Tennessee fans will love how 5-star QB Faizon Brandon spent his Monday morning after committing to the Vols

The Tennessee Vols made a huge recruiting splash this past weekend by landing a commitment from 2026 five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon.

Brandon, 6-foot-4/197 lbs from Greensboro, NC, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class.

Committing to an SEC program is obviously a massive moment for any young athlete.

But for Brandon, who just turned 16 years old last month, it's only the beginning of the journey, which is why he's not resting on his laurels now that he's committed to Tennessee.

Darryl Brown, Brandon's head coach at Grimsley High School, joined 104.5 The Zone's Ramon, Kayla, and Will on Monday and he pointed out that Brandon was in the building early on Monday to get in some extra work before practice.

"Obviously as a quarterback, he's the leader of our offense," said Brown . "But we need him to be the leader of our team. In the locker room, when he's on the sideline, when our defense is on the field. And really just continuing to mature and grow in those areas. And I know he will because he wants to and he works at it. That's not something we just tell him that we want him do. We try to give him tools and ways to help him do that.

"He grasps all of that stuff. He's a guy that's hungry. I mean, he's here this morning, 6:30 in the morning...in the weight room and getting work in with our offensive skill guys before we head out to the practice field in a few minutes."

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It's easy to see why Tennessee went all-in on Brandon before the North Carolina native was even of legal driving age. He clearly has an elite competitive nature (which is a must for any Josh Heupel-coached quarterback) and he knows that committing to Tennessee doesn't guarantee future success. Brandon's invested in his current teammates. And winning at Grimsley is his current focus.

Elite young players separate themselves from the pack not just via their talent/athleticism but also by their work ethic. And it's clear that Brandon has the work ethic to thrive at the next level.

Related: Former Tennessee Vols HC Jeremy Pruitt makes honest admission about returning to coach at the high school level