Tennessee Football won’t be hitting the field this weekend. After a 4-1 start to the season, the Vols have landed on the first of two open dates on the 2025 schedule. The next one will come on Saturday, Nov. 8.
That doesn’t mean that the Vols’ coaching staff will be sitting idly by, though. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel revealed on Wednesday that he and his staff will be out hitting the recruiting trail for high school games on Thursday and Friday night.
“Bye week. I think, obviously for some of our guys, get healthy, but also just some work in,” Heupel said on Wednesday. “The focus is on us. Fundamentals, technique, things we control. Got to take a step. Young guys, got to continue to grow. It’s been an emphasis in our team meeting and today out on the grass. So, the backend of the week the staff will have a chance to get out and go recruiting as well. So, multiple things that we’ve got to get accomplished this week.”
Heupel was in Murfreesboro to watch Oakland (TN) vs Rockvale (TN) during Thursday night action. Oakland star athlete Joel Wyatt is one of Tennessee’s top commits in its Top 10-ranked 2026 recruiting class. According to MTSU sports media member Willie Phaler, Wyatt hauled in a 42-yard touchdown in front of his future head coach.
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Wyatt helps make up a 24-man recruiting class for Heupel’s Volunteers. 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have the class at No. 8 in the nation and No. 5 in the SEC. The Vols have two five-star commits, 13 four-star commits, and nine three-star commits. While Tennessee might be slightly lower on five-stars compared to the rest of the Top 10, the Vols have the second-most four-star commits behind only Texas A&M. Tennessee is building quality depth for the future.
During his press conference on Wednesday, Heupel didn’t reveal exactly which games he would be at leading into the weekend. We now know where he was on Thursday, and we’ll likely find out pretty quickly on Friday evening where he’s at as soon as he gets spotted. Perhaps he’s checking in with a committed player, or maybe he’s getting an up-close look at a high-level target in the 2027 cycle.
Either way, no weekends off for the Vols’ coaching staff.
No. 15 Tennessee will return to action next weekend with a home game against Arkansas at 4:15 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium.
