4-star recruit makes strong statement about Vols assistant coach after committing to Tennessee

The Tennessee Vols’ recruiting hot streak continued on Monday evening when 2026 four-star tight end Carson Sneed announced his commitment to UT.

Sneed, 6-foot-5/235 lbs from Nashville, TN, is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 8 tight end in the nation and the No. 5 player in the state of Tennessee. He’s the second 2026 recruit to commit to Tennessee since Saturday, joining five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon (the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 class according to 247Sports).

It wasn’t a surprise that Sneed committed to the Vols. For starters, the Vols nailed his recruitment. Sneed told On3 that Tennessee’s coaching staff recruited his family as hard as they recruited him.

And speaking of Sneed’s family, his older brother, Dayton, is a redshirt freshman wide receiver at Tennessee.

Of course, Sneed didn’t commit to the Vols just because his brother is there or because the coaching staff involved his family.

Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln, who is entering his second year as an on-field assistant for the Vols, made quite an impression on Sneed.

After committing to the Vols, Sneed told Rivals.com that he thinks Abeln is the best tight ends coach in the nation.

“Coach Abeln is the best tight ends coach in America and will develop me the best way possible,” said Sneed.

That’s quite a statement from Sneed. But it could end up being accurate. Ablen, who replaced Alex Golesh as UT’s tight ends coach, was playing SEC football at Missouri just seven years ago. He had never held an on-field coaching position until getting promoted by Josh Heupel to tight ends coach ahead of the 2023 season.

In just a short amount of time, Abeln has proven to be an elite recruiter who can land some of the top talent in the nation (he just flipped 2025 four-star tight end Da’Saahn Brame from Oregon last month). He also coached two tight ends that are currently fighting for a spot on an NFL 53-man roster during training camp in Jacob Warren (New England Patriots) and McCallan Castles (Philadelphia Eagles). Abeln is yet another Heupel assistant who gets promoted and quickly proves he belongs in the SEC (joining wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle).

I don’t think anyone will be questioning Heupel’s hiring decisions anytime soon. He’s batting 1.000 with his hires so far.