Tennessee
Tennessee football to host former assistant coach's team for game in 2026
Tennessee football to host former assistant coach’s team for game in 2026
Tennessee football’s future schedule is coming into a clearer view.
Along with the news that the Vols would play Georgia Tech for a home-and-home in 2026 and 2027, Tennessee will also host a different team from the Peach State.
In 2026, the Vols are set to welcome Kennesaw State into Neyland Stadium. The game will be played on Sept. 19, 2025, with a kickoff time and TV designation yet to be decided.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
Familiar connections
Kennesaw State is currently coached by Jerry Mack as he enters his first season as head coach. Mack was the running backs coach on Josh Heupel’s staff at Tennessee from 2021-23 before taking the same position with the NFL’s Jaguars.
He served as head coach at NC Central for four seasons from 2014-17 where he won three MEAC titles, as well.
A number of former Tennessee assistants joined Mack on his staff as he attempts to build up Kennesaw State.
Mitch Militello serves as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Owls. He spent four seasons on the offensive staff at Tennessee as an offensive analyst. He was also an offensive graduate assistant at Central Florida and Missouri.
Kennesaw State’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, Kyle Blocker, also joins Mack’s staff. He was a special teams analyst with the Vols from 2022-23. Most recently, he took the job as special teams coordinator at Miami (Ohio).
Mack has assigned his running back room to Aston Walter, as well. Walter was an offensive assistant at Tennessee from 2023-24, working with Mack in the 2023 season.
2026 schedule
This now marks three out-of-conference games slated on Tennessee’s 2026 schedule.
Along with Kennesaw State being played at home on Sept. 19 and a trip to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, the other scheduled game is against Furman on Sept. 5 in Knoxville.
SEC schedules are yet to be announced for the 2026 campaign. There are still ongoing discussions on whether it will remain an eight-game conference format or if a ninth SEC matchup will be added to the schedule.
Past 2026, Tennessee is scheduled to host Georgia Tech and Western Michigan in 2027, play West Virginia on a neutral field in Charlotte in 2028, host Washington in 2029 and return the trip to Seattle to play the Huskies in 2030.
Who is Kennesaw State football
Kennesaw State is headed into its first year under Mack. The Owls have made a recent transition to the FBS level, beginning on July 1, 2024. In Their lone season in the Conference USA, Kennesaw State went 2-10 (2-6 CUSA).
The Owls’ first win as an FBS team came over Liberty and former Vol quarterback Kaidon Salter.
Kennesaw State began its football program in 2015. Brian Bohannon was the first head coach and served until being let go following the 2024 season.
While coaching the Owls, he steered the program to a 72–37 (.661) record, four FCS Playoff appearances and a trio of conference titles.

Tennessee
Country music singer arrested in Tennessee

Gavin Adcock, the 26-year-old country singer, was arrested Wednesday in Tennessee for reckless driving and violation of open container laws.
The Tennessean, citing the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office, reports the Georgia native posted a $1,000 bond and was released around 4:34 a.m. on May 22.
Adcock, known for songs like “Deep End” and “Ain’t No Cure,” was coming off performing back-to-back nights at Nashville’s The Pinnacle and is still planning to continue his “Need To” tour in Grant, Oklahoma, on Saturday.
No further details were available about the circumstances that led Adcock to be arrested, or when he’ll be back in court to address the charges.
It isn’t Adocock’s first run in with the law. He posted on X in 2023 that he’d previously been arrested for driving with a suspended license.
“I sat in there for ten hours and made friends with my cellmates,” he posted.
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
Tennessee
Cucumber recall: Tennessee among states impacted by salmonella outbreak that has left 26 people sick

Listeria outbreak sickens at least 10 across US
At least 10 people in the U.S. have been sickened in a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat food products, with a producer voluntarily recalling several products.
Scripps News
- Cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales are being recalled due to a salmonella outbreak.
- The outbreak has affected over 20 people across 15 states, including Tennessee.
- According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, no deaths have been reported.
Cucumbers are being recalled nationwide after a salmonella outbreak sickened 26 people and hospitalized nine across 15 states, including Tennessee. On May 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that the outbreak has been linked to cucumbers grown by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales.
As part of a follow-up inspection in April 2025, FDA investigators collected an environmental sample from Bedner Growers that tested positive for salmonella and matched recent clinical samples from ill people, reported USA TODAY.
In Tennessee, the outbreak has sickened between 1-2 people, according to the FDA. No deaths have been reported so far.
Here’s what else to know.
What cucumbers are recalled?
Bedner Growers is voluntarily recalling cucumbers sold at Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market between April 29 and May 14, 2025. Cucumbers may have been sold “individually or in smaller packages,” wrote the FDA, and with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name or best by date.
The product was also sold to retailers, distribution centers, wholesalers, and food service distributors throughout spring. The agency did not identify specifically where the cucumbers were sold. According to the FDA, the products were labeled as either being “supers,” “selects,” or “plains” for distributors, restaurants and retailers who purchased the cucumbers.
“Do not sell or serve whole cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers Inc. and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Inc. between April 29, 2025 to May 19, 2025,” the FDA wrote.
What to do if you think you may have recalled cucumbers
According to the FDA, if you have cucumbers at home and can’t tell where they are from, throw them away. When eating out over the next week, consumers should ask if cucumbers were from Bedner Growers or Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc.
The FDA also advises thoroughly cleaning any surfaces or utensils that may have come into contact with cucumbers using hot, soapy water or a dishwasher.
Businesses should not sell or serve cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Inc. between April 29 and May 19, 2025. They are also urged to sanitize all potentially contaminated areas and notify customers if they may have purchased the affected cucumbers.
What states are affected by the salmonella outbreak? See complete list
As of May 20, the salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers has sickened 26 people in the following 15 states:
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Symptoms of salmonella infection
According to the FDA, illness usually occurs within 12 to 72 hours after eating food that is contaminated with salmonella, and the symptoms usually last four to seven days. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.
Children younger than five, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have severe infections, the FDA says. Contact your healthcare provider immediately if you think you may have symptoms of a salmonella infection.
Contributing: USA TODAY
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana
Tennessee
Danny White named national athletic director of the year, first in Tennessee history
Danny White was named the Athletic Director of the Year by Sports Business Journal, the first in University of Tennessee history to take home the national honor.
White was presented the accolade at the Sports Business Awards event in New York City on May 21. The award recognizes UT’s tremendous revenue growth and athletics success under his watch.
White and his father, Kevin, are the first father-son duo to win the SBJ Athletic Director of the Year award, which was first given in 2000. Kevin White received the accolade in 2014 during his tenure at Duke.
“Danny’s impact on our campus and in the changing world of intercollegiate athletics has been transformational, and I am thrilled for his leadership to be recognized as the SBJ Athletic Director of the Year,” UT Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a university release. “Danny sets the tone with his competitive drive, strategic approach and problem-solving mindset, and has built an incredible team of athletics administrators committed to supporting student-athletes and winning with integrity. The culture he has built at Tennessee is truly special.”
White was the highest-paid athletics director at a public university in the country, based on the most recent documents obtained by USA TODAY Network in 2024. That distinction came after he signed a contract extension that pays him at least $2.75 million annually.
Tennessee winning reached new heights under Danny White
But White appears to have earned his keep since being hired at UT in 2021.
In 2023-24, UT finished third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup all-sports standings, the best in school history, and won a third straight SEC All-Sports Trophy. It capped the most successful year in Vols sports history.
In 2024, UT became only the second school ever to appear in the College Football Playoff, NCAA basketball tournament Elite Eight and the College World Series in the same year. UT baseball won its first national title.
All 20 UT sports are on pace to reach the NCAA postseason in 2024-25 for a second straight year. According to UT, that would make it the first Power Four conference school to achieve that feat in back-to-back years.
Tennessee revenue growth broke records under White
Since White arrived at UT in 2021, the athletics budget has grown by almost $100 million.
UT broke a revenue record with $202 million in the 2023 fiscal year. Then it broke the record again with $234 million in revenue generated in the 2024 fiscal year.
Ticket revenue and contributions also hit record highs under White’s watch during a skyrocketing surge of growth. And major facility upgrades are underway at Neyland Stadium, Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, Anderson Training Center, Food City Center and Neyland Entertainment District as a developmental project.
Here are SBJ Athletic Directors of the Year winners
- 2000: Lew Perkins, UConn
- 2001: Ted Leland, Stanford
- 2002: Bob Bowlsby, Iowa
- 2003: Andy Geiger, Ohio State
- 2004: Eric Hyman, TCU
- 2005: DeLoss Dodds, Texas
- 2006: Jeremy Foley, Florida
- 2007: Tom Jurich, Louisville
- 2008: Ron Wellman, Wake Forest
- 2009: Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma
- 2010: Gene Smith, Ohio State
- 2011: DeLoss Dodds, Texas
- 2012 — Mark Hollis, Michigan State University
- 2013 — Mal Moore, University of Alabama
- 2014: Kevin White, Duke
- 2015: Jeff Long, Arkansas
- 2016: Gene Smith, Ohio State
- 2017: Dan Radakovich, Clemson
- 2018: Jim Phillips, Northwestern
- 2019: Mitch Barnhart, Kentucky
- 2020: Scott Stricklin, Florida
- 2021: Mack Rhoades, Baylor
- 2022: Sandy Barbour, Penn State
- 2023: J.D. Wicker, San Diego State
- 2024: Chris Del Conte, Texas
- 2025: Danny White, Tennessee
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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