Tennessee Vols trailing Ohio State in battle for elite 5-star recruit

The Tennessee Vols have made 2025 five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench one of their top recruiting priorities, but they face some tough competition for the elite recruit. 

Ffrench, 6-foot-1/185 lbs from Jacksonville, FL, is rated in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 3 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 18 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class. 

According to On3's Chad Simmons, Ohio State is the program that's currently "trending" for the Ffrench. 

“All of these official visits will be important for Ffrench, because Ohio State is the school that’s currently trending,” said Simmons. “The Buckeyes were firmly in the mix before he decommitted from Alabama in January and momentum has picked up since then. Everyone else is playing catchup with the Big Ten program at the moment."

Ffrench, who told On3 that he plans to commit in August, will take an official visit to Tennessee on June 13. 

Simmons noted that Texas and Tennessee are the two programs that loom as the biggest threats to Ohio State in the battle for Ffrench. 

One of the reasons that the Vols are strongly in the mix is because of 2025 five-star Vols quarterback commit George MacIntyre, who is working hard to bring Ffrench to Rocky Top. 

"George MacIntyre is working hard to recruit Ffrench to Knoxville," pointed out Simmons. "Right now, however, Ohio State is setting the pace and other schools are working to make up ground.”

Tennessee currently has eight players committed to its 2025 recruiting class, which is ranked No. 15 in the nation (per 247Sports).