Tennessee football lands four-star DT Isaiah Campbell

Four-star defensive tackleIsaiah Campbell, No. 38 in the 2025 ESPN 300, announced his commitment to Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon, picking the Vols over North Carolinaon the first day of the early signing period.

Campbell, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound defender from Durham, North Carolina, is ESPN's third-ranked defensive tackle prospect in the 2025 class.

Initially committed to Clemson, he pulled his pledge from theTigersin September and took visits to Tennessee and North Carolina before landing with the Vols. He joins five-star offensive tackleDavid Sanders(No. 5 in the ESPN 300) as Tennessee's second top-100 commit in coach Josh Heupel's fourth cycle with the program.

Campbell visited the Vols in October before taking trips to see both of his finalists last month.

In a narrow recruitment between Tennessee and North Carolina, Campbell told ESPN that relationships with Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner and Mack Brown's departure from the Tar Heels late last month helped seal his pledge to Heupel & Co.

"It was head-to-head -- it was like two race cars right at the finish line," Campbell said. "When the coaching change happened, the continuity of the program was not there anymore. After that, it was easy to land on Tennessee."

Campbell is now the top-ranked defender in a Tennessee defensive class that includes pledges from ESPN 300 linebackers Christian Gass (No. 136 in the ESPN 300) and Jaedon Harmon (No. 139), along with defensive tackle Ethan Utley (No. 154).

The Vols lost the pledge of three-star defensive tackle Darrion Smith on Wednesday following his flip to Auburn.

After Sanders, four-star quarterbackGeorge MacIntyre, ESPN's No. 8 pocket passer in the 2025 class, is the highest-rated offensive member in Tennessee's 2025 class.