Jr. commitment on Saturday, Utu was the highest-ranked prospect in the class. The 6-4, 315-pound interior offensive lineman, who committed on June 24, is the No. 55 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s the No. 4 interior offensive lineman and the No. 2 player in Nevada, out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. He’s a five-star prospect ranked No. 13 overall according to ESPN’s rankings. 

Tre Poteat: The 6-foot, 170-pound cornerback committed to Tennessee on June 25 out of Verona, Wisconsin. He’s the No. 51 corner in the On3 Industry Rankings and the No. 4 prospect out of Wisconsin. 

Mariyon Dye: The four-star edge rusher ended the month on a high note when he committed to Tennessee on June 28. The 6-4.75, 268-pounder out of Elkhart, Indiana, is ranked No. 36 overall in the On3 Ratings. He’s ranked No. 9 among edge rushers and No. 2 in the state of Indiana. He picked the Vols over Ohio State.

July

Travis Smith: The four-star receiver started the new month with a commitment on July 13. The 6-3, 200-pound Smith, out of Westlake High School in Atlanta is the No. 59 overall prospect in the On3 Ratings. He’s ranked No. 10 at wide receiver nationally and No. 8 in the state of Georgia. 

Christian Gass: The 6-2.5, 220-pound four-star linebacker gave Tennessee a second straight commitment out of Georgia on July 20. Gass is the No. 85 overall player in the On3 Ratings, ranked No. 6 at linebacker and No. 14 in Georgia, out of Eastside High School in Covington.

Shaedy Hayward: The 6-1, 205-pound four-star safety out of Toombs County High School in Lyons, Georgia, was the first of back-to-back commitments when he announced on July 27. He’s the No. 75 overall player in the On3 Ratings, ranked No. 4 at safety and No. 11 in Georgia. 

DaSaahn Brame: The former Oregon commitment flipped to Tennessee on July 28. The 6-4.5, 225-pound tight end, out of Derby High School in Derby, Kansas, is ranked No. 99 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s the No. 3 tight end in the country and the No. 3 player in the state of Kansas. 

Darrion Smith: The 6-2, 260-pound defensive lineman gave Tennessee three commitments in a span of four days when he pulled the trigger on July 30. He’s ranked No. 59 among defensive linemen in the On3 Industry Ranking and is the No. 18 overall player in Maryland, out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. 

August

Faizon Brandon: The five-star quarterback started Tennessee’s 2026 class of commitments with a bang on August 3. The 6-3.5, 195-pound Brandon, out of Greensboro, N.C., is ranked No. 10 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s the No. 2 quarterback in the class and the No. 2 player in the state of North Carolina. 

Carson Sneed: Two days later, Tennessee added another huge name to its 2026 class, keeping four-star in-state tight end Carson Sneed home with a commitment on August 5. He’s ranked No. 9 among tight ends in the class and is the No. 4 player in the state of Tennessee, out of Nashville’s Donelson Christian Academy. 

David Sanders Jr.: The 6-5.75, 276-pound Five-Star+ prospect out of Charlotte, N.C., announced his commitment at long last on Saturday, picking Tennessee over Ohio State, Georgia and Nebraska. Sanders is the No. 4 overall player in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking and is the No. 1 offensive tackle and the No. 1 player in the state of North Carolina. 

Jaedon Harmon: The four-star linebacker flipped his commitment from Alabama to Tennessee on Sunday. The 6-1, 205-pound Harmon, out of Rome High School in Rome, Georgia, is ranked No. 129 overall in the On3 Ratings. He’s the No. 13 linebacker in the country and the No. 20 overall prospect in the state of Georgia.