Tennessee football‘s 2025 recruiting class is flirting with the top 5 after five-star offensive tackle David Sanders committed to the Vols on Saturday.
But a breakdown of individual prospects reveals even better news for UT, especially in the SEC recruiting race.
The Vols have landed the No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation, the No. 1 guard in the SEC, another top quarterback and a deep haul of defensive linemen in this class.
UT has 22 commitments, including one five-star prospect and 12 four-star recruits. They can sign on Dec. 4, when the early signing period begins.
According to 247Sports Composite team rankings, UT has the No. 6 class, behind Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Auburn. The Vols haven’t been that high since finishing No. 4 in the 2015 rankings.
Using those 247Sports Composite ratings, here are the highlights of UT’s class under coach Josh Heupel with an emphasis on how it compares to SEC foes.
FIVE-STAR DAVID SANDERS COMMITS Vols land No. 2 recruit in 2025 class
It starts at tackle, where Tennessee has the best
Sanders would be UT’s first five-star offensive tackle signee since it landed Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris in the 2019 class. Wright became a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears. Morris transferred to Oklahoma and became a third-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lance Heard, the Vols’ current left tackle, was a five-star signee of LSU in 2023, but he transferred to UT this season.
All this bodes well for the Vols, but it gets even better.
Getting the No. 1 offensive tackle is a different level for UT. A few years ago, Alabama would routinely land that recruit. It got the No. 1 offensive tackle in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
But Sanders is not only the No. 1 offensive tackle in this class. He’s also the No. 2 overall player. Only quarterback Bryce Underwood, an LSU commitment, is ahead of him.
For context, quarterback Nico Iamaleava was the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 class.
Vols also getting best guards in SEC
UT commitment Douglas Utu is the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the class. And since the No. 1 interior lineman is committed to Florida State, that means the Vols have the SEC’s best guard of the class.
But for good measure, UT also has Nic Moore, the No. 7 interior offensive lineman of those committed to SEC schools. Only Georgia has two interior offensive linemen with comparable rankings to UT’s double dip.
George MacIntyre is another top quarterback prospect
Brentwood Academy quarterback George MacIntyre was a five-star recruit when he committed to UT in January. He has since slipped to a four-star rating, but that’s mostly because of a hand injury that kept him out of elite camps this summer.
Whether MacIntyre regains a five-star rating, he’s still a key addition.
MacIntyre is the No. 8 quarterback in the class and No. 5 in the SEC. LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Missouri have quarterback commitments ranked ahead of MacIntyre.
UCLA commitment Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother, is one spot behind MacIntyre in the quarterback rankings.
UT is on a hot streak landing to quarterback prospects. It signed Iamaleava and four-star Jake Merklinger in the past two classes. Faizon Brandon, arguably the No. 1 quarterback in the 2026 class, is committed to the Vols.
Only Georgia has tight ends ranked higher than Vols
UT has two of the top six tight end recruits in the SEC in this class. Da’Saahn Brame is the No. 5 tight end in the nation, and Jack Van Dorselaer is No. 18.
Georgia is the only other SEC team with two tight end commitments from the top 20 at that position. The Bulldogs have the No. 1 and No. 9 tight ends in this class.
Texas A&M, Alabama and LSU also have a top-20 tight end. But only UT and Georgia have a pair of tight ends from that elite pool.
These receivers aren’t at the top. But there are two of them
Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri and Oklahoma each have a commitment from a wide receiver ranked higher than UT.
But the Vols have two notable wide receiver commitments rather than one.
Travis Smith is the No. 15 receiver, and Radarious Jackson is No. 26 at that position. They are ranked No. 8 and No. 12, respectively, among wide receivers committed to SEC schools.
Among SEC teams, only Oklahoma and Florida have two receiver commitments ranked higher than UT’s pair.
Deep defensive line getting deeper
UT commitment Mariyon Dye is the SEC’s No. 4 edge rusher. UT commitment Jayden Loftin is No. 11 among SEC edge rushers in this class.
Only Auburn, LSU and UT have two edge rushers ranked that high among SEC commitments.
However, Dye and Loftin have the size to likely play strongside defensive end or perhaps defensive tackle rather than edge rusher.
UT commitment Ethan Utley definitely will play inside. He’s the No. 18 defensive lineman in the class, but he’s No. 7 among SEC commitments at that position.
Dye, Loftin and Utley should continue UT’s depth on the defensive line.
SEC got few elite safeties, but Vols snagged one
UT has the No. 3 safety among SEC commitments in this class.
Lagonza Hayward is ranked No. 9 among all safeties. But Auburn commitments Anquon Fegans and Eric Winters are the only SEC safeties ahead of him.
The Vols could use Hayward sooner than later because Boo Carter, a versatile defensive back, has been the only safety with better than a three-star rating to sign during Heupel’s tenure.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football recruiting: Inside look at 2025 for Josh Heupel
