Josh Heupel cannot be happy about this. While his Tennessee Volunteers are very much in the mix to get four-star tight end Malik Howard to commit to them in-state, another program is out there on the periphery is trying to overtake them. Up until very recently, the Oregon Ducks were not seen as a player for Howard, but he did have a recent visit with them. Oregon left a strong impression on him...
So much so that Howard shared the following to Rivals' Chad Simmons about his Oregon recruitment.
“If they keep recruiting me the way they are right now, I don’t think they’re too late.”
If Oregon is now forcing its way into the conversation, these are the seven schools vying for Howard.
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Miami Hurricanes
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Oregon Ducks
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Vanderbilt Commodores
Tennessee is an in-state school for Howard, but Vanderbilt is also not that far away from him either...
Oregon has emerged as a serious contender for 4-star TE Malik Howard after a big visit, @ChadSimmons_ reports🦆
— Rivals (@Rivals) May 11, 2026
“If they keep recruiting me the way they are right now, I don’t think they’re too late.”
Read: https://t.co/FMm0XWeVmI pic.twitter.com/sVdreFmjzB
According to the 247Sports Composite, Howard is the No. 9 player from Tennessee, the No. 11 tight end in the nation, and the No. 216 overall prospect in his class. The Oak Ridge native has official visits lined up with Alabama on May 29, Tennessee on June 5, and Notre Dame on June 12. Because Vanderbilt is in-state as well, the Commodores should remain in the mix to land him until the very end.
While Oregon has a ways to go to catch up to even Miami and Texas A&M, there is a chance it might...
Tennessee pressured by Oregon for Malik Howard's 4-star commitment
Although it is still too early to tell where Howard is going to end up playing his college football at, Tennessee remains one of the likelier candidates to land him. Not only is he visiting Knoxville, but he hails from Tennessee as well. Given that Josh Heupel is an offensive-minded head coach, that might give the Vols even more of a leg up on in-state rival Vanderbilt, should the Commodores up the ante...
However, Oregon is a place where impressionable recruits often find themselves committing to. It has to be the jerseys, the Nike money, or something. Oregon does win a lot of games, but the Ducks have never won a national championship for a reason. Something like four million people live in-state. It is hard to build a traditional power when you do not have a built-in recruiting base like Tennessee does.
That being said, Tennessee should still view Oregon as a viable threat to come in and land Howard. If that were the case, that could be so devastating for Heupel moving forward. He may have brought the program back to a respectable level of stability, but the Vols' playoff run is about to be from two years ago. Dan Lanning may favor defense, but he knows his stuff when it comes to offensive coordinators.
Ultimately, Oregon feels like the one school that Tennessee cannot afford to allow Howard to commit to. Alabama is in the region. Vanderbilt is in-state. Notre Dame recruits nationally. As for Miami and Texas A&M, they have a reputation for out-bidding everyone. With Oregon not even in the mix for him up until very recently, it would be a shocking upset for Tennessee to blow a sizable lead to the Ducks.
Vols fans should still like their chances of landing Howard out of Oak Ridge, but Oregon looms large.
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