A three-star defensive back from New Jersey would seem like just a wasted roster spot for a program like Tennessee football. However, that completely undercuts how Josh Heupel and his program have tried to scout talent early and get them on campus based on potential nobody saw yet.
K.J. McClain fits that mold perfectly.
The 2026 safety out of St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, N.J., announced his commitment to Tennessee football on his social media accounts. Like Jarrett Guarantano, he hails from Bergen County. Unlike Guarantano, however, he’s not entering an insanely unstable program with a ton of hype behind him.
A three-star across all services, McClain stands at 5’11” 165 pounds. That small frame combined with his issues in tackling are what have held him back from being a four-star or a five-star. However, he has made up for it with his elite abilities in coverage.
McClain is wildly athletic and versatile. Despite being listed as a safety, he’ll easily be able to play cornerback if that’s where Willie Martinez and Tim Banks want to put him. In a defense whose physicality is prioritized much more up front than on the back end, McClain will fit right end.
Also, it’s not as if McClain can’t get physical. He is a hard-hitting safety already despite poor tackling fundamentals and his small frame. A couple of offseason conditioning sessions combined with enough practice could help him improve in those areas, at which point he’d be an SEC caliber safety.
Who’s to say he can’t do that? Athletic genes already run in his family, as his brother, Jaylen McClain, is a safety on the Ohio State Buckeyes and captured a national championship last year. He also registered three tackles against the Vols.
Simply put, McClain already brings a lot to the table, and there’s no reason he can’t shore up his weaknesses once the Tennessee football coaching staff gets its hands on him. As a result, the ninth commitment in the Vols’ 2026 class who is also the first secondary player could be a hidden star in the making.
Considering the fact that McClain is in Big Ten country and was targeted by the Penn State Nittany Lions and Michigan State Spartans, he’s clearly not a throwaway roster spot despite his recruiting rankings. Tennessee football should have no problem fitting him in to their system.
