Tennessee football has landed Faizon Brandon, arguably the No. 1 quarterback in the 2026 class.

On Saturday, Brandon committed to the Vols after receiving scholarship offers from virtually every power conference program in college football. He ultimately chose Tennessee over Alabama, LSU and North Carolina State.

It continues the Vols’ streak of luring elite quarterbacks, beginning with Nico Iamaleava.

Brandon’s ranking is up for debate. But at least one recruiting service, 247Sports, rates him as a five-star prospect and the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class. Other services have him slightly lower albeit still elite.

Brandon is a 6-foot-4, 195-pounder from Greensboro, North Carolina. He still has two seasons remaining in high school, so he can’t sign a national letter of intent until December 2025.

Last season, he passed for 3,026 yards, 36 TDs and three interceptions for Grimsley High. And he rushed for 528 yards and nine TDs.

Brandon’s pledge is a major victory for Tennessee, which continues to stack top-rated quarterbacks under coach Josh Heupel. He is a former Heisman Trophy runner-up, national championship quarterback at Oklahoma and now a quarterback guru as a coach.

Vols land fifth straight elite quarterback under Josh Heupel
Brandon is ranked the No. 4 quarterback and No. 31 prospect overall in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports Composite, which combines the ratings of the leading recruiting services.

Notably, he is rated a five-star quarterback and the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class in the 247Sports ratings alone without factoring in those other recruiting sites. On3.com also ranks Brandon as the No. 1 quarterback. ESPN and Rivals.com rank him as the No. 4 and No. 8 quarterback, respectively.

Tennessee has landed one of the top quarterbacks in five consecutive recruiting classes under Heupel, counting three signees and two committed players who cannot yet sign.

In 2022, the Vols signed four-star Tayven Jackson, who was ranked the No. 13 quarterback in his class by 247Sports Composite. He transferred to Indiana after one season with the Vols.

Iamaleava was a five-star recruit and the No. 2 quarterback in the 2023 class. He was the Citrus Bowl MVP in his first start last season, and he’ll be QB1 as a redshirt freshman in 2024.

Four-star prospect Jake Merklinger was the No. 11 quarterback in the 2024 class. He is entering his freshman season with the Vols.