4-star TE Malik Howard committed to Tennessee and immediately dropped a very interesting quote about the future of the Vols’ offense
2027 four-star tight end Malik Howard committed to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday morning. Tennessee beat out Notre Dame, Oregon and others for the four-star recruit’s commitment.
The Tennessee Vols kicked off an important recruiting weekend by securing a commitment from 2027 four-star tight end Malik Howard.
Howard, 6-foot-4/230 pounds from Oak Ridge, TN, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 8 tight end in the nation and the No. 8 player in the state of Tennessee. He’s also rated as the No. 183 overall player in the 2027 recruiting class.
Tennessee beat out Notre Dame and Oregon, among others, for the four-star tight end’s commitment.
Malik Howard immediately drops interesting quote about Tennessee’s offense after committing to the Vols
Howard spoke to Rivals about his decision to commit to the Volunteers and he made an interesting comment about the future of Tennessee’s offense.
The Oak Ridge standout told Rivals that Vols head coach Josh Heupel told him things are “really going to be different” on offense moving forward.
“They (Tennessee’s coaching staff) all made a point to come down to see me,” said Howard. “They showed me things are really going to be different offensively.“
“This spring they showed me that they’re expanding from a tight end standpoint,” added Howard. “The tight end route tree is starting to open up. They’re starting to be seen more as a real No. 1 target.”
It certainly sounds like Tennessee is planning to incorporate tight ends as pass catchers into the offensive game plan more moving forward (I think we’ll see that this fall with Ethan Davis and DaSaahn Brame, two tight ends who can move like wide receivers).
Outside of the 2022 season, Tennessee’s tight ends have typically accounted for 15 to 20 percent of the receptions each season in Heupel’s offense. We’ve seen the usage trend up the last two seasons.
Percentage of receptions from tight ends by year in Tennessee’s offense
- 2025 – 20 percent
- 2024 – 21 percent
- 2023 – 17 percent
- 2022 – 12 percent
- 2021 – 15 percent
I’m guessing Heupel is looking for new ways to create mismatches by using athletic tight ends who can overpower smaller defensive backs or exploit coverage by linebackers.
Heupel showed last season that he can evolve offensively while still being explosive on offense (Tennessee had the No. 6 scoring offense in the nation). We don’t know exactly what the offense is going to look like in 2026 or 2027, but it definitely sounds like Heupel has some new ideas up his sleeve, which should give opposing defensive coordinators plenty of headaches.