Josh Pate’s latest preseason AP Poll projection has Tennessee sitting just outside the top 20, with the Vols coming in at No. 22 ahead of the 2026 season.
That slot would make Tennessee the No. 8 team in the SEC in Pate’s eyes. He has the Vols behind No.
1 Texas, No. 7 Georgia, No.
8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Ole Miss, No.
10 LSU, No. 11 Alabama and No.
13 Oklahoma. Just behind Tennessee in his prediction are No.
23 Missouri and No. 24 Florida.
Pate’s projected poll also leaves Arkansas, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Mississippi State and South Carolina out of the top 25 altogether.
“Best guess at AP Preseason top 25 poll”
- Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) July 1, 2026
Tennessee enters year six of the Josh Heupel era with plenty of questions and plenty of optimism attached to the roster. The biggest conversation point is quarterback, where the Vols are set to start an unproven option while still having experienced help around him. The competition for the job is between Faizon Brandon, George MacIntyre and Ryan Staub.
After the Orange and White Game, Heupel pointed to the way that group has handled the spring.
“I do love the growth from that group,” Heupel said about the quarterbacks after the Orange and White Game. “I love the way that they competed with themselves, with each other.
I love the way that they’ve grown every single day. Each of them maybe had a day where it was a little bit below what they had shown and their expectations, too.
They responded and came back the next day and were a lot better. So, there’s a lot of positives, a lot of things that they and we have to work on as a football team.”
There’s also a major change on the defensive side. Tennessee brought in Jim Knowles from Penn State this offseason to take over as defensive coordinator and help reshape a unit that struggled in 2025.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Made Another Move In Its Defensive Reset
Tennessees defensive makeover picked up another layer this week with the addition of Josh Sinagoga to the staff as a defensive analyst, a notable shift for a coach whose recent background has leaned to the offensive side. Sinagoga arrives after stops at Michigan, Youngstown State, Central Michigan, Iowa and Cincinnati, bringing a varied rsum into a reset that has already featured several new defensive hires this offseason.
The move fits the broader urgency around a defense that struggled badly in 2025, when the Volunteers were forced to rethink much of that side of the ball and move on from Tim Banks and some staff members. Tennessee has been aggressive in reshaping the room ever since, and Sinagogas arrival suggests the staff is still looking for every edge it can find while the full blueprint for the new defense continues to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Is In A Massive Recruiting Fight For A Rare 5-Star Back
David Gabriel Georges has become one of the most intriguing recruiting battles in the country, and Tennessee is right in the middle of it. The 5-star running back from Quebec, who has been playing high school football in Chattanooga, has drawn major attention from the Vols and Ohio State, two programs that have clearly treated his recruitment like a priority rather than a routine pursuit.
What makes this race stand out is how aggressively both staffs have pushed to separate themselves before Georges makes his choice by July 22. Tennessee has worked to sell itself hard, while Ohio State has poured resources into the chase with an in-person visit effort in Chattanooga, and the cross-country tug-of-war has only added to the intrigue around a prospect who is rare enough to feel like a program-changing swing. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Took A Painful Recruiting Hit Where It Hurts Most
Tennessees 2027 class has still given the staff some reasons to feel good, with Derrick Baker staying put and wide receiver Kesean Bowman already on board. The Vols also remain in the mix for David Gabriel Georges, who is weighing Tennessee against Ohio State, so the class is far from settled even after an active start.
But the latest swing in the trenches is the kind of miss that stings in Knoxville, especially with defensive line and edge-rushing help always at a premium. Tennessee has already had to keep grinding for answers up front, and with the high school board tightening, the staff may need to find help from elsewhere if it wants to build out that part of the class. [Read more 🡒]