First it was Notre Dame that Tennessee football had to worry about. Now, Brent Venables and Oklahoma are looking to make life rough for the Vols? That appears to be the case, as Vols legacy Cooper Witten, one of the top prospects in the country for 2027, keeps hearing from the Sooners.
Witten is planning on making his way to Knoxville for the Week 3 tilt with Georgia, but he's also set to take multiple other trips to other campuses. This includes a return trip to Norman, which he's clearly quite excited about. Oklahoma is making Witten a top priority, which is not good at all for Josh Heupel and his staff:
5-star Tennessee commit locked in with Josh Heupel and working OT to change body
Rivals No. 1 2027 LB Cooper Witten sets Oklahoma return visit, talks high interest in playing for Brent Venables and the Sooners here: https://t.co/Vn5khAIzFP pic.twitter.com/5DEcYveYCl
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) August 25, 2025
Tennessee football losing out on 5-star LB Cooper Witten to Oklahoma would be a nightmare
As you can see from that post from Rivals' Steve Wiltfong, Witten has been in close contact with Venables and he's loving what he's hearing from Oklahoma. This needs to serve as a wake-up call to Heupel, as plenty of fans are dreaming of Witten rocking the same jersey that his dad did.
No one has forgotten about Jason Witten's fantastic playing days in Knoxville - he then went on to have a legendary career with the Dallas Cowboys, which will no question send him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. Yeah, the tight end was that good.
While the younger Witten is looking to live up to the family name on defense, it doesn't take away from the fact that he's a superstar talent and a generational one too. Witten is ranked five stars and the No. 1 linebacker in the country for several reasons.
As things stand, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and a handful of others have been showing him consistent love. Cooper Witten is yet to lock in all of his game day visits and he also hasn't released a set of finalists either. With him being a '27 prospect, there's plenty of time for him to start trimming things down. With that said, Heupel and the Vols need to do what it takes to make him feel like a top target. Losing him to anyone, especially an SEC rival, will sting beyond belief.