Last week, the Tennessee football team was able to pull off one of the biggest recruiting wins of the summer, somehow earning the commitment of 5-star safety/wide receiver Salesi Moa. All the signs were pointing to him staying home to play for the Utah Utes.
Instead, the opportunity to play in the SEC was too much for him to pass up on. This is something Tennessee fans are over the moon about. As for the Utah faithful? Not so much. They're so upset, word started spreading that Moa originally told Utah he was locked in with them, but then agents got involved and Tennessee won out. Moa was quick to shut down that speculation over the weekend:
— Salesi Moa (@salesimoa8) August 1, 2025
5-star athlete Salesi Moa can't wait to play for the Tennessee football team
That report, which Utah supporters are discussing all over social media, stated that Moa essentially ghosted the Utah coaching staff as well. This is something the youngster took issue with, sharing the 'cap' emoji on Twitter to let everyone know that this wasn't how things went down.
Keep in mind too that Moa's father played for Utah and the family has a close connection with the university. Do we really think that they were just going to disrespect the Utes like this? Come on, that'd just be silly on their part.
Regardless of what's being said online, the fact of the matter here is that Moa committed to Tennessee and it's a huge get for Josh Heupel and his staff. He becomes the third 5-star commit for the 2026 class, joining quarterback Faizon Brandon and offensive tackle Gabriel Osenda.
The Vols are still working to land 5-stars Savion Hiter and Tristen Keys as well. Moa is expected to play offense in Knoxville, giving Heupel another exciting pass-catcher to look forward to once '26 gets here. Again, this is a tremendous addition for the class for Heupel and a bit of a step back for Utah. Its fans can be upset all they want, but Moa will be SEC-bound for his college ball.