The Tennessee Vols are no longer in the mix for a 2027 five-star wide receiver that recently had some positive things to say about UT’s offense under Josh Heupel.

Five-star wide receiver Eric McFarland told On3 on Sunday that his final three schools are Florida, Georgia, and Texas A&M.

McFarland is planning to announce his commitment on June 28.

The Vols got into the mix for McFarland last month, and they hosted the five-star recruit on an official visit.

McFarland, who is rated as the No. 5 wide receiver in the 2027 recruiting class (via 247Sports composite rankings), even made some extremely positive comments about Tennessee’s offense following his visit to Rocky Top.

“Honestly, what I learned was they really do run a fast-paced offense,” said McFarland to 247Sports. “People just really got to look more into it and watch their games, because you know a lot of people were concerned about their splits. But their splits are not as wide as they were before. You know they’re trying to change it, so that’s what I really took away from it.”

Why are the Vols no longer in the mix for Eric McFarland?

Tennessee is currently loaded with young wide receiver talent. The Vols have a couple of stud true freshmen in TK Keys and Tyreek King, and promising second-year players in Travis Smith Jr, Radarious Jackson, and Joakim Dodson. Additionally, the Vols have a commitment from 2027 four-star wide receiver Kesean Bowman, the No. 11 wide receiver in the nation.

I think it’s fair to assume that two things happened here:

1. McFarland sees how crowded the depth chart is at Tennessee.
2. The Vols are no longer breaking the bank for high school recruits that they don’t think will immediately help the team.

Welcome to the new world of recruiting — it’s more situational and transactional than ever.