{"id":79498,"date":"2026-04-06T01:18:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498"},"modified":"2026-04-06T01:18:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:18:45","slug":"tennessee-targets-4-star-lb-omarii-sanders-for-potential-flip-from-vanderbilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt<\/h1>\n

After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach, Josh Heupel led the Volunteers to an 8-5 overall record, 4-4 in\u00a0SEC\u00a0matchups and finished with a Music City Bowl loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini.<\/p>\n

As Heupel hits the offseason, ready to regroup, he and his staff have begun to heat up on the recruiting trail. Tennessee’s\u00a02027 recruiting class\u00a0ranks 14th in the nation and seventh in the SEC with five commitments. Despite already landing three-star linebacker JP Peace, the team isn’t done building the position up.<\/p>\n

Omarii Sanders, a 6-foot-3.5, 210-pound linebacker out of Nashville, Tennessee, committed to the\u00a0Vanderbilt\u00a0Commodores on Nov. 29. He is a big addition, ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 2 linebacker and the No. 52 player in the nation, according to\u00a0Rivals Industry Rankings.<\/p>\n

Last year for Franklin Road Academy, he racked up\u00a073 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. After an impressive junior season, teams aren’t giving up on a potential flip.<\/p>\n

In an article from Rivals’ director of recruiting Chad Simmons, he\u00a0notes\u00a0that the Volunteers are one team continuing to make a strong impression for Sanders.<\/p>\n

“Tennessee is making a strong push to flip one of the top commits in the Southeast,” Simmons wrote. “Four-star linebacker\u00a0Omarii Sanders, currently committed to\u00a0Vanderbilt, has locked in official visits with Tennessee and\u00a0Texas A&M\u00a0\u2014 and the Vols are trending.”<\/p>\n

With his official visit to Knoxville\u00a0scheduled\u00a0for June 5, Heupel and his staff are hoping to flip Sanders from Vanderbilt, giving them a big recruiting win over their in-state rival.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1713],"class_list":["post-79498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-omarii-sanders"],"yoast_head":"\nTennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iSport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Happiness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Happiness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Happiness\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b\"},\"headline\":\"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498\"},\"wordCount\":300,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/13027846.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Omarii Sanders\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Football\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498\",\"name\":\"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/13027846.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b\"},\"description\":\"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/13027846.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/13027846.webp\",\"width\":900,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?p=79498#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/\",\"name\":\"iSport\",\"description\":\"Internet Sport - Your Friendly Sport Mouthpiece\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b\",\"name\":\"Happiness\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Happiness\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/isport.com.ng\\\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport","description":"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport","og_description":"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,","og_url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498","og_site_name":"iSport","article_published_time":"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Happiness","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Happiness","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498"},"author":{"name":"Happiness","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b"},"headline":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt","datePublished":"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498"},"wordCount":300,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","keywords":["Omarii Sanders"],"articleSection":["Football"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498","url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498","name":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt - iSport","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","datePublished":"2026-04-06T01:18:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b"},"description":"After a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the\u00a0Tennessee Volunteers\u00a0have taken a step back. In his fifth season as head coach,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","width":900,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79498#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tennessee Targets 4-Star LB Omarii Sanders for Potential Flip from Vanderbilt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/","name":"iSport","description":"Internet Sport - Your Friendly Sport Mouthpiece","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/59224963a139009b7508cb21433c1c1b","name":"Happiness","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9f42df7b8d55b729dccc69c76521620332fd30cb8e9caea5dd1effbba5682c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Happiness"},"url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?author=6"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/13027846.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79500,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79498\/revisions\/79500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}