The Tennessee Vols took a quiet loss this week that they hope won’t come back to haunt them
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers took a quiet loss this week that may not end up mattering at all in the long run, but there’s a chance it could come back to haunt them later this sumer.
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols took a loss this week that could come back to haunt them in a couple of months.
Or it may not end up mattering at all.
As with the Kenneth Simon situation, we’ll just have to see how it plays out.
Tennessee loses running back recruiting battle to LSU
2027 four-star running back Tre Segarra committed to the LSU Tigers on Tuesday over Tennessee and South Carolina
The Vols had been recruiting Segarra for a while, but he canceled his official visit to Tennessee for last weekend, which signaled that this recruiting battle was going in another direction.
Tennessee’s top running back target, of course, is five-star David Gabriel Georges. The Vols have some positive momentum in that battle, but Ohio State is still in the mix — and we’ve seen the Buckeyes win plenty of these battles before (Gabriel Georges is scheduled to announce his commitment on July 22).
I don’t want to call Segarra a backup option for Tennessee (the Vols will likely sign two running backs in this class), but he was clearly not their top target (he was arguably their next top option after Gabriel Georges). Now if the Vols miss on Gabriel Georges, it would mean they missed on their top two targets.
But here’s the thing — there wasn’t really anything Tennessee could do in this battle. LSU was in a spot where they could treat Segarra like their top target. The Vols simply couldn’t do that due to their pursuit of Gabriel Georges (which is the right call by Tennessee).
This is another example of how difficult it is to recruit these days. Not only do coaches have to build relationships and get the money part right, but the roster puzzle pieces have to fit, too. And sometimes the pieces just fit better for another program.
If Tennessee lands Gabriel Georges then no one will remember Segarra committed to LSU in June. But if Gabriel Georges picks Ohio State, Segarra won’t be sitting there as a fallback option for Tennessee.
That’s college football recruiting in 2026. It’s not that Tennessee did anything wrong here, it’s just that the needle coaches have to thread in recruiting these days is as narrow as ever.