A rough first day of the Early Signing Period for Tennessee ended on a high note. The Vols came into the day limping, having lost Lagonza Hayward on Sunday and seeing him flip to the Florida Gators while failing to sign Onis Konanbanny, who is now also projected to flip to UF.
Josh Heupel’s team also failed to sign David Sanders Jr. and saw Baltimore defensive lineman Darrion Smith flip to the Auburn Tigers. Even flipping defensive back Timothy Merritt from the Miami Hurricanes wasn’t enough to outweigh all of that.
Still, they stemmed the tide of negative recruiting news late in the day of the Early Signing Period by picking up a commitment from an elite North Carolina defensive tackle. Isaiah Campbell, a four-star across the board, signed with UT. Campbell made the decision in a live video announcement.
Coming out of Southern High School in Durham, N.C., Campbell initially committed to the Clemson Tigers back in February but then decommitted in September. Standing at 6’4″ and weighs 275 pounds. He’s likely to put on weight when he arrives at UT and be a guy who plays in the middle.
With Omarr Norman-Lott, Omari Thomas, Bryson Eason and Elijah Simmons all gone after this year, Tim Banks, Rodney Garner and Josh Heupel need a lot more help in the middle. They will likely go the transfer portal route for more immediate depth, but Campbell is a great addition to that.
Campbell’s highlight reel reveals incredible amount of speed on horizontal running plays and also a good bit of power. Of course, those two things specifically are relative, and he could develop more fundamentals, but early on, he’s a great fit for the SEC.
With this pickup, the Vols continue their pipeline into North Carolina as well. Back in the 1990s, UT built its program by landing top-notch talent from that state, and Heupel appears to be doing that again with James Pearce Jr., potentially David Sanders Jr. and now Campbell.
