BRUIN TO VOL: Elite Edge Carter Gooden Flips To Tennessee
Image: Carter Gooden/Instagram
By Aidan Sidoti
Tennessee scored a massive flip on National Signing Day Eve as elite four-star edge rusher Carter Gooden announced he has flipped his commitment from UCLA to the Volunteers, per Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett.
Gooden originally committed to the Bruins in July over Boston College, Penn State, North Carolina, and Virginia.
After the firing of UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster, the door opened for other programs to make their push.
Gooden scheduled an official visit to Vanderbilt the weekend of Nov. 22, seeing the Commodores dominate Kentucky, and followed that up with an official trip to Knoxville this past weekend for Tennessee’s 45-24 loss to Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound mauler is ranked as the No. 90 overall prospect nationally and the No. 1 player in Massachusetts.
Playing at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., Gooden has been a dominant force in New England prep football.
Originally hailing from Canada, he capped his senior campaign by being named New England Lineman of the Year and helped Tabor Academy secure its second straight New England championship.
Gooden’s flip gives Tennessee one of the premier defensive prospects in the 2026 cycle and continues the momentum for defensive line coach Rodney Garner, who has stacked multiple high-profile commitments in recent weeks.
