Football season in East Tennessee always has a way of arriving before anyone is ready, and Josh Heupel’s turn at SEC Media Days in Tampa serves as the unofficial opening bell for Tennessee’s 2026 campaign.
The Vols are walking into Year 6 with a lot of moving parts. There’s a new defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles, a new starter at quarterback, and a 9-game SEC schedule that leaves little room to breathe. Add in trips to Georgia Tech, Alabama and Texas A&M, plus home dates with Texas and LSU, and Tennessee’s margin for error looks thin before the first snap is even taken.
That makes the big questions pretty clear as the season approaches.
The first one sits right at the center of everything Tennessee does: what happens if the quarterback play is just okay, or worse?
The Vols did not land a proven transfer to take over the offense, so the job appears headed to one of George MacIntyre, five-star freshman Faizon Brandon or Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, a former backup. MacIntyre is entering his second year in Knoxville, while Brandon arrives as the No. 1 player in the Class of 2026 rankings per 247Sports.
None of the three has meaningful SEC starting experience, and that matters. If one of them comes out and lights it up immediately, that would be a surprise.
Tennessee has already lived through uneven quarterback play under Heupel. Nico Iamaleava in 2024 was not a total disaster, but he was far from the standard Heupel wants.
The year before that, Joe Milton was roughly average to below average, and the offense could be hard to watch at times. Still, Tennessee won 10 games in 2024 and 9 in 2023, which is the reminder here: Heupel has shown he can still steer a strong team even when the quarterback play is not special.
That’s where the rest of the offense becomes so important. DeSean Bishop is one of the SEC’s top returning rushers.
The line has real upside with David Sanders, Wendell Moe Jr., Jesse Perry, LSU transfer Ory Williams and center Sam Pendleton, a group that has top-10 potential nationally. The pass-catchers also give Tennessee a chance to survive if the quarterback room takes time to settle in.
Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley both have 1,000-yard potential, Radarious Jackson is a second-year receiver worth watching, and DaSaahn Brame and Ethan Davis are positioned to handle the tight end spot after flashing in 2025.
The second major question is on the other side of the ball: which transfer ends up making the biggest difference on defense?
That unit has to bounce back. Tennessee’s 2025 defense fell short after a solid 2024 season, finishing 14th in the SEC in total defense and giving up 397 yards per game.
That led to the departure of Tim Banks and the arrival of Knowles, who comes in after coordinating defenses at Ohio State and Penn State. With NFL departures and coaching change layered together, Tennessee had plenty of turnover on defense this offseason.
One early wrinkle: Penn State transfer Chaz Coleman was supposed to help replace Joshua Josephs off the edge, but he was medically disqualified a few weeks ago. That opens the door for Tulane transfer Jordan Norman, who had 6 sacks in 2025, to become a key piece as Tennessee searches for its starting LEO.
Amare Campbell is another name that jumps off the page. The former Penn State linebacker could end up leading the Vols in tackles after posting 103 tackles, 1 pass deflection and 3 sacks under Knowles in Happy Valley. He is not being brought in as a splashy turnover machine, but he tackles hard and fits cleanly next to returner Arion Carter.
Then there’s Auburn transfer Kayin Lee, a multi-year starter with 81 tackles and 3 interceptions in his career. Tennessee beat out Ohio State and Ole Miss for him, and he arrived as the No. 8 cornerback in the transfer portal. Even beyond those names, there are more defenders worth tracking, including Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam in the middle, Kansas State safety Qua Moss in the STAR role and former Michigan safety TJ Metcalf.
The final question is the simplest one, and maybe the one Tennessee can least afford to get wrong: will Cooper Ranvier be better than Max Gilbert?
Kickers live under a different kind of pressure. Their job is brutally simple, and when they miss, everybody remembers.
Gilbert did not hold up for Tennessee last season, and the missed 43-yarder against Georgia looms large. Had that kick gone through, the Vols would have beaten Georgia for the first time since 2016.
Instead, Tennessee lost its ninth straight to the Bulldogs and let a chance slip away that could have changed the feel of the season.
Gilbert is gone now, having entered the portal and landed at Arkansas. Tennessee turned to Louisville kicker Cooper Ranvier, who looks like a strong answer on paper.
As a freshman, he made 21 of 25 field goals and missed only one attempt from under 50 yards. The longer tries were tougher, as he went 2-for-5 from beyond 50.
The leg is there, though. Even in spring practice, one April kick from 50 looked like it would have been good from 60 and then some.
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