College Football Insider Thinks Josh Heupel Will Make Staff Changes for Tennessee Football

With the 2025 regular season wrapped up for Tennessee football, head coach Josh Heupel is now tasked with figuring out what worked and didn’t work in the 8-4 (4-4 SEC) campaign. This includes player personnel, but also who is on his coaching staff.

With signing day finalized and Heupel inking his best recruiting class yet with the Vols, the attention now turns to the transfer portal, retaining talent and his coaching staff. As far as his position coaches and coordinator roles, there has never been more pressure to make changes.

A vocal portion of the fan base has been clamoring for a move at defensive coordinator. Tim Banks helped engineer possibly the best defense in the country in the 2024 playoff run, but it all came tumbling down the following season. Tennessee ranked 14th in the SEC in total yards and points allowed per game in 2025.

Heupel has never fired a position coach during his time at UT, though. He’s had to fill some openings, but those have been due to former assistants leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

More From RTI: What Josh Heupel Said About Tennessee’s Full 2026 Signing Class on The Mike Keith Show

So, will Heupel pull the plug on any position coaches or coordinators this year? According to college football insider and On3 reporter Chris Low, he thinks it will happen.

During an appearance on Josh and Swain on 99.1 The Sports Animal, he gave his thoughts.

“I haven’t heard a lot names. I do think there will be changes,” Low said on Josh and Swain. “I told you guys that a couple weeks ago. I do think there will be some staff changes, maybe on defense. Everybody has zeroed in on Tim Banks and the defense because they had such a bad year. I do think you’ll see some of that, maybe on offense, I don’t know.

“When you don’t have the kind of year that you expected to have, and all coaches, the good ones, and I think Josh is a good one, they self-scout. Where can we get better? Where do we need to get better? Where are we lacking? What do we need to do to think outside the box a little bit and get to where we need to be? I think now that signing day, not that he hasn’t already thought about that some, but now that signing day has come and gone, I know they’re zeroing in on portal additions, but I think he’s also doing that right now.”

If Heupel does make a change, it’d make sense to come sooner rather than later. Tennessee is yet to receive its bowl game designation, but it’ll likely be just after Christmas. Then, on Jan. 2, the transfer portal officially opens. These are both incentives to get a new coach hired and in the building in the coming weeks if a change is made.