Watch: Tennessee DL signee Carter Gooden's Senior season highlights

Tennessee flipped four-star Tabor Academy standout defensive lineman Carter Gooden away from UCLA on signing day. In the end, the recruitment ultimately came down to the Vols and Vanderbilt, and Tennessee won out with a late official visit in the process.

Gooden is rated as the No.149 overall prospect and the No.14 overall defensive line prospect in the 2026 cycle. He recently posted his senior season highlights on HUDL, which you can watch in the video below.

“It was Tennessee because of their coaching staff,” Gooden told Volquest of what made the decision right for him. “I believe he has the ability to develop me into the best player and best possibility I can become. And they are a winning team with a great reputation of sending guys to the NFL. They win a lot of football games, chances at a national championship and that’s a program I want to be.”

So what put Tennessee over the top of UCLA and Vanderbilt?

“It was just everything,” Gooden said. “It was the first time I’ve got to see Tennessee, the program and school and atmosphere was amazing. Getting to meet the players and seeing how dedicated and focused they were on football and how dedicated the coaches are made me think it’s a great place for me.”

In talking to Rodney Garner, the sales pitch was simple and that’s development.

“His biggest sales pitch was that he sees that I have the measurables and the speed,” Gooden said. “That I have everything. I just need someone to refine my skills and make me into a better football player. He was saying how he can do that and how he has done that with players in the past. He gets them to the most success possible and I believe he can do that for me.”