Three Reasons Faizon Brandon’s Commitment is Pivotal
Credit: 247 Sports
By Tucker Harlin
Tennessee landed five star 2026 quarterback Faizon Brandon out of Greensboro, NC on Saturday.
Brandon is considered the top player in the class by national recruiting services.
He is yet to begin his junior year at Grimsley High School, but Brandon’s commitment is impactful for a trio of reasons.
#1- Brandon is yet another Carolina Vol
North Carolina is a pivotal state in Tennessee football recruiting.
The Tar Heel State doesn’t have SEC football to offer, so the closest SEC programs to home for most high prospects in North Carolina are South Carolina, Georgia, or Tennessee.
In the 1990s, fan favorites such as Heath Shuler, Carl Pickens, Leonard Little, and Jay Graham haled from North Carolina.
Hendon Hooker, Jaylen Wright, and James Pearce are more contemporary examples of great Vols from the Tar Heel State.
Brandon has an opportunity to cement his legacy among the great Carolina Vols in Tennessee football history.
#2- Brandon is Josh Heupel’s third five star QB commitment
Josh Heupel has stacked high profile quarterback recruits year after year.
It started with Nico Iamaleava in the spring of 2022, and that was followed up by George MacIntyre in the winter of 2024. Just six months after MacIntyre’s commitment came Faizon Brandon’s.
The continuous recruitment of top tier quarterbacks is something that hasn’t been seen at Tennessee since the 1990s.
Clemson and Alabama are two recent examples of programs that have stacked high caliber quarterbacks and won national titles.
At Clemson, we saw Tajh Boyd bring the Tigers to national relevance, and then Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence brought them national titles.
Nick Saban didn’t have an elite quarterback on his hand until Jalen Hurts in 2016. Tua Tagovailoa won the title in 2017 with his second half heroics, and the Tide has seen more blue chips in Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe since.
Simply put, elite quarterback play is the recipe for success in modern college football.
3. Brandon can recruit for the staff
This is the most important reason Brandon’s commitment will boost the Tennessee football program.
Although they committed elsewhere, Nico Iamaleava was persistent in trying to convince Carnell Tate and Francis Mauigoa to come to Tennessee.
Right now, Ethan Utley and George MacIntyre are leading the charge in recruiting for the 2025 class, and they are fighting hard for David Sanders.
Remember how I said Brandon’s commitment was important because he is yet another Carolina Vol?
Sanders is from the Charlotte area and attends Providence Day School, Grant Williams’ alma mater. Grant has been active in recruiting Sanders, but a future teammate in Brandon could take that to another level.
Additionally, Brandon committed to Tennessee much earlier in the recruiting cycle than Iamaleava and MacInyre.
Those two committed the second semester of their junior years. Brandon committed before his junior year began.
So if Brandon is trying to be as active of a force as those two were and have been in the recruiting game, he can do that for two for two football seasons as opposed to one.
