Nation's No. 1 IOL, Five-Star LSU Football Target Has Tigers Firmly in the Mix

But for the Virginia native, it's the bond that he's building with offensive line coach Brad Davis that is setting the tone in his recruitment process.

"Definitely Coach Davis. Coach Davis is one of the greatest humans that I’ve ever talked to," Gray told Tennessee Volunteers On SI. "He gives off a father figure.

"He hopes the kids grow as men, and that is very important with me coming into college at 18, so to have someone like that to help you develop as an NFL player, but also as a great human being, a great husband, a great father, and that is just something I want.

"LSU kind of speaks for itself. It’s a winning program. They do everything to develop linemen perfectly, so that’s good and they check all the boxes.”

According to sources, the LSU Tigers are a "team to watch" for Gray as he begins winding down his recruitment process this fall.

LSU has already received multiple predictions for Gray to land in the Tigers' 2026 Recruiting Cycle, but it's set to be a battle against multiple heavy-hitters.

Gray has been tied to the South Carolina Gamecocks on multiple occasions with Shane Beamer's program pushing all the right buttons.

“They have been the longest relationship possible. I think the most important thing to me is how everyone remained the same," Gray said.

"You know way back, they were a five or six win team and now they are scratching the surface for playoffs and not once did they change anything that they are doing with their culture, so I think that’s been the biggest thing for me and Coach Beamer is an amazing people that you’d want to play for.”

But the Tennessee Volunteers, Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson Tigers are also firmly in the race for Gray this offseason.

He's meticulously navigating his recruitment process and has shown he's in no rush to make a commitment decision.

Gray broke down the other contenders:

Ohio State: “ A winning program. You can see the reason they have been able to develop linemen. I think it is huge that they got Coach Bowen he was a guy from Virginia Tech, you know we have a great relationship so you can kind of see the way Coach Ryan Day sets up his program and it’s big, and he spoke about it in an interview, you know mental health is important.

"It gets lost in this college football world that these are still kids at the end of the day, so It’s great to have a head coach understand like that, and very vocal about it. The biggest thing is that they develop and win. It’s a big/huge program that everyone loves.”

Tennessee: “Oh, easily it definitely starts with the guys in the O-Line room. Starting with Coach Elarbee. I’d definitely say that’s the main reason for me, and I mean Coach Heup (Josh Heupel), a guy like that running the program, you know, it kind of speaks for itself.

"Tennessee has been building for years, and they are only scratching the surface. They are getting guys like David Sanders and (JB) Shabazz and all of those guys, you can just see they are going to continue the up trend.”

Clemson: “Definitely, I would have to say Coach Sweeney’s longevity there. Him bringing in Coach Luke was a big part in it as well. Coach Sweeney does everything the right way.

"He is going to fight for his players, so that has been a big thing, and Coach Luke is a fantastic human being. Outside of football, he’s an even better coach, so it’s hard to say no to something like that.”

Gray will continue evaluating the contenders in his process with the LSU Tigers emerging as a favorite down the stretch.

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