Vols earn 2027 commitment from Phil Fulmer's grandson - ESPN

Tennessee's first commitment in the class of 2027 arrived on Monday with a famous family tie when linebacker prospect JP Peace, grandson of national champion head coach and former Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer, announced his commitment to the program.

Peace, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound defender from Knoxville (Tennessee) West High School, is the first member of coach Josh Heupel's 2027 class. Not currently ranked by ESPN, Peace earned a scholarship offer from Tennessee on May 12 and held offers from Florida State, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt prior to his commitment, which Peace announced on social media.

«Naturally, Tennessee was the leading school for him,» his father Robert, who played linebacker under Fulmer from 2000-03, told ESPN. «We encouraged him to visit other places and he did that. But Tennessee was the place for him and not just because of the family legacy here.»

A rising high school junior, Peace will arrive in 2027 with a deep football lineage, highlighted by the grandfather who played on Tennessee's offensive line from 1968-71, then rose to legendary status as the program's head coach from 1992 to 2008.

Fulmer guided the Vols to back-to-back SEC titles in 1997 and 1998 before leading Tennessee to the 1998 national title. All told, Fulmer won six SEC East titles with the Vols and compiled a record of 152-52 over 17 seasons. He later served as the school's athletic director from 2017-21.

Peace's father, the son of former Louisiana Tech coach Joe Raymond Peace, recorded 164 tackles across three seasons under Fulmer with the Vols, headlined by a 103-tackle season during his senior year in 2003. He later married Fulmer's oldest daughter Courtney in 2008.

Soon to be a third-generation