Tennessee suffered a tough loss on the recruiting trail on Friday afternoon.
The Vols lost 4-star tight end Carson Sneed to North Carolina. Sneed had been committed to Tennessee for more than a year, but is now expected to continue his football career in Chapel Hill instead. Sneed also said he will be shutting down his recruitment following this decision.
He shared his commitment with Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett on Friday afternoon:
Sneed was one of Tennessee’s earliest commitments in the class of 2026. Listed at 6-foot-6, he has the potential to be an early contributor for Bill Belichick and North Carolina after he gets to campus next year.
Sneed is regarded as the No. 404 overall player and the No. 18 tight end in the country for this recruiting cycle, per 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s also the No. 13 player from the state of Tennessee.
Sneed attends Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville. Even with this decommitment, the Vols still have 8 in-state commitments in the class of 2026. They signed 7 high school recruits from Tennessee throughout the entire 2025 recruiting cycle. In 2024, that number was 6 — so the Vols have been slowly increasing their presence in the state of Tennessee under Josh Heupel.
Calling all Tennessee residents! Searching for a new sportsbook? Here’s all you need to know about the best TN sports betting apps on the market in 2025!
As for North Carolina, the Tar Heels are now up to 34 commits in the class of 2026. That’s an exceptionally high number, especially considering there’s still several months to go before the 2026 cycle comes to an end. The class ranks No. 18 nationally, per 247Sports Composite rankings.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
