Tennessee Loses Key In-State Target to South Carolina in 2026 Class

The month of June has been a month of heartbreak for Josh Heupel’s Tennessee. The Volunteers lost some costly targets. They failed to keep their 4-star offensive lineman commit Brandon Anderson locked in. The hot 2026 target decided to jump out of Heupel’s squad and instead committed to the Missouri Tigers. Now, that was not enough of woes.

Tennessee lost a pledge from three-star wide receiver Tyran Evans in June. He has been committed to Heupel’s squad since January 5 this year. However, he chose to board the Miami Hurricanes wagon. When it comes to the 2026 trail, Heupel is yet to pick up the speed as Tennessee now stands at No. 15 with 21 recruits locked in. Just when Heupel must have been expecting some flip of luck, here came another blow. The Vols lost in the race to land 4-star offensive lineman commitment Kamari Blair. It was Shane Beamer’s South Carolina Gamecocks who got lucky.  

On July 16, Rivals tweeted, “🚨BREAKING🚨 4-star OT Kamari Blair has committed to South Carolina🤙.” What must be hurting Heupel more about Blair’s commitment? The fact that the recruit is an in-state commit hailing from Clarksville, Tennessee. The Volunteers even made it to the top 3 list along with South Carolina and Ole Miss. Prior to whittling the list down to three, Blair also considered Florida State, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. But what made Heupel become desperate about landing the offensive tackle target? The 6-foot-6, 280-pounder is rated by the Rivals Industry Ranking as the No. 274 overall prospect in the country and the No. 22 offensive tackle in the 2026 class. Meanwhile, Heupel’s hopes to land Blair must have been high.

After all, they got many chances to woo the 4-star target. Blair paid a visit to Heupel’s camp last season on November 23 as Tennessee defeated UTEP. After picking up an offer on May 13, he was in Knoxville on May 24. Later on, he met Heupel on June 20 to mark the final official stop of a stretch of trips. But poor Heupel. He missed out on what must have been their fourth addition to the offensive line. They already own the commitment of 5-star OT Gabriel Osenda and 4-star OT J.B. Shabazz. But how did the Gamecocks gain an edge over Heupel’s Tennessee?

Beamer’s offensive line coach, Lonnie Teasley, has been the game changer who won Blair’s heart throughout the recruiting process. As their new commit shared, “Coach Teasley, he’s more of a teacher than a screamer. Even in spring practices, he made sure guys understood what they were doing, not just yelling at them and not fixing their mistakes.”

Blair also added, “Coach Beamer hits me up more than any other head coach in the country. He’s really down to earth and really tries to connect with the guys. The weather is obviously beautiful.” However, right now, Heupel can’t afford to sit and pester over the loss; he has got some serious unfinished business as far as the 2026 recruiting trail is concerned.   

Josh Heupel is now dialed up to land two hot 5-star targets 

Their biggest goal right now is to lock in the 5-star wide receiver Tristen Keys. Heupel and Co. have been pushing hard to flip Keys from Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers. And it’s again going to be about the fatter check. On June 13, On3 NIL posted on X, “The race for LSU 5-star WR commit Tristen Keys continues to heat up🔥 Keys is expected to ink an NIL package that will pay him between $500K to $1 million as a freshman, per @PeteNakos_💰.” That’s when Heupel’s Tennessee entered the chat. 

On the June 13 weekend, Keys was spotted having a great time in Knoxville. The clip that went viral showed the 5-star dancing donning Tennessee’s orange-colored gear. However, VolQuest’s Austin Price shared how Heupel’s battle to lock in Keys is a long way from being over. “I think the plan is to just stay committed to LSU and take your visits. I think he’ll be in Knoxville this fall. He’ll be in College Station this fall. And the rubber will meet the road sometime, probably in late November or early December for Tristen Keys. And they’ll go from there.” Maybe the Vols’ head coach could sense this as well. 

So, Josh Heupel is putting in equal efforts to gain an edge in the race for their other 5-star target. That’s none other than the speedster and the No. 1 running back in the country, Savion Hiter. But there, too, Heupel could feel the ground loosening from under his feet. The Michigan Wolverines had dialed up the recruiting drama. Sherrone Moore came up with a “handoff photo op” between Hiter and five-star QB Bryce Underwood. And what better way to strengthen bonds than sharing hearty meals?

A family dinner hosted by Tony Alford. On July 11, Maize n Brew stirred the Heupel’s pot with a tweet. “According to 247Sports Georgia recruiting writer Benjamin Wolk, he believes 2026 five-star RB Savion Hiter will eventually commit to…the Michigan Wolverines:” Heupel’s down to his final move, sit tight and pray the 5-star dominoes fall toward Knoxville.