Four-star edge rusher Hezekiah Harris flipped his commitment from Auburn to Tennessee football Monday. Harris had been committed to Auburn for 14 months but announced his “final decision” to flip to Tennessee and play for Josh Heupel and his staff instead of Auburn or Florida.
Harris ranks as a four-star recruit and the No. 100 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. A Huntsville native, he also ranks as the No. 13 edge rusher and the No. 7 player in the state of Alabama in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Rivals is similarly high on Harris, ranking Harris at the No. 147 player and No. 20 edge rusher in the country.
Despite having been an Auburn commit, Harris frequently visited Tennessee in 2025. He unofficially visited for a junior day in January and then twice in the spring including for the Vols’ 856 Live recruiting weekend in May. Harris returned for an official visit in June and Tennessee officially flipped his commitment 2.5 months later.
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It’s the second time in the last three recruiting cycles that Tennessee has landed a blue-chip edge rusher out of the Yellow Hammer State. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Harris joins Jordan Ross, a five-star Birmingham native, who was apart of Tennessee’s 2024 recruiting class.
Edge rusher was a position of need for Tennessee in its 2025 recruiting class making the addition of Harris all the more important to the Vols’ 2026 recruiting class. The Vols also boast commitments from four-star edge rusher Zach Groves and three-star edge rusher CJ Edwards. However, Groves projects more as a strongside defensive end at the next level.
Landing Harris continues an impressive multi-month run for Tennessee football on the recruiting trail. The Vols’ 2026 recruiting class now contains 25 commitments with 19 of those players committing to Tennessee since the start of June. In just the last two weeks, Tennessee has flipped four-star offensive tackle Kamari Blair from South Carolina, five-star receiver Tristen Keys from LSU and now the four-star Harris from Auburn.
Tennessee’s 25-commit recruiting class now ranks No. 7 nationally and No. 5 in the SEC according to the 247sports team rankings.
