Tennessee fans had a feeling that some surprises were going to be on the way for head man Josh Heupel with the Early Signing Period here. Well, the first one has arrived, with a new 4-star commit on board for the SEC side.
That'd be 4-star defensive lineman Carter Gooden, who was previously committed to UCLA. However, Heupel and the Vols kept on recruiting him and there was a strong feeling in recent days that the Vols were going to be able to pull off this flip on Wednesday. This adds to what's already a strong 2026 haul for Heupel.