With everyone focused on the Chaz Coleman situation, Josh Heupel and the Vols quietly earned a nice offseason win against Alabama
· Yahoo Sports
While everyone was focused on the Chaz Coleman situation this week, Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers quietly earned a nice offseason win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
While everyone was focused on the Chaz Coleman situation this week, Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols quietly earned a nice off-the-field win against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
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One of Tennessee’s top recruiting targets right now is 2027 four-star tight end Malik Howard, 6-foot-4/230 pounds from Oak Ridge, TN.
Howard is rated by 247Sports as the No. 8 tight end in the nation and the No. 8 player in the state of Tennessee.
Oak Ridge (TN) 2027 tight end Malik Howard has been a handful this year
— Shayne Pickering (@shaynep_media) October 4, 2025
He has a pair of receiving touchdowns tonight, including this one up the seam
He is a high-priority target for #Vols
( video via @prepxtra )pic.twitter.com/sKiuV6EV2a
The four-star tight end visited Tennessee last weekend, and he was expected to visit Alabama this weekend.
But according to On3’s Steve Wiltfong, Howard canceled his official visit to Alabama.
“One of the more notable developments this week came with four-star tight end Malik Howard,” noted Wiltfong. “Howard canceled his planned official visit to Alabama and now appears focused on Tennessee heading into a critical weekend.”
Alabama isn’t the same Alabama that they were when Nick Saban was the head coach, but they’re still a college football heavyweight. Getting them out of the picture is a huge win for Heupel and his staff.
Notre Dame is viewed as the Vols’ biggest threat with Alabama fading. Oregon is in the mix, too.
Wiltfong and On3’s Chad Simmons, however, are now predicting that Tennessee will win the battle for Howard.
One of the big reasons Howard likes the Vols is because he believes Tennessee is on track to regularly compete for national championships.
"I love the direction the program is going and the plan they have to get there,” said Howard to On3. “They very well could be on track to be regular contenders for National Championships.”