Tennessee misses out on 5-star EDGE after so many signs pointed to the Vols

This is a bit of a curveball and not one that Tennessee football fans were hoping for. Over the last few weeks, updates came in that sure made it seem like 5-star EDGE Tristian Givens was going to commit to the Vols. He would have been a monster get for the staff.

However, a bit of a surprise arrived on Saturday, with Josh Heupel and Co. getting some bad news. That news of course is that the talented pass-rusher will be taking his talents to Texas A&M, with him just committing to the Aggies. This is massive for Mike Elko, but definitely a bummer for Heupel:

5-star EDGE Tristian Givens has committed to Texas A&M over Tennessee football

At the end, this was a three-team race between Tennessee, Washington and Texas A&M. Givens took his official visit to Tennessee last weekend and things went pretty darn great for him. Heupel continued to sell to the youngster that he could be the next James Pearce Jr. for this team.

However, Givens packed his bags and is on his official visit in College Station this weekend and clearly the Aggies rolled out the red carpet for him. Elko and his coaches were able to make such a big impact on him that the 6-3, 215-pounder revealed his decision before leaving town.

Originally, Givens was set to announce his commitment live with 247Sports next week, but he changed his mind and decided he didn't want to waste any more time in revealing his college choice. This is not what Tennessee was expecting.

Givens is ranked five stars, the No. 3 EDGE in the country, No. 4 player from Georgia and No. 23 prospect nationally for the 2026 class. Plenty of people in Knoxville were dreaming of the Vols winning this recruiting battle, but it just wasn't meant to be this time around. Time for Heupel and Co. to go to Plan B at the EDGE spot.