The far-reaching efforts of University of Tennessee football recruiting now extend to Austria.
Luca Wolf is a 6-foot-5, 256-pound freshman tight end from Vienna who arrived in Knoxville as a three-star prospect from the NFL Academy in London, and there was a Chattanooga-area connection that made it all possible.
This is Wolf’s second attempt at football in the United States. He played his sophomore season at Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School in Baltimore before returning to Europe because he couldn’t afford to stay.
“I grew up playing soccer,” Wolf said during a news conference that followed Thursday’s second preseason practice. “I’m from Europe, and that’s the standard over there. Then when I started playing basketball, I knew I wanted to go to the States to play at a high level with the best of the best. When I went to Baltimore to play at a private school, the football coach came up to me and said, ‘I’ve seen the way you play, and I’ve seen the way you grab rebounds and the way you box out.’
“He said I should start playing football and that I could get some opportunities. I didn’t know anything about football, but I’m never scared of a new challenge.”
Tennessee players had Friday off and will resume practicing Saturday and Sunday.
The NFL Academy offered Wolf a full scholarship, and he said his instant success in London led to a “D1 Luca” nickname. That’s also when the Chattanooga-area connection came into play, because former Calhoun High School and University of Georgia receiver Kris Durham works at the NFL Academy and contacted fourth-year Volunteers tight end coach Alex Abeln.
“Kris reached out to me after Luca’s junior year and just said, ‘Hey, I think I’ve got one for you,'” Abeln said Thursday. “He was planning on bringing him to camp over the summer, but he ended up being offered by Cal on his official visit, so we really didn’t get to put eyes on him the way things unfolded for us, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. We watched his first three games last year, and they’re not playing the Frankfurt Red Hens.
“They’re playing Edgewater, the Hun School and IMG (Academy), and some of the things he was able to do with this body at his size was really impressive and did not come off as just a complete project. There was a foundation laid there that made it really easy, and then you started talking to the kid as it got real and got to know what kind of person he is. That part of it was just impressive.”
Wolf had committed to Cal in June of 2025 but took an official visit to Tennessee on Halloween weekend and watched the Vols come up short to Oklahoma, 33-27. It was the first live football game Wolf had ever attended, and he switched his commitment from the Golden Bears to the Vols.
He wound up signing early as the nation’s No. 33 tight end and the No. 604 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
“I’m very proud to be Austrian and being one of the few international players and really the only player from Europe, especially Austria, here on the team,” Wolf said. “I take pride in where I come from, and I take pride in how I was raised and the culture I was around.”
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There have been seven players from Austria who reached the NFL, including two kickers who won Super Bowls: Toni Fritsch (Dallas Cowboys) and Ray Wersching (San Francisco 4ers). No tight end has ever made it.
The Vols signed another NFL Academy tight end, Nigeria’s Emmanuel Okoye, in 2023, but he played sparingly and is now at Cal. Abeln had a lot of praise for Okoye and is confident in Wolf, who also competed in boxing, swimming and volleyball before turning to football.
“I think he’s absolutely given himself a chance to be a real contributor this fall,” Abeln said. “Obviously, we won’t find out until pads come on, but mentally he’s so mature and so smart and knows the game at a much higher level than the last couple NFL Academy guys we’ve been around.”
Said Wolf: “I’m blessed to have the opportunity to play for such a big program with an amazing coaching staff. I’m willing to help this team any way I can, and I’m just thankful they believe in a kid from across the pond.”
Future FCS foes
Tennessee will continue playing Football Championship Subdivision foes for the foreseeable future inside Neyland Stadium, with the Vols scheduled to face Furman next month, Tennessee State next year, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in both 2028 and 2029, UT Martin in 2030, and Austin Peay in 2031.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.