Like every other team across the college football landscape, the Tennessee Volunteers battled through roster management this offseason as they lost some players, added some players, and retained some key figures on the team.
ESPN college football analyst Adam Rittenberg has often reviewed the CFB futures rankings, breaking down each team’s outlook over the next three years. With the ever-changing nature of the sport and the prominence of the transfer portal, though, Rittenberg has scaled back his future timeline to just the next two seasons. In this case, that would be 2025 and 2026.
Even with Tennessee projecting to bring in 247 Sports’ No. 1 overall prospect in QB Faizon Brandon, the timeline change has boosted the Volunteers up to a Top 10 ranking from No. 13 to No. 9 in the ESPN rankings. Tennessee is the fourth highest-rated team from the SEC on the list, trailing only No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 8 LSU.
Rittenberg’s profile breaks down into five sections, which you can read in more detail here. The sections include returning quarterbacks, likelihood of a multi-year QB, OL/DL outlook, roster management, star power, and the coaching staff.
Working backwards, Josh Heupel’s coaching core is relatively intact heading into the 2025 season. Tim Banks and Joey Halzle will return as the coordinators, while Evan Crabtree and Levorn “Chop” Harbin were both promoted to the ST and OLB positions, respectively. Not too much change from the previous season there.
“After leading Tennessee to its first playoff appearance, Heupel has exceeded most outside expectations with a 37-15 record in Knoxville,” Rittenberg wrote. “He brings back primary coordinators Tim Banks (defense) and Joey Halzle (offense), while making a few changes to the group of position coaches.”
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Nico Iamaleava’s departure from the program does hurt the star power category a bit, despite his pedestrian numbers, but that doesn’t mean that the Vols won’t have their fair share of big names. Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy projects to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft next year, while Mike Matthews and Joshua Josephs could explode into All-SEC roles. Rittenberg also mentions transfer RB Star Thomas, RB DeSean Bishop, and RB Peyton Lewis as three potential candidates to break out.
“Tennessee is recruiting well with top-15 classes in 2024 and 2025, and ranks No. 18 for its 2026 class,” Rittenberg wrote about the Vols’ roster management in the coming years.
Tennessee’s starting quarterback vacancy also opened the door for Heupel to bring in a veteran from the transfer portal, which ended up being former App State and UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar. While Aguilar hasn’t won the battle by any stretch quite yet, he does project to be the leader in the clubhouse because of his experience at the position. Aguilar, a rising senior in his final year of eligibility, would mean that Tennessee’s likelihood of having a multi-year QB in ’25 and ’26 is non-existent, but that doesn’t mean that the Vols don’t have rising stars on the backburners, either.
Some may be surprised to see Tennessee’s projection land in the Top 10 and the top quarter of the SEC because of the high-profile turnover in the offseason. But Heupel and his staff have built a roster that’s up for the challenge of emerging into new roles, which will play out this fall. How well will it go? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Other notable SEC teams include Alabama at No. 10, Florida at No. 15, Ole Miss at No. 16, South Carolina at No. 18, and Missouri at No. 22.
Check out much more on Tennessee’s future projection with Adam Rittenberg’s article for ESPN here.
