Recently, college football coaches across the country have been traveling the country to check in on recruiting targets. For Tennessee, Josh Heupel, position coaches and more spread out to keep tabs on some of their top targets.
In the case of offensive line coach Glen Elarbee, he went east to South Carolina. Just outside of SEC foe South Carolina’s campus, Elarbee went to Irmo High School to see four-star tackle Nate Carson. If Irmo sounds familiar, it’s the town that Jalin Hyatt is from. However, Hyatt attended Dutch Fork High School.
Carson is considered the No. 161 player in the 2027 class via 247 Composite. He is the No. 15 offensive tackle and No. 3 player from South Carolina, as well.
Other schools in the mix for Carson include Kentucky, North Carolina, Clemson, NC State, Florida State, Mississippi State, Maryland, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Duke, Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue, Missouri, Ohio State, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Virginia Tech and more.
Tennessee was one of the first schools to offer him, as well. Carson picked up his Vols offer back in March of 2025. Just Alabama, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Georgia State and South Carolina offered before UT, according to 247.
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Carson was just in Knoxville for a visit, as well. He checked out Tennessee on Jan. 17, where he got to see Elarbee, Josh Heupel and other staff members. He also took a game day visit to see the Vols host Georgia this past season. He was in attendance for the Orange & White game this past spring, as well.
Tennessee already holds four commitments in the 2027 class. This includes four-star tackle Princeton Uwaifo, four-star defensive lineman Kadin Fife, three-star linebacker JP Peace and three-star cornerback Kamauri Whitfield. The class is still young, though, and plenty more commitments are expected to trickle in over the next year.
Tennessee is coming off an extremely strong 2026 class, as well. The Vols landed 28 commitments in the class, with 27 signed in the early signing period and a local prospect committing just days ago. This was headlined by a trio of five-star prospects, quarterback Faizon Brandon, wide receiver TK Keys and offensive tackle Gabriel Osenda. The group ranks fifth in the country on 247.
