Tennessee football prized in-state commit receives major ranking boost, shuts down recruitment

The Tennessee Volunteers football program is finally at the point where they have moved on from starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava was the starter for the program last season and was expected to take a leap this year, but it doesn’t look like he will be playing another year on Rocky Top.

After Iamaleava left, Tennessee decided to add UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, which seemingly created the first-ever college football trade. Adding Aguilar made Tennessee one of the spring transfer portal winners.

“While not a match for Iamaleava’s athleticism or potential and a bit too turnover-prone this past season, Aguilar has the experience and comfort level in a quarterback-driven scheme to keep Tennessee in the mix for a return to the playoff. That’s a pretty good on-the-fly signing given what the Volunteers lost in Iamaleava and the lack of options in the springtime portal,” Paul Myerberg wrote.

However, Tennessee got really good news on the recruiting front over the weekend. It came in the form of in-state talent Gabriel Osenda. Osenda is originally from Canada but currently plays high school football for Baylor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While he has been committed for quite some time, Osenda made it clear that he isn’t taking any more visits to other schools.

“Go Vols, go big orange, and I’m done taking visits, I’m here baby,” Osenda said.

This is huge news for head coach Josh Heupel and his staff as they continue to strengthen their offensive line. Osenda also received major news last week when he saw a jump in his recruiting rankings. The former four-star is now a five-star prospect, according to 247Sports.

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“247Sports now has the 2026 offensive tackle as a five-star prospect, the No. 19 player in the class, the No. 4 offensive tackle, and the No. 2 player from the Volunteer State,” Ric Butler wrote.

This is a huge confidence booster for Osenda, and for Tennessee, it certainly helps boost their recruiting rankings. With Osenda's recruitment process seemingly shut down and his rise in the rankings, everything appears to be going according to plan for the highly touted commit.