Volunteers return experienced talent on both sides of the ball as Josh Heupel enters his sixth season.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Smokies.LIVE Game Day Center) — Football season has officially arrived on Rocky Top.
The Tennessee Volunteers will kick off preparations for their 130th season of football this week, holding their annual local media day on Tuesday before opening preseason practice on Wednesday.
Head coach Josh Heupel, entering his sixth season at Tennessee, is scheduled to address reporters at 12:40 p.m. EDT Tuesday. He will be joined by first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle. The event will be streamed live on Tennessee Athletics’ YouTube channel and the football program’s social media platforms.
The Volunteers wrapped up offseason conditioning last week under new Director of Sports Performance Derek Owings, who joined the program in January after helping Indiana capture a national championship.
Tennessee returns several key offensive contributors from last season, including 1,000-yard running back DeSean Bishop, an experienced offensive line with 86 combined career starts, and three of its top four receivers in Braylon Staley, Mike Matthews and Ethan Davis.
Defensively, the Vols will lean on a veteran linebacker corps led by All-SEC senior Arion Carter. The secondary also returns former Freshman All-American cornerback Ty Redmond and safety Edrees Farooq.
Knowles’ first Tennessee defense also features several experienced transfers expected to make an immediate impact, including cornerback Kayin Lee (Auburn), safeties TJ Metcalf (Arkansas/Michigan) and Qua Moss (Kansas State), linebacker Amare Campbell (Penn State), and defensive end Jordan Norman (South Alabama/Tulane).
The Volunteers will hold closed preseason practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at Haslam Field as they begin preparations for the 2026 campaign.
Tennessee opens the regular season against Furman on Saturday, Sept. 5, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. EDT at Neyland Stadium.
The Smokies.LIVE Game Day Center will provide coverage throughout fall camp, including practice updates, player news and season previews leading up to kickoff.
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