Tennessee’s new kicker is already drawing some preseason attention.
Cooper Ranvier landed on the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award watch list Friday, one of 35 players included in the preseason group. He’s also one of 11 SEC kickers on the list, alongside Auburn’s Alex McPherson, Vanderbilt’s Brock Taylor, Texas A&M’s David Olano, Texas’ Gianni Spectic, Mississippi State’s Kyle Ferrie, Alabama’s Lorca Quinn, Ole Miss’ Lucas Carneiro, Florida’s Patrick Durkin, Georgia’s Peyton Woodring and Oklahoma’s Tate Sandell.
Sandell, who won the Lou Groza Award last season, showed Tennessee exactly what it was missing. Against the Vols, he hit all four of his field goal tries, including three from 50-plus yards.
That kind of reliability was a problem for Tennessee in crucial spots last season. Max Gilbert missed a key field goal in the loss to Oklahoma and also came up short on the potential game-winner against Georgia. After the season, Tennessee and Gilbert split, and Gilbert later transferred to Arkansas.
Ranvier arrived from the transfer portal to take over the job. At Louisville, he put together a solid sophomore season, going 21-of-25 on field goals.
He was perfect from inside 40 yards, drilling all 13 of those attempts, and made six of seven kicks from 40 to 49 yards. From 50 yards and beyond, he went 2-for-5.
His extra-point work was steady as well. Ranvier made 39 of 41 PATs last season, and 2025 was his first year as a starting kicker at the college level.
Josh Heupel has already turned to the transfer portal for help at kicker twice in his Tennessee tenure. The Vols brought in Chase McGrath from USC, and he handled the job for two seasons in 2021 and 2022.
McGrath’s biggest moment came in 2022, when he hit the game-winning field goal against Alabama. Tennessee later added Indiana transfer Charles Campbell for the 2023 season.
Ranvier is one of several Tennessee players to pick up preseason recognition, joining DeSean Bishop, Bennett Brady, Amare Campbell, Arion Carter, Ethan Davis, Xavier Gilliam, Daevin Hobbs, Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley, Wendell Moe Jr, Jesse Perry, Ty Redmond and David Sanders Jr.
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For the Volunteers, the immediate concern is not just losing a key linebacker, but losing him right as the schedule starts to take shape. Carter will be unavailable for two games, including matchups against Furman and Georgia Tech, leaving Tennessee to adjust early while trying to keep its defensive momentum intact. It is the kind of setback coaches hate in September because there is no real way to spin it as anything other than a roster loss. [Read more 🡒]