While we can't say we're fully shocked by this news, it doesn't mean that it's not a major setback for the Tennessee football team and Josh Heupel. Unfortunately, a 4-star pledge who was set to have a bright future in Knoxville has decided to back off his pledge.
On Wednesday night, 4-star wideout Tyran Evans announced on social media that he was decommitting from the Vols. Just a couple of weeks ago this was not something that people even thought would be a possibility. However, Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes have gone all-in to flip him and it looks like that may be in the cards moving forward:
After a lot of prayer and thought, I’ve decided to decommit from the University of Tennessee.
— Ty🌟 (@TyranEvans6) June 19, 2025
Thank you to Coach Heupel, Coach Kelsey Pope, Coach Joey Halzle, and the entire Vol staff for believing in me. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family.
4-star WR Tyran Evans has decommitted from the Tennessee football team
This is a bummer for the Vols, but it sure felt like things were going to go down this way after Cristobal and Co. were able to get the speedster on campus last weekend for an official visit. Clearly that trip went quite well for Evans, which led to the breaking news this week.
He's now definitely going to be on 'commit watch' for the Canes, as Cristobal will likely work quickly to get things across the line with him. Throughout his recruitment, Evans has picked up offers from more than 20 programs. He initially committed to UT in early January.
So, what's next for Heupel after this rough update came in? Well, the hope is that he'll be able to flip 5-star playmaker Tristen Keys, the No. 1 wideout in the country. Vols fans everywhere would gladly take it if the Evans decommitment means Tennessee ups its efforts in going after Keys.
Keys was just in Knoxville last weekend for his official visit and things went pretty dang sweet for him. Heupel and his staff made an impact on the youngster, but he remains LSU-bound for now. Evans was supposed to be Tennessee-bound next summer, but we now know that won't be the case.