Tennessee’s spot at No. 18 in the Preseason Coaches Poll suggests the rest of the country sees more in this team than a lot of Vols fans might right now.
That’s a little surprising on the surface. Joey Aguilar not getting that extra season in Knoxville, the uncertainty at quarterback and the 5-star Chaz Coleman situation all had the feel of a season that could tilt the wrong way fast. Instead, the poll points to a group that still has real respect attached to it, even with plenty of questions hanging over the offense.
And that’s where Faizon Brandon enters the picture.
The true freshman hasn’t even been named Tennessee’s Week 1 starter yet, so putting too much on his shoulders this early would be unfair. Still, the conversation around the Vols keeps circling back to him, because if Tennessee is going to live up to that No. 18 ranking, Brandon may end up being the guy who drives it.
He’s young - still 18, and not turning 19 until next June - but the talent is obvious. Brandon signed with Tennessee as the No. 3 quarterback in the 2026 class, and he brings the kind of arm strength and mobility Josh Heupel can build around. He also got a head start by graduating from high school early and taking part in spring ball, which gave him more time to settle in before the season starts.
George MacIntyre is in that quarterback battle too, but the ceiling looks higher if Heupel goes with Brandon against Furman on Sept. 5 and beyond. That’s the big swing point for this offense.
Tennessee still has pieces that make the poll ranking believable. DeSean Bishop, the former walk-on running back, is coming off a 2025 season that turned heads and sets him up for another strong year. At receiver, there’s buzz around 5-star Tristen Keys, and this could be the season where Mike Matthews finally puts everything together.
The defense also appears to have enough in place to be solid. The bigger issue is what happens after the Coleman situation blew up, since he won’t be on the field for Tennessee this season and that leaves a major hole in the pass rush.
Even so, the overall message from the poll is clear: people expect Tennessee to matter. If the offense clicks and Brandon handles the moment, the Vols may not be as far from the College Football Playoff conversation as some assumed. Nico Iamaleava’s redshirt freshman season in 2024 showed how quickly things can turn when the quarterback settles in, even with the usual ups and downs.
That’s the road Tennessee is staring at now. No. 18 says the door is open. Brandon may be the one who decides whether the Vols walk through it.
In Other News...
Josh Heupel Blasts Arion Carter Fallout Tennessee Fans Will Hate
Arion Carters return to Tennessee should have been a clean football story, the kind coaches use to point to a player betting on himself and coming back for another season. Instead, the linebackers offseason has been clouded by an NCAA ruling tied to a $427 flight from the pre-NFL draft process, a benefit Carter later repaid after choosing to head back to school. The situation has already put the Volunteers in an awkward spot, with one of their linebackers facing a penalty after doing what programs usually celebrate.
Josh Heupel did not hide his frustration with how the case was handled, and he made it clear he believes Carters character and decision to stay in Knoxville deserved a different outcome. Tennessee now has to move forward with Carter unavailable for two games this season, a setback that lands harder because the issue stems from a narrow recruiting-and-draft process technicality rather than anything on the field. It leaves the Vols dealing with the practical cost of a ruling their coach clearly thinks missed the point. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Secondary Just Took A Tough Hit Before Jim Knowles' Debut
Tennessees secondary took an early blow before Jim Knowles has even settled into his new role, with cornerback Jadais Richard set to miss the 2026 season because of a season-ending injury, according to Adam Sparks of Knox News. Richard arrived from Miami as a versatile defensive back who could move around the back end, and his history of injuries made durability a quiet concern even before this latest setback.
For a defense that had counted on offseason portal additions and returning players to stabilize the rotation, losing Richard narrows the margin for error at corner. Knowles is trying to reshape a retooled secondary, and one less experienced piece in that mix makes the job a little more complicated before the season even gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Deion Just Put Former Vol Boo Carter Back Under The Spotlight
Boo Carters move from Tennessee to Colorado was always going to keep him in view, but Deion Sanders has now turned the attention up another notch. The former Vol defensive back, who was dismissed from the program before transferring, is working under Sanders with the Buffaloes, and the Hall of Fame coach has been openly bullish on what Carter can become as he settles into a fresh start.
Sanders went so far as to suggest Carter has the kind of athletic tools that could put him in first-round NFL Draft territory in either 2027 or 2028, a striking vote of confidence for a player still early in his development. For Tennessee fans, it is another reminder of both Carters upside and the reasons his path changed in the first place, and for Colorado it adds a little more intrigue around a transfer whose ceiling is being discussed long before the story is finished. [Read more 🡒]