Few sports are more team oriented than football, but that doesn’t mean that every position is built equally. Quarterback is the most important position in all of sports. But after the signal caller line of scrimmage play is the most integral part of winning football games.
That’s why Tennessee football’s current success recruiting on the offensive line is so important. That success climaxed on Saturday afternoon when five-star offensive tackle David Sanders committed to Tennessee over a top group that included Georgia, Ohio State and Nebraska.
Offensive line recruiting was a major weak point in Josh Heupel’s first few years at Tennessee. From the 2021 to 2023 recruiting cycle, the Vols signed just two blue-chip offensive linemen. Of the 10 prep offensive linemen that Tennessee signed in those cycles, only six remain inside the Vols’ program and four of those were in the 2023 recruiting class.
That lack of strong offensive line recruiting in Heupel’s first seasons as head coach is why there’s not a single upper classman offensive lineman on Tennessee’s roster that Heupel and his staff signed out of high school. Tennessee has done a good job of staying afloat on the offensive line thanks veterans taking advantage of their COVID year of eligibility and by adding pieces in the transfer portal.
But that style of recruiting is only a bandaid and can’t be used long term to build the depth and consistency that a program needs to become elite.
More From RTI: Watch David Sanders High School Highlights
That’s why it’s so important that Heupel, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and Tennessee have had tremendous success recruiting the offensive line in both the 2024 and 2025 recruiting cycles.
Tennessee signed five prep offensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting cycle with three of them being blue-chip recruits and now have four offensive line recruits committed in the 2025 cycle with three of them being blue-chip recruits. After signing just 10 total offensive linemen and two blue-chip recruits from the 2021 to 2023 recruiting cycles, Tennessee has added nine offensive linemen and six blue-chip recruits in the last two recruiting cycle.
Elarbee, Heupel and Tennessee deserve praise for that run. They’ve identified an issue, addressed it and are now recruiting the prep ranks at a level that sets them up to build long term depth and have success on the line of scrimmage.
Pairing that with what Tennessee’s done on the recruiting trail at quarterback and defensive line is incredibly encouraging for the future of Vol football. The Vols are recruiting quarterbacks as well as anyone in the country right now and have recruited the defensive line well from the day Heupel stepped on campus.
Combine the success Tennessee has consistently had at quarterback and defensive line with its new success on the offensive line and there’s a path to Heupel’s Vols being a consistent player at the top of the Southeastern Conference.
