Tennessee Vols are in another big recruiting battle with some heavy hitters
During the Tennessee Vols' decade-long sabbatical from relevancy in college football, the program wasn't always in the mix — outside of specific situations — for the top recruits in the nation. That's no longer the case for the Vols with Josh Heupel at the helm. Tennessee is now seemingly in the mix for most of […]
During the Tennessee Vols' decade-long sabbatical from relevancy in college football, the program wasn't always in the mix — outside of specific situations — for the top recruits in the nation.
That's no longer the case for the Vols with Josh Heupel at the helm.
Tennessee is now seemingly in the mix for most of the top recruits in the nation. And while they won't win all of those battles, they should win enough to finish with at least a top 10 recruiting class during the 2025 cycle.
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams starting in 2024, an annual top 10 recruiting class should be enough to compete for a spot in the playoff on a yearly basis (especially when you add in transfer players).
One of the latest big-time recruiting battles that the Vols are involved in centers on 2025 four-star edge rusher Mariyon Dye, a player who is garnering interest from programs like Florida State, Georgia, and Ohio State, as well as Tennessee.
Dye, 6-foot-5/255 lbs from Elkhart, IN, is rated in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 15 edge rusher in the nation and the No. 3 player in the state of Indiana.
On3 recruiting analyst Charles Power called Dye "one of the more physically-gifted prospects in the 2025 cycle".
The talented edge rusher has upcoming official visits scheduled for Purdue, Georgia, Ohio State, Florida State, and Tennessee.
It'll be Tennessee that gets the final official visit (June 21) before Dye announces his commitment on August 3.
“When I’m there it feels like a winning program,” said Dye to On3 of his interest in the Vols. “The way the coaches carry themselves and the way the players carry themselves.”
It's always tough to beat out Georgia and Ohio State for elite recruits. But the Vols appear to be in a good spot for Dye. And Tennessee's recent success with edge rushers (former UT edge rusher Byron Young is coming off a huge rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams and current Vols edge rusher James Pearce could be the top pick in next year's NFL draft) should only serve to help the Volunteers in this heavyweight recruiting battle.
Tennessee currently has 10 players committed to its 2025 recruiting class.
Recent comments from former Oklahoma DC Mike Stoops are ironic considering the way Josh Heupel was fired by Sooners
Wild the way that all went down
