Tennessee
Tennessee Football Lands Top 20 Spot in USA Today’s Post-Spring College Football Rankings | Rocky Top Insider
Spring football is well past wrapped up by now, with summer workouts standing in between now and training camp later in the fall. The 2026 college football season will be here before we know it as revamped rosters look to compete for the sport’s biggest prize next winter.
Tennessee Football has seen, and will see, plenty of major changes this offseason. For one, the Vols will have a new quarterback at the helm. Tennessee signal-caller Joey Aguilar didn’t win his court case for an additional year of eligibility, meaning that the Vols will roll into the season with a new starting quarterback. Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub are all in the mix for that spot.
Another big change for UT this offseason is a retooled defensive staff and roster. On the coaching side of things, Tennessee brought in Jim Knowles to serve as the Vols’ defensive coordinator after letting go of Tim Banks. Knowles opted to keep Rodney Garner and William Inge in their respective spots and rounded out his staff with co-DC and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, LEOs coach AJ Jackson, and cornerbacks coach Derek Jones. Tennessee has a few key returning starters on the defense, such as DL Daevin Hobbs, LB Arion Carter, and CB Ty Redmond, but the Vols also brought in several players through the portal to compete for starting and rotational spots.
With spring slates over with, USA Today decided to rank all 138 FBS programs heading into the summer. Paul Myerberg has Tennessee coming in at No. 18 in the country, one spot behind Arizona and one spot above Houston.
Tennessee lands as the eighth highest-ranked SEC team on the list, behind No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 Ole Miss, and No. 16 LSU. Other notable in-conference teams include No. 35 Vanderbilt, No. 38 Florida, No. 43 Missouri, and No. 94 Kentucky. The lowest-ranked SEC team is No. 109 Arkansas.
Based on 2025 win-loss records, Tennessee Football has the 20th-toughest schedule in the nation in 2026. Additionally, the Vols’ path is the 11th-toughest among SEC teams. Tennessee will have five home SEC games and four road SEC games this season as part of the conference’s new nine-game slate. The Vols will also hit the road to take on Georgia Tech in the second week of the season.
Here’s a look at the Vols’ schedule next fall:
- Sept. 5 – vs Furman
- Sept. 12 – at Georgia Tech
- Sept. 19 – vs Kennesaw State
- Sept. 26 – vs Texas
- Oct. 3 – vs Auburn
- Oct. 10 – at Arkansas
- Oct. 17 – vs Alabama
- Oct. 24 – at South Carolina
- Oct. 31 – OPEN
- Nov. 7 – vs Kentucky
- Nov. 14 – at Texas A&M
- Nov. 21 – vs LSU
- Nov. 28 – at Vanderbilt
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Some important questions will begin to be answered when Tennessee returns to the field for fall training camp in August. For one, which quarterback separates themselves from the pack and starts the first game of the season? Additionally, how quickly can Tennessee’s new-look roster pick up Jim Knowles’ defensive scheme?
One other important thing that’ll be happening behind the scenes is how Tennessee looks after a full offseason in Derek Owings’ strength and conditioning program. Owings joined Tennessee’s staff this offseason after helping Indiana win last year’s national championship, and is widely looked upon as one of, if not the best, in the business at what he does.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football offseason coverage.
Entering a three-game series at Kentucky, it appeared as if Tennessee baseball’s offense had turned a corner.
After scoring at least six runs in all but two of their last nine SEC games, there was reason to believe the inconsistencies that had previously plagued the Vols’ offense had been remedied.
But in their first two games at Kentucky (29-15, 11-12 SEC), both lopsided losses, those offensive woes returned at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington. Tennessee (30-17, 10-13) has managed just four total runs in the series, dropping the first matchup on May 1, 9-2, and Game 2 on May 2 in eight innings, 12-2.
As it prepares for the series finale on May 3 (1 p.m. ET, SEC Network+), UT finds itself needing an offensive spark to avoid being swept.
“A lot went wrong again,” first-year UT coach Josh Elander said on May 2. “Not a good approach by our guys, swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone. Good stuff by (Kentucky starter Jaxon Jelkin) today, but we didn’t get out of the gates. … Not a good formula in any capacity today.”
Tennessee has had to play from behind in both games
Slow starts have become a dangerous habit for the Vols through two games against the Wildcats. Their two runs in the series opener didn’t arrive until Henry Ford hit a home run in the eighth inning, the team by then already down 9-0.
They generated a few opportunities before but weren’t able to cash in on three separate chances with a runner in scoring position — once seeing a potential Jay Abernathy RBI single prevented by a full-extension diving catch in shallow left field.
In the second game, Tennessee didn’t manage a baserunner off Jelkin until the fifth and were caught trying to make up an early deficit again. During a mid-game flurry that saw the deficit lessened to 4-2 by a Blaine Brown home run, Tennessee worked the tying run to the plate in the sixth with the heart of the order up.
That was the closest they would get; the next nine batters went down in order and Kentucky pounced on the Vols’ bullpen to run-rule them.
Postseason stakes put extra importance on series finale
In Tennessee’s first 12 SEC matchups, it averaged 5.7 runs per game, contributing to a 4-8 start in league play. But in the nine following conference games, beginning with a sweep of Mississippi State, that number jumped to 7.3 runs per game and included two series wins, boosting the Vols’ SEC record to 10-11. That stretch removed doubt from their NCAA Tournament resume and put them in position to earn a bye in the single-elimination conference tournament.
Now, Tennessee enters the series finale needing a result before facing No. 4 Texas next week – which owns arguably the most feared pitching staff in the SEC.
“At this point, there needs to be more sense of urgency and a little bit more pride,” Elander said. “Very, very frustrating day all the way around, especially after the performance last night. We have to come into tomorrow and basically throw this game in the trash and reset and be ready to go and salvage the weekend tomorrow.”
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_
Tennessee is recruiting toward its 2027 football signing class.
Three-star defensive back Carter Jamison committed to Tennessee, according to Chad Simmons of On3.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound prospect is from Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia. Former Vols Eric Berry, Evan Berry and Elliott Berry are also from Creekside.
247Sports ranks Jamison as the No. 101 safety in the class and No. 115 player in Georgia.
Tennessee was the first school to offer him a scholarship on Feb. 17. The 2027 prospect unofficially visited the Vols for a spring practice on April 2 and will officially visit Tennessee on June 19.
Other schools to offer Jamison scholarships include USF, Charlotte, UNLV, Western Michigan, Liberty, Colorado State, Eastern Kentucky and East Carolina.
Tennessee has six other commitments in its 2027 football recruiting class: linebacker JP Peace, offensive tackle Princeton Uwaifo, defensive lineman Kadin Fife, quarterback Derrick Baker, athlete Jaden Butler and wide receiver KeSean Bowman.
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At the behest of President Donald Trump, Tennessee’s Republican supermajority is returning to Nashville next week to redraw the state’s congressional maps, carving Memphis into multiple safe-Republican seats.
The session is made possible by the Supreme Court’s decision ending protections in the Voting Rights Act, made April 29.
Gov. Bill Lee issued a call for a special legislative session to approve new redistricting maps on the evening of May 1, one day after Trump announced on social media that Lee had promised to do so.
Lawmakers will return to Nashville on May 5.
“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee said.“After consultation with the Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible.”
Once in Nashville, the Republican supermajority legislature will have the votes to crack Memphis and draw nine new safe-Republican congressional seats in Tennessee and eliminate the last remaining Democrat-held seat.
Candidates are already campaigning in the 9th Congressional District — which will likely be redrawn during the special session. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, and state Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, have both gathered and filed qualifying signatures and have been actively campaigning.
Redrawing maps would suspend those campaigns and require candidates in every congressional district to gather new signatures and re-qualify for their races.
“Donald Trump wants an extra seat. And he wants to get it by directing how the districts are drawn and to say they should not be drawn as they are now — they should be drawn the way he wants to draw them to give him the vote,” Cohen said on May 1.
“Civil rights are being attacked through this Supreme Court case. It’s taking away potentially a goodly half of African American and African American-chosen representation in the United States Congress,” Cohen said, pledging to launch a legal fight.
Lee’s call came hours after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called a special session to redraw the maps there, as predominantly Republican Southern states begin to take political advantage of the Supreme Court’s decision to roll back protections for Black voters in the Voting Rights Act.
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