Tennessee
What Wake Forest said after losing to Tennessee baseball in regionals
Standing in the path of Tennessee baseball and a super regional appearance was Wake Forest.
The Vols won the regional game 11-5 to punch their ticket to supers.
Afterward, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter met with the media. Here’s what he said.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
Opening Statement…
“I would like to congratulate Tennessee on a game well played and advancing to the next round of the [tournament, the] Super Regional. What an incredible venue they have here and a great fan base. It’s been a pleasure playing here for the last four days. I’m proud of our guys and the way we battled. I hate that it’s over for our seniors and the guys we will lose to the draft, but I’m proud of the way we competed. Two great baseball teams gave it all today and we came up on the short end.”
On keeping Duncan Marsten in…
“I thought he was a good matchup for [him facing Manny] Marin. We had two outs and the nine-hole hitter up. I thought Marsten was the right matchup there. Probably should have had [Joe] Ariola ready for [Gavin] Kilen and then [Andrew] Fischer coming in behind him. There are two outs and it’s a 3-2 game if we get off the field right there. But give credit to Marin—he put a good swing on the ball and got it out of the ballpark.”
On his team having 16 strikeouts against Tennessee’s pitching…
“I think we [ended up with] more than that yesterday. Tennessee’s got power arms. The guys we saw today are guys who strike out a ton of hitters. We certainly needed to do a better job of putting more balls in play, but that’s easier said than done against those types of arms.”
On if they expected to see Liam Doyle…
“Yeah, we did expect that. We figured if they had the lead, they’d go to him and we knew we’d have our hands full. Coming back off that guy [on the short side] is not easy, you just try to get on time for his fastball. When he’s commanding it, like he did tonight, at the top of the zone, it’s darn near unhittable. Our guys battled, but they were just a little better than us tonight.”
On the early walks his team gave up…
“Griffin Green and Slim [Zach Johston] have not been great strike-throwers recently. We knew that was an issue, but the infield hit hurt us too. Slim made a good 3-2 pitch and we just got a little unfortunate there for getting out there. That changes that inning. When you give Tennessee, an offense like that, free 90s, they’re going to make you pay.”
On his conversations with players and retaining the roster…
“We certainly always have ongoing conversations about that stuff, but nothing official. Exit meetings will take place once we’re back on campus. We’re likely leaving tomorrow morning around 10 or 11 a.m. and should get back by mid to late afternoon. Some of those meetings may happen tomorrow night and into Wednesday. Within the next 48 hours, we should have a good sense of what our returning roster will look like.”
Tennessee football will host Lane Kiffin, Alex Golesh and possibly Arch Manning at Neyland Stadium in the 2026 season.
UT’s opponents for the next four seasons were previously announced. On Dec. 11, the SEC released the dates of every conference game, providing the full picture of the 2026 schedule.
Game times and television designations will be announced later.
Texas will make its first trip ever to Tennessee on Sept. 26. Manning, the Longhorns quarterback, is expected to return for the 2026 season rather than enter the NFL draft. If so, he’ll face the Vols on the home turf of his uncle, legendary quarterback Peyton Manning.
Golesh, the former UT offensive coordinator, is Auburn’s new coach. He will return to Knoxville for an Oct. 3 game.
Alabama will play at Tennessee on Oct. 17, continuing their Third Saturday in October rivalry game.
Kiffin, the polarizing former UT coach, is now coaching LSU after bolting Ole Miss after the regular season ended. He will return to Knoxville for a Nov. 21 game. Three of the five SEC teams visiting Neyland Stadium will have a first-year coach, including Kentucky’s Will Stein on Nov. 7.
Tennessee will play Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt as annual SEC opponents in the league’s new nine-game conference schedule. Its other six opponents will rotate each season. That means each school will play every SEC opponent home and away every four years.
Tennessee will have one open week on Oct. 31 and thus won’t play on Halloween.
Here is Tennessee’s week-to-week schedule for the 2026 season.
Tennessee football 2026 schedule
- Sept. 5: Furman
- Sept. 12: At Georgia Tech
- Sept. 19: Kennesaw State
- Sept. 26: Texas*
- Oct. 3: Auburn*
- Oct. 10: At Arkansas*
- Oct. 17: Alabama*
- Oct. 24: At South Carolina*
- Oct. 31: Open
- Nov. 7: Kentucky*
- Nov. 14: At Texas A&M*
- Nov. 21: LSU*
- Nov. 28: At Vanderbilt*
*SEC game
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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Tennessee announced the signing of graduate student Dragos Cazacu on Wednesday. He is from Constanta, Romania.
“Dragos is someone we believe can translate all of his professional experience and success seamlessly to high level college tennis,” Tennessee associate head coach Matt Lucas said. “He’s a very mature young man who has finished university in Romania, so we know the type of student athlete we are getting. Winning ITF Pro Circuit titles, all while doing his degree back home shows he will transition nicely to Tennessee in January.”
Cazacu competed on the ATP Tour prior to Tennessee. His highest ranking was No. 763 in singles and No. 495 in doubles.
Tennessee will begin its spring men’s tennis season versus ETSU on Jan. 9, 2026 at Goodfriend Tennis Center. SEC competition will begin Feb. 21, 2026 at Kentucky.
The Vols’ home opener in SEC play is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2026 versus Auburn at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
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Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy announced Wednesday that he will enter the 2026 NFL Draft. McCoy is a potential top-10 pick in this draft class, despite having missed the entire 2025 season with a knee injury.
A transfer from Oregon State following the 2023 season, McCoy earned first-team All-SEC and second-team All-America honors following his first season at Tennessee, in which he registered four interceptions, nine pass breakups and 44 tackles. However, McCoy suffered an ACL injury in January and did not take the field during the Volunteers’ regular season.
“(E)ven though my time on the field was cut short,” McCoy wrote in a statement shared on social media, “I will forever be grateful for my time here at the University of Tennessee. It has been a true honor, and I’m appreciative for every moment I had in the orange and white.”
McCoy (6 feet, 195 pounds) will be one of the most closely scrutinized prospects during the pre-draft cycle, as interested teams wait to see what his updated medical reports reveal.
The junior ranked No. 9 (and as the No. 1 cornerback) on Dane Brugler’s most recent draft board. He was the 16th pick, by Dallas, in Brugler’s mock draft last week.
Dane Brugler’s immediate reaction
A prospect carrying first-round tape from 2024 but no tape from 2025 is not ideal. That said, McCoy will be more than a year removed from his ACL injury when NFL team doctors examine his knee at the combine in February 2026, to (hopefully) verify full health and no long-term concerns.
The timing of his injury could turn out to be something of a positive, because McCoy should be able to work out and test at some point before the draft, giving him a chance to remind teams why he was considered a potential top-10 pick after last season.
LSU’s Mansoor Delane closed ground with his senior season — he’s made a strong case to be CB1 in this class. But McCoy is very much still in that conversation, assuming the medicals come back clean.
HOW DID HE COME UP WITH THIS? 😲
Tennessee shuts down Vandy in the end zone ❌ pic.twitter.com/aUHZeAWC8i
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 30, 2024
Nick Baumgardner’s scouting report
McCoy was in a really tough spot. A case certainly could’ve been made for McCoy to return to college next year, as he’s played only one full season as a starter in the SEC. And though his 2024 season was pretty great, that performance and 400 or so snaps at Oregon State are all we have to go on here.
Physically, though, McCoy is everything you look for in a high-first-round cornerback. He’s big with very quick feet, natural instincts and terrific ball skills in coverage. Despite not playing a snap this season, McCoy still stacks up as an easy first-rounder on this year’s board, largely because of his physical potential.
Testing will be critical here, and I’m eager to see if McCoy is healthy enough to compete in either the Senior Bowl or Shrine Bowl. He should do as much as he can. We saw a talented player in a similar situation last year when now-Cardinals rookie corner Will Johnson tumbled down the board after not testing or taking part in anything physical during the pre-draft process.
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