Tennessee football knew this was going to be a big recruiting week one way or another with a pair of its top remaining targets announcing its college commitment. And the week didn’t get off to a strong start when five-star running back Savion Hiter chose Michigan over Tennessee.
Five-star offensive guard Darius Gray announces his college commitment Friday but confidence around Tennessee in his recruitment has faded in recent weeks with South Carolina and LSU looking like the top contenders to land the blue-chip guard.
The Vols could always pull off a late upset, as they have twice in the 2026 recruiting class already, but Gray seems to be trending away from Tennessee. The combination of missing out on Hiter and Gray would have made for a disappointing week. Not a debilitating one because no school is going to win every recruiting battle but undoubtedly a tough finish to a strong recruiting summer.
But Tennessee salvaged the week on the recruiting trail before any potentially bad news Friday night. The Vols pulled a surprise Thursday morning, flipping four-star offensive tackle Kamari Blair from South Carolina.
It wasn’t completely out of left field. Tennessee finished runner-up for Blair originally with the massive offensive lineman choosing the Gamecocks over Tennessee and Ole Miss in July. Tennessee showed no signs of slowing down its pursuit of Blair despite his commitment to South Carolina either.
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Blair ending up in Tennessee’s recruiting class was a minor surprise at the most. But Blair flipping to Tennessee just 36 days after he originally committed to South Carolina was surprising but nonetheless significant.
The 6-foot-5, 281-pound lineman becomes the fourth offensive lineman committed to Tennessee in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Blair joins a group of commits that include four-star tackle, Gabriel Osenda, four-star tackle J.B. Shabazz and three-star guard Edward Baker.
Blair, a Clarksville native, is also the latest instate recruiting win for Josh Heupel and his staff in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Tennessee now boasts commits from nine total players in the Volunteer State in the 2026 cycle including three of the top five players and six of the top 11 players.
The Vols could still pull off the upset and land Gray on Friday night, but flipping Blair is strong solace for what could have been a disappointing week and also is a big win for Tennessee’s offensive line class.
Tennessee football’s 2026 recruiting class now contains 23 commits and ranks No. 11 nationally and No. 6 in the SEC according to the 247sports team rankings.
