Tag: Tennessee

Tennessee made a big splash with an elite defensive player from the Midwest. Four-star defensive end Mariyon Dye announced his commitment to the program on Friday.

The Elkhart (Ind.) Central defender is the 16th known commitment for Tennessee’s class. The class sits inside the top 10 of the Rivals team recruiting rankings.

Dye is a blue-chip defensive lineman and those players are worth their weight in gold in today’s college football. He picked Tennessee over Purdue, Michigan, Miami and Ohio State. So coach Josh Heupel’s program won out over some heavyweights in the sport plus the home state school that put up a good effort.

Tennessee has been on a roll during the last week. Dye is the third commitment that the Vols have received in that span. He joins five-star offensive lineman Douglas Utu and four-star defensive back Tre Poteat in committing to the Vols within the last seven days.

The SEC program is building a strong class in the trenches. The Indiana native is the fifth defensive lineman that Tennessee has added to its 2025 class. Four-star Ethan Utley, four-star Jayden Loftin, three-star Nic Moore and three-star Charles House are all defensive linemen heading to Rocky Top.

Loading up on the defensive line is never a bad idea and Tennessee is doing just that in the 2025 cycle.

Dye is a do-it-all defensive end prospect. He’s got great size (6-5, 265) to hold up against the run. His strength at the point of attack allows him to shed blockers quickly to stop ball carriers.

Where I think he really shines is in pass rush situations. At his size you might think that he wouln’t be an asset in that area but he shows a great ability to quickly beat offensive lineman. He does it with both power moves and speed.

Moving into college Dye will needs to play with better leverage. He’ll also have give max effort more consistently. However, if the Tennessee coaches clean that up they could have a future All-SEC player on its hands.

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