Tennessee Football Misses on Running Back Target During Early Signing Day

The Tennessee Volunteers miss on their running back target in the 2026 class during the Early Signing Day period.

Nov 22, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel looks on against the Florida Gators during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers had a huge 2026 signing day class on Wednesday, and they landed a large majority of the guys that they needed to land, as they are one of the better teams in the nation when it comes to recruiting on signing day; however, the day wasn't all picture-perfect.

The Tennessee Volunteers missed out on multiple targets that they were hopeful to land, and the Tennessee Volunteers missed on arguably their top target for quite some time at a position that they desperately need. The Tennessee Volunteers needed to land a running back on Signing Day, but they fell short after being in the picture as of the early part of the day. But they eventually fell behind two teams in the race.

The player that they fell short on is one of the better players in the state of Georgia. The name of that player is Amari Latimer. Those who don't know about Latimer, he is a former Wisconsin Badgers commit, who has been one of the better players in the state of Georgia in his final season, as he has led Sandy Creek to a great position at this time.

Latimer is a force on teh football field, and is someone that many teams were recruiting heavily. This includes the Tennessee Volunteers, the Miami Hurricanes, and the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was committed to the Badgers on Early Signing Day, but he decided to flip, but not to any of those teams. He flipped his commitment from the Badgers to the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Mountaineers have a lot of people who are near the top of the list in terms of their commits in recent years, and Latimer is one of them.

Here is what the Mountaineers will be getting according to (Andrew Ivins)

Andrew Ivins Evaluation on Amari Latimer

Brooks Austin

-Stocky running back that keeps runs on the track as he builds steam and rarely gets caught doing too much.
-Tipped the scales at just over 225 pounds in advance of his senior year and will arrive at the college of his choice with ready-to-play mass.
-Heavy behind the pads and is a true downhill force that can ram his way through contact and extend plays with his strength and balance.
-Moves with patience as he follows his keys before shifting gears. Can get rolling when he finds a lane, but he isn’t going to win every foot race.
-Likely to offer true three-down capabilities on Saturdays as he has proven to be an efficient pass catcher at the prep level and has the weight to, in theory, chip large defenders.
-Owns a promising multi-sport profile for the position.
-Projects as a potential workhouse for a Power Four offense that could also thrive in a committee approach as a short-yardage mallet.

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