Josh Heupel sends message to Big Ten by flipping in-state LB to the Tennessee Vols

It's getting hard to keep up with the recruiting wins for Tennessee Volunteers coach Josh Heupel and his staff. Thursday turned out to be a day to remember, with things getting started with 2026 4-star wideout Tyreek King committing to the Vols.

Well, that wasn't the only big news on campus for the day. On Thursday night, linebacker Brenden Anes took to social media to announce that he was officially flipping his commitment from Wisconsin to Tennessee.

This wasn't a quick decision, either. Ames had been Wisconsin-bound for a while, giving the Badgers his verbal way back in January - he confirmed things during an official visit in June. However, once Heupel and Co. decided to up their efforts on the 6-2, 220-pounder from Franklin (about three hours from Knoxville), it felt like the writing was on the wall here:

In-state LB Brenden Anes flipped his commitment from Wisconsin to Tennessee

Anes took an unofficial visit to Tennessee on Oct. 12 and it felt like that's when things started moving in the right direction for him. He clearly had high interest in sticking around and playing for his home team, which is exactly the opportunity Heupel has given him.

Anes is ranked 3 stars and the No. 61 LB in the country according to the 247Sports Composite. He picked up scholarships this cycle from Tennessee, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Duke, Wake Forest and several other programs.

This is also a bit of a message from Heupel to the rest of the country, and the Big Ten for that matter: don't recruit in-state kids and expect the Vols to just let things go down without a fight. Each season, there are some brilliant playmakers in Tennessee who the Vols don't want to see leave.

On Thursday alone, both the new pledges were in-state prospects. Moving forward, Heupel is going to prioritize keeping kids home, especially when programs from the Big Ten try to steal them away. Sorry, that's not going to happen. Not under Heupel's watch.