On Wednesday, Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel put together his best signing class yet with the Vols. He added 28 players, including multiple flips and commitments that came down to the wire.
On Thursday, an episode of ‘The Mike Keith Show‘ aired, featuring Heupel talking with the Voice of the Vols about his class. He was asked about top prospects, the transfer portal, adding wide receivers and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On athlete Legend Bey
“That’s right. He finally got right with God and God told him to come to Tennessee. But no, just Coach Pope, our offensive staff, everybody involved did a great job of continuing to stay consistent in our communication with him and continuing to try to show him the vision of why this could be and should be the right spot for him. And ultimately Tennessee wins out. And he’s a dynamic playmaker. Really excited to have that tool. And I say that tool because he’s got the ability to do so many unique things on the field.”
On being able to create stuff in Tennessee’s scheme for a prospect like Legend Bey
“Absolutely. There’s going to be some unique things that come out of it.”
On wide receiver Tristen Keys
“Yeah, he’s got the ability to be a dynamic playmaker, that’s the simplest way to say it. As a high school wide receiver, he’s really loose and fluid at the line of scrimmage. When he does see press coverage. Got great short-area quickness, the ability to go up and attack the football. He’s got a great catch radius, long arms, but can open up his back hip on a ball back behind him. He is going to be great in the short, the intermediate, in the downfield passing game. Really excited about him.”
On wide receiver, local prospect Tyreek King
“Yeah, he’s got unbelievable short-area burst. Like his 0-60 happens right now. He’s able to run laterally, stick a foot in the ground and get vertical and hit high speed right now. He’s got really natural hands. He plays long over the middle of the football field. Longterm will have a ability to play inside and outside. It’s been a fun recruitment. It’s been a long one with him just being local. He showed up in one of our camps going into his sophomore year. Just couldn’t be more excited about getting the player, the person and the family here.”
On Tennessee stacking impressive wide receiver classes in back-to-back recruiting cycles
“Yeah, no doubt. This has been Wide Receiver U historically. We’re getting back to that, for sure. You look at the development of the wide receivers that we’ve had, their ability to grow in what we’re doing offensively. All the things that they get exposed to. The fundamental and technique work that Coach Pope does with them. Their football IQ and understanding, and then the productivity that they’ve had. That’s why we continue to put out wide receivers at an elite clip.”
On flipping defensive lineman JJ Finch from Alabama
“Yeah, defensive staff, Coach Garner, unbelievable job. Just being consistent, being true to who who he is and who we are as a program. Continued just to sell the opportunity that’s here. A young man that loved it here initially on first visit, his official visit. Going back a couple years, first game day experience inside of Neyland was beating the guys in Crimson. And ultimately all of those opportunities here win out with JJ. And he is big, he is nasty on the field. He is a a three-down defensive interior lineman. This guy a chance to change the way the games play.”
On Tennessee flipping defensive lineman Carter Gooden from UCLA
“Still continuing to grow and develop. He is hungry and desperate. Went away from home to finish high school and have the experience on the football side of it that he wanted to. He’s got high goals, high dreams of what he wants to accomplish. Our staff throughout the course of the fall just continued to watch, evaluate and then start really being heavy in the communication with him. We were able to get him in for this last weekend, where you’re able to host. And he and his mom had a great experience. They loved the game day atmosphere, the fan base. They could feel how much it mattered to them. They wanted a big-time college football feel and experience, but wanted to balance that with the growth of the man and they both felt extremely comfortable. We were able to get great news on him, you know, a day after he finished his visit here.”
On EDGE Jordan ‘Breeze’ Carter
“Another guy that, of course, Garner did a great job of just continuing to stay consistent and stay in contact with him and his family. You know, he had had multiple visits up here, but we were able to get him back towards the end of the season for an official visit. He and his family had a great time. They saw the opportunity, they saw the style play with our defensive line playing on edge is playing vertical. They knew that that fit his skill set and how he wanted to grow and develop as a player. He’s got elite three-down value, the ability to rush the passer. Really excited that he’s gonna call Rocky Top home.”
On if playing so many defensive linemen helps him recruit
“I think they value it quite a bit. And it starts with, they know that if they’re ready to go play, they’re gonna have the opportunity to go play and that we’re gonna take advantage of their skill sets and get them experiences on the field as fast as possible.”
On who is early enrolling
“I’m not sure the exact number, but almost all of these guys that signed are gonna be with us as we start back in January.”
On offensive lineman Gabriel Osenda, if he will play tackle
“That’s certainly where he is gonna start his days here on Rocky Top. A young man that was hungry and desperate for his dreams of playing big-time college football. Comes down to Baylor (School) and just continues to grow and develop. They did a great job of helping him grow in the weight room. Such a massive frame. He’s gained great command of his body and that’s, as a young big guy, that’s hard to do. He’s really developed physically and you see him, he’s nasty on the line of scrimmage. He plays with relentless passion and physicality and has continued to grow in his understanding of the game. A guy that was a big part of putting this class together. When we were able to get him committed, he was a big factor in helping recruit other guys.”
On having to recruit to the end with other schools recruiting commits
“Well, it takes our entire organization from personnel to our on-campus recruiters to our coaches, and they did an elite job of continuing to treat these guys the way that we’re gonna treat ’em when we’re here. I think that’s one of the big sales pitch that we have is the consistency of who we are. And they hear that from our players, too. And it was a great class. There’s so much work that goes into this process for this class. This started three years ago and there’s so many experiences that they have here with us that play a part in them ultimately calling this home. Couldn’t be more proud of what our staff did.”
On quarterback Faizon Brandon, what makes him special
“Recruiting process started a long time ago. Saw the video of him as a young starter, got him on campus, having a camp day with him. His ability to throw the ball with power, with accuracy. His ability to have touch on the football when it’s time to do that. He’s got the athleticism to extend and make plays as a scrambler. He’s a scramble-to-throw guy first, but man, when he does tuck it, he’s got the ability to be a weapon and pick up massive yards with his feet.
“His ability in the run game to control edges, control pressures a huge part of it. He’s quick-minded. Processes things extremely quickly and then you take into account who he is, his maturity, how he interacts and engages with his teammates. That’s really important in that position that you’re fitting in culturally inside of our locker room and helping us grow into what we need to be. So couldn’t be more excited to have him and his family a part of Rocky Top.”
On if the staff’s attention turns to the transfer portal now
“It’s obviously dual-sided at this point in the year. Will continue to push forward on high school players, ’27s, ’28s. But certainly, the portal will become a major part of our focus here throughout the end of December and end of January.”
On if it was a great day for Tennessee
“It was a great day for Tennessee. Really excited about the future.”
