Tennessee Football pulled off a major recruiting heist last August when it flipped five-star wide receiver Tristen “TK” Keys away from LSU. Keys quickly became one of the standout players in Tennessee’s 2026 recruiting class and projects to be an impact player for the Volunteers in the future.
The question now, though, is whether Tennessee can do it for a second straight year.
According to a report from Rivals’ Sam Spiegelman on Friday, Tennessee is one of multiple schools that are making a push for Texas five-star wide receiver commit Easton Royal. The blue-chip prospect told Spiegelman that Texas, Florida, LSU, and Tennessee “are all in serious contention” and that the race “is tight.”
Rivals’ Industry Rankings tags Royal as the No. 10 player in the ’27 class, the No. 2 receiver in the nation, and the top-ranked player from Louisiana. He currently plays for Brother Martin High School in New Orleans.
The Louisiana native has been committed to the Longhorns since late November 2025, but is still taking a handful of visits this spring.
Tennessee got Royal on campus for a visit during spring camp back in March. The five-star prospect reportedly came away impressed from his time on Rocky Top.
“It’s the University of Tennessee and it’s like a pro team around there,” Royal told Spiegelman.
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Rivals’ recruiting timeline shows that Royal took an official visit to Ole Miss on May 1, and has official visits lined up to LSU, Florida, and Texas over the next few weeks.
Tennessee has been recruiting the wide receiver position at a tremendous rate over the last few years, thanks to the strong work of wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope. Since the 2024 recruiting class, Tennessee has signed players such as four-star Braylon Staley, five-star Mike Matthews, four-star Travis Smith Jr., four-star Radarious Jackson, five-star TK Keys, and four-star Tyreek King.
Tennessee currently has one wide receiver commit in the 2027 recruiting cycle with four-star prospect Kesean Bowman out of Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, TN. Bowman sits at the top of Tennessee’s eight-man recruiting class so far.
Pope is a huge piece of Tennessee’s recruiting success. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel noted that Pope and the UT staff “did a great job” with their recruitment of Keys during the 2026 class, which eventually ended with the five-star receiver landing in Knoxville. Pope will be a vital tool in Tennessee’s attempt to flip a five-star SEC receiver for the second straight season.
Tennessee had success flipping commitments during the 2026 recruiting cycle, which helped the Vols land the ninth-ranked recruiting class in the country.
