Josh Heupel has never had Tennessee Football in a stronger spot on the recruiting trail than right now in late July of 2024. One day after beating out the Georgia Bulldogs for a four-star from that state for a third straight Saturday, the Vols managed to flip an elite prospect from the Oregon Ducks.
Da’Saahn Brame, an elite 2025 prospect out of Kansas, committed to UT Sunday, one day short of exactly one month since his original commitment to Oregon. At 6’6″ 235 pounds, the product of Derby High School in Sedgwick, Kan., confirmed his decision on Twitter.
Make no mistake, this is just as big of a deal for Tennessee Football as it is to beat out Georgia for Georgia kids. When you consider the NIKE money at Oregon, Dan Lanning’s success and the offense they run, Heupel doesn’t have the offensive firepower advantage with tight ends the way he does other positions.
Oregon would have been just as good of a fit as Brame, and the SEC TV exposure doesn’t matter either anymore since Oregon is joining the Big Ten just as that league enters an even more expansive national TV deal. Simply put, this is a legitimate recruiting win.
Now, if there is one drawback, it likely has something to do with NIL, as despite Oregon’s NIKE money, the Vols have plenty of money to throw around too. They have the largest collective for a reason, and it will help them flip elite tight ends like Brame.
In recent years, Heupel hasn’t utilized tight ends in his passing game, but his days as offensive coordinator showed a willingness by him to do just that if he had the right player. There are expectations for Ethan Davis to eventually become that type of weapon.
Although you have to question his competition, Brame’s highlight reel shows an amazing ability to catch the ball in coverage and leap for overthrows. He’s a guy Heupel could trust to catch fade passes when the Vols get to the red zone and are trying to punch it in.
With this pickup, Tennessee Football moved into No. 5 in the 247Sports 2025 recruiting class rankings. Braama is their 20th commitment, and they are still the favorites to land other high-profile targets, most notably five-star offensive lineman David Sander Jr., who commits in August.
