Tennessee Vols hold off late charge from Texas Longhorns to land potential impact four-star 2026 recruit from the Peach State on Tuesday

Rouse has a long frame to work into at 6'3", 205 pounds.  He checks in as the #100 overall recruit in the On3/Rivals industry rankings, the #7 linebacker, and the #10 player in the state of Georgia for the 2026 cycle.  He held offers from several notable schools, including Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida State, South Carolina, Arizona State, and several others.  

Rouse becomes the second notable linebacker recruit inside the last week for Josh Heupel for the 2026 class, for which LB coach William Inge deserves a lot of credit.  Heupel secured the commitment last week from Jackson, MS linebacker TJ White, the #80 overall player, #5 linebacker, and #5 player in the state of Mississippi.  As such, Tennessee has a couple of young and promising linebackers to develop in the years to come. 

The commitment of Rouse gave Tennessee's 2026 class a nice boost up from #15 to #13 in the On3/Rivals ream recruiting rankings, leaping past Penn State and Florida.