Outlook For The Tennessee Volunteers Football Team’s 2025-2026 Season
The Tennessee Volunteers football team enters the 2025-2026 with a mix of optimism. Last year, they had a good year going 10-3 and making the playoffs.
Under fifth-year coach Josh Heupel, the Vols have established a high floor after winning 9 games in three-straight seasons. Here’s a detailed outlook for the Tennessee Volunteers football team’s 2025-2026 season.
Check out what you need to know about the Vols below and bet on them at TennesseeBettingHub.
Question Mark At Quarterback
Last year’s starter for Tennessee, Nico Iamaleava entered the transfer portal leaving the spot open during spring practice. Joey Aguilar, a transfer from Appalachian State won the job over redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger.
Aguilar brings experience and big numbers after throwing for 3,757 yards and 33 touchdowns for Appalachian State last year. He showed playmaking ability, but he’ll have to adapt to Heupel’s fast-pace offense and produce against a tough SEC conference.
If Aguilar clicks with Heupel’s offensive scheme, we could see Tennessee run over top teams.
Filling Holes On Offense
Despite Aguilar coming in as the starting QB, Tennessee has other major questions on offense, starting at running back. Last year’s starting RB Dylan Sampson left the program after putting up 1,485 yards and 22 touchdowns.
To fill this hole, Heupel will lean on DeShaun Bishop and Peyton Lewis to help carry the load on offense. They’ll need these two to come through to take the load off of Aguilar.
Then additionally, only one of Tennessee’s top five wide receivers are returning for the upcoming season. Sophomore Mike Matthews is expected to get most of the looks alongside deep threat Chris Brazzell II.
Despite losing a lot of talent on offense, the Vols still have a number of NFL-caliber talent playing this year.
Optimism On Defense
On the other side of the ball for Tennessee, there’s a lot of reason for optimism. Last year was one of the best Tennessee defenses in decades that allowed just 13.9 points and 278 yards per game.
Key returners include defensive lineman Joshua Josephs, interior linemen Bryson Eason, Jaxson Moi, and dynamic star Boo Carter. They also have cornerbacks Rickey Gibson III and potentially Jermond McCoy pending that he has recovered from his ACL injury.
Last year, Tennessee recorded 100 tackles for losses and the majority of that team will be returning to play this season. Tennessee’s defense should keep them competitive in high-stakes games this season and keep them close.
Multiple teams on their schedule are also breaking in new offensive signal callers, which could be a deciding factor.
Tennessee’s Outlook This Season
The 2025 schedule presents both opportunities and hurdles for the Tennessee Volunteers. The season opens with a neutral-site clash with Syracuse who went 10-3 last season and will be an early test.
Then two weeks later, the Vols will have to travel to play SEC powerhouse Georgia. Winning these two games will make a big statement this year.
Due to talent that left during the off-season, odds makers like Fanduel have Tennessee at 8.5 wins this year. Let’s see if they can prove the critics wrong and make another playoff appearance.
