The final Coaches Poll for the 2025 college football season is in, and while Indiana celebrates its first-ever national championship, the rest of the rankings offer a window into how coaches across the country viewed the landscape when the dust settled. One team that found itself on the outside looking in? Tennessee.
The Volunteers wrapped up the season with an 8-5 record, going 4-4 in SEC play-solid, but not enough to crack the final Coaches Poll top 25. Still, Tennessee didn’t go completely unnoticed. Despite missing the cut, the Vols earned 22 points in the voting, landing them at No. 32 overall.
That number might not jump off the page, but it tells us something important: a few coaches around the country saw enough from Tennessee this season to give them a nod in their final ballots. And in a poll decided by 62 head coaches, every vote says something.
Who Gave Tennessee the Nod?
Let’s start with the coaches who included the Vols in their top 25. Three coaches-Luke Fickell (Wisconsin), Jim Mora (UConn), and GJ Kinne (Texas State)-each slotted Tennessee at **No.
20**. That’s a pretty optimistic take on an 8-5 team, but it suggests they saw something in Tennessee’s resume that warranted more respect than the consensus offered.
Maybe it was the way the Vols handled their non-conference slate, or how they competed in a brutal SEC. Either way, those three coaches clearly believed Tennessee belonged in the national conversation.
Two other coaches-Kirby Smart (Georgia) and Sean Lewis (San Diego State)-had Tennessee just inside their top 25 at No. 24.
Smart’s inclusion is particularly interesting. As the head coach of Georgia, he’s seen Tennessee up close and personal.
If anyone knows what kind of team the Vols fielded this year, it’s him. His vote suggests a level of respect for what Tennessee brought to the table, even if they didn’t quite reach elite status.
Who Left Tennessee Off?
On the flip side, 57 coaches did not include Tennessee in their final rankings. That includes some of the biggest names in the sport-Ryan Day (Ohio State), Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), James Franklin (Penn State), Dan Lanning (Oregon), and Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame), just to name a few. These coaches had a front-row seat to the national title race and clearly didn’t see Tennessee as part of that upper tier.
It’s worth noting that Josh Heupel, Tennessee’s head coach, wasn’t among the 62 voters this season. So there was no opportunity for a self-vote to boost the Vols’ standing.
What Does It All Mean?
The Vols finishing 32nd in the Coaches Poll is a fitting cap to a season that was consistently solid but lacked a signature moment to push them over the top. They beat the teams they were supposed to beat, struggled against the elite, and ultimately landed in a middle tier that’s tough to escape without a marquee win or a late-season surge.
Still, the fact that five coaches gave Tennessee a spot in their top 25 shows there’s some belief in the program’s trajectory. Whether it’s their talent, coaching, or potential heading into 2026, there’s enough there to earn respect-even if it’s not unanimous.
For now, Tennessee finds itself on the outside of the rankings, but not forgotten. And with a few more wins next season, they might just climb from the honorable mention pile into the spotlight.