Rarely does a high school sophomore football recruit garner as much attention and interest than Westview quarterback Graham Simpson has. Josh Heupel and Tennessee football officially got in on the sweepstakes Sunday, offering Graham a scholarship.
Blessed to receive an offer to The University of Tennessee!! 🍊🍊#blessed #GB🍊 @ty_simpson06 @Coach_JSimpson @QBCountry @QBC_Nashville @On3sports @TNSelect7V7 @247Sports @RivalsHS @ChadSimmons_ @TomLoy247 pic.twitter.com/FMQwnDsUmE
— Graham Simpson (@G_Simpson11) January 10, 2026
There’s a number of reasons why Graham Simpson’s recruitment has garnered so much interest and his family is a major reason why. Simpson’s father, Jason, is the longtime head coach at UT Martin. His older brother Ty was Alabama’s starting quarterback a season ago, throwing for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Ty Simpson declared for the NFL Draft earlier this week after multiple reports indicated that he would enter the transfer portal if he did return to college. That added more intrigue around Graham Simpson as Oregon was mentioned as a landing spot for Ty and is also a reported favorite of Graham.
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But make no bones about it, Graham Simpson is a talented and extremely intriguing prospect outside of his last name. The 5-foot-11, 182-pound quarterback put together a remarkable sophomore season at Martin’s Westview High School. It ended with Simpson completing 18-of-21 passes for 566 yards and seven touchdowns in Westview’s 62-21 victory over Gatlinburg-Pittman in the TSSAA 3A State Championship game.
It’s very early, but Simpson ranks as a three-star recruit and the No. 138 player in the 2028 recruiting class according to the 247sports composite rankings. Of course, the No. 138 player in any given class ends up as a four-star and not a three-star. Currently, the 247sports composite rankings includes 132 blue-chip recruits.
Tennessee football signed five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon in the 2026 recruiting cycle last month. The Vols do no currently have a quarterback committed in the 2027 cycle. Typically under head coach Josh Heupel, Tennessee has somewhat alternated signing extremely highly rated quarterbacks and more modest four-star signal callers.
If the Vols decide against going all-in at quarterback in the 2027 cycle then that would set them up to be aggressive pursuing Simpson or a different quarterback in the 2028 recruiting cycle.
