Tennessee Football Commit Joel Wyatt Shining in New Role After Position Change

Tennessee football commit Joel Wyatt had a strong showing for Oakland High School as two of the top high school football programs in the state of Tennessee scrimmaged on Friday evening as McCallie traveled to play the Patriots a couple of weeks before the first week of the regular season.

During the scrimmage, he was a weapon on both sides of the ball, hauling in a long touchdown reception as a receiver and using his length to help stifle a prolific opposing offense from his safety position.

DEFINING HIS POSITION

Wyatt is a ultra-versatile prospect, boasting experience at quite literally every single position that does not have him putting his hand in the dirt.

The coaching staff at Tennessee has liked him at different positions in the past, but shifted toward recruiting him as a big safety, securing answers to his positional questions at the next level and getting him to lock in his commitment, and he will focus in on that role during his senior season at Oakland High School this year.

Despite standing at a towering 6-foot-4 frame, he has the athleticism necessary to hold up as an oversized safety and that was on full display in a battle of state champions in the largest TSSAA public and private school classifications.

His skillset probably serves him best as a lurking safety who is given the freedom to make plays on the ball, especially while in the air, and the Patriots are allowing for him to do that for a significant amount of the game in addition to picking up receiving options in the slot in man-to-man coverage.

BREAKING: Versatile 2026 four-star athlete recruit Joel Wyatt will be playing his senior season at Oakland

Wyatt is a tough matchup all over the field with his length and athleticism and gives the Patriots another big time playmaker heading into this season pic.twitter.com/4pewxDrSl5
— Shayne Pickering (@shaynep_media) July 17, 2025

EXPECTED OFFENSIVE IMPACT

It was no secret that Wyatt wanted to be able to make plays on the ball no matter which side of the ball he was going to be playing in college and a large part of that can be credited to his success as a receiver previously at The Webb School.

Oakland, an offense that is traditionally based around a version of the wing-t, should have an intentional passing layer to their offense this season with the addition of several offensive weapons and if the scrimmage was any indication, Wyatt will have the opportunity to make some massive plays down the field as a receiver.

His frame earns him the obvious role of being an important red zone target, but his long strides give him the ability to beat a defender vertically and that was on full display Friday evening as he worked behind the entire defense and hauled in a long touchdown pass early to set the tone for the Patriots.

TRANSLATING TO TENNESSEE

Often times, when a player of this type of versatility transfers in to a new program, that coaching staff will simply slot them in to the biggest need on the team, but head coach Kevin Creasy is not afraid to double down on a strength, and is being creative with how he uses him on the back end which should help the development arc of Wyatt with him getting to focus on the role he will play in the defense at Tennessee against the top public school competition in the state.

Joel Wyatt is a prospect with an exciting combination of traits that the coaching staff at Tennessee valued highly and after watching the scrimmage between two premier high school football programs, it is clear that his new coaching staff will be putting him in a position to develop and mature for the role he will be playing at the collegiate level which should have Vols fans excited to see him this fall on Friday nights.