Josh Heupel just shattered every concern about his recruiting with one pickup. Tennessee Football landed an elite interior offensive lineman, a position not supposed to be conducive to Heupel’s system, without any pipeline or ties advantage. They got him out of Vegas.
Four-star 2025 Nevada offensive lineman Douglas Utu committed to the Vols Monday morning. Standing at 6’4″ 317 pounds, Utu hails from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. The Clark County, Nev., prospect announced his commitment to the Vols on Twitter.
Although Tennessee Football has certainly gotten bigger pickups under Heupel, a national interior offensive lineman has not been one of them. Sure, they got Nic Moore last week, but he’s in-state. Five-star quarterbacks, wide receivers and edge rushers are easy wins because of the system Heupel runs.
Interior offensive linemen are crucial in Heupel’s system because of his vertical run game, but they aren’t often a selling point. As a result, landing a kid like Utu and beating out three College Football Playoff teams (the Michigan Wolverines, Alabama Crimson Tide and Washington Huskies) for him is huge.
Now, there are a couple of ties to Utu. Cedric Tillman came from the same high school as a two-star and was turned into a 1,000-yard receiver. Also, UT is developing a Polynesian pipeline with Nico Iamaleava, Jaxson Moi and Keenan Pili. This could further that connection out west.
As a player, Utu is primarily a run blocker, but he has been playing tackle in high school, which should help polish his game as a pass blocker. His size is already good enough for SEC play, and with a season of conditioning on Rocky Top, he could become a superstar.
In addition to Utu and Moore, Tennessee Football has Antoni Kade Ogumoro committed from Oklahoma for 2025. The Vols also have two defensive lineman and an edge rusher committed in that class. Lineman Charles House was among them, committing over the weekend. Simply put, Heupel is loading up in the trenches, and he may not be done.
