It’s hard to know just how much Tennessee wanted its newest commitment in 2026 North Carolina wide receiver Tyran Evans. However, he has the body size for a prototypical wideout in Josh Heupel’s offense, and he helps continue a key pipeline for UT into the Tar Heel State, specifically the Charlotte area.
Evans, a three-star across the board out of William Amos Hough High School in Cornelius, N.C., announced his commitment to Tennessee Sunday night via X with a video. Standing at 6’3″ 170 pounds, the Mecklenburg is the seventh 2026 commitment to Tennessee.
Of those 2026 commitments, two hail from North Carolina: Evans and highly touted quarterback Faizon Brandon, who hails from Greensboro. Brandon is obviously there as an option, along with George MacIntyre, for the Vols after Nico Iamaleava graduates.
Heupel picked up Evans purely for recruiting gamesmanship. But why?
The answer is simple: Bill Belichick.
Tennessee can’t have success without establishing a dominant presence in the state of North Carolina, but Belichick taking over at UNC is going to make that a lot harder. Getting lesser guys out of certain high schools that could get them in with more elite talent is a way to put a check on that.
In this day in age, given the transfer portal, coaches can take players just to fill roster spots in recruiting classes and then nudge them out if they don’t develop. Evans is a guy Tennessee can take to make sure it’s still got a presence in the state.
As far as a player goes, Evans committed to Kelsey Pope specifically, and his size gives him potential to be an impact player because of the few scholarship guys UT currently has at wide receiver. A look at his highlight reel shows he has incredible concentration and great moves at running routes and juking receivers.
Whether or not that can translate to the SEC level remains to be seen, and his speed is also a question. The truth is he does have potential, but more importantly, he helps Heupel and co. keep their connections to a state they have to have connections.
