Excitement is high for Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter as he prepares for another season of anchoring the middle of the Volunteers’ defense.
After suffering a shoulder injury at the end of his freshman season, the 6-foot-1 linebacker returned to the field even stronger as a sophomore. He led the team with 68 tackles, including 29 solo, also adding in 6.5 tackles for loss, six pass breakups, and one interception.
While Tennessee has been most often known as an offensive team during the Josh Heupel era, it was the Vols’ defense that carried them to the College Football Playoffs last season. Tennessee lost some of those talented pieces through graduation and the NFL Draft this past offseason, but Carter believes that the Vols are still bringing back that “original Tennessee culture” on the defensive side of the football.
“I feel like we just bring back that grit, that relentless effort, that toughness, that original Tennessee culture that we’ve always had,” Carter said at SEC Media Days this past week. “To restore that and bring that back to its full ability, full core, and full tilt, it’s a great thing to see. We just want to continue that and exceed the expectations of what it is for next year and years to come.”
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Josh Heupel echoes the same excitement when it comes to the defensive side of the football. With a unique offensive situation this year and added question marks on that side of the football, Tennessee will have to continue to lean on that defense during the 2025 season.
Tennessee has been home to some of the great defensive giants in college football history. Heupel mentioned Al Wilson, Eric Berry, and Reggie White twice during his two press conferences during media days on Tuesday. When you have the head coach talking about some of the greats, combined with Carter talking about the original Tennessee culture of toughness and grit, it’s not hard to get excited about the message that’s being shared on that side of the ball – even if it is just talking season at the moment.
“Man, we’re only gonna continue to get better,” Heupel said on Tuesday. “I know that because of what we’ve done through a lot of adversity and the guys that we have inside of that defensive unit room, talking about the players, are highly competitive. They have great physical traits. There’s an accountability factor to doing your job that’s at a really high level. We got great leadership, Tim Banks and our defensive staff have done a phenomenal job since we’ve arrived and I’m excited to go play with these guys on the defensive side of the ball.”
Questions will be answered when the Vols hit the field for fall camp next month, but the defensive side of the football is something that has people excited for the upcoming season.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more offseason Tennessee football coverage.
