Tennessee made a strong impression on former 5-star EDGE Hayden Lowe during his official visit to Knoxville, and the timing only added to the buzz. Lowe, now at Long Beach City College after one season at Miami, was on campus while the Vols were busy beating Auburn, and he came away sounding genuinely intrigued by what Josh Heupel’s program has to offer.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound pass-rusher said the visit gave him a real feel for the culture around the team. When asked whether he could picture himself in orange, Lowe didn’t hesitate.
“Oh yeah, 100 percent,” Lowe told FanSided when asked if he could see himself playing for the Vols defense in the future. “It was a great experience.
I know some of the players too. I can tell from just being around the guys, they’re all about ball.
That’s very valuable and we can feed off of each other.”
The atmosphere around the Auburn game left its own mark. Lowe said the crowd energy was unlike anything he had experienced before, a notable compliment considering how many places he’s already seen during this recruiting process.
Tennessee’s push for Lowe isn’t coming out of nowhere. He was a major target for Heupel and defensive line coach Rodney Garner back when he was still in high school in the 2025 class, when he was ranked as a five-star prospect and the No.
2 EDGE in the country. Lowe eventually signed with Miami, but the Vols never stopped staying involved.
That relationship still matters. Lowe spoke highly of Garner and the role Tennessee sees for him.
“My relationship with Coach Garner has been great,” Lowe said. “I remember speaking to him in high school.
He basically told me that they see me coming in there as a four-down guy. They want me to rush the inside and outside and just help them contribute to a winning season.”
He also had good things to say about Heupel.
“He’s (Heupel) a really good coach and I like him a lot,” Lowe added. “He’s personable too. He definitely let me know that the coaches are interested in me playing for them.”
Even with Tennessee making a clear impression, the Vols are far from alone in the chase. Lowe is expected to make his choice in the next two-to-three weeks, but not before a few more stops. He’s planning to visit Missouri either this weekend or next weekend, then UCLA, and on Oct. 24 he’ll head to Tuscaloosa to meet with Kalen DeBoer and Alabama.
That Alabama visit carries some familiarity. Lowe said DeBoer’s staff has been recruiting him since its Washington days, and he already knows Courtney Morgan well because of Morgan’s ties to Los Angeles. Alabama, like Tennessee, has made its need clear.
“Coach DeBoer and that whole staff first recruited me when they were still at Washington,” Lowe said. "I know Courtney Morgan because he's from L.A.
They've been telling me they need an EDGE guy. They've got two seniors who are leaving.
I have a good relationship with the staff. It's kind of the same thing as Tennessee where they're expressing the need for an EDGE guy to come in, compete and take the starting spot."
After the visits are done, Lowe will head back to California and sit down with his family before making the call. Academics will factor in, and so will which school gives him the best path to the NFL.
For now, Tennessee has put itself in the mix in a real way. Lowe’s final words about Knoxville made that much clear.
“It was a great experience overall,” Lowe said of his time at Tennessee “I’ve never been to a game that was that loud, lively, and all about ball. It was just eye-opening.”
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Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp offered one of the clearer examples of how opponents are adjusting, leaning on a Penny or 5-1 front to try to muddy Tennessees reads and slow the tempo. It is part of a broader wave of defensive adaptation around the SEC, where coaches are borrowing, tweaking and layering ideas to meet Heupels system on different terms. The bigger question now is whether those answers can hold up long enough to matter once Tennessee gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
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Tennessee's Freshman Reliance Suddenly Looks Like A Bigger Issue
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Josh Heupel came away encouraged enough to single out freshman Joel Wyatt for his work on special teams, but the bigger picture is harder to ignore after a 24-14 loss. When the youngest players are already carrying so much of the load and the quarterback spot turns again because of injury, Tennessees depth chart suddenly feels a lot thinner than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]