Tennessee football leaned on young players in 2025 more than they had in any other previous season under head coach Josh Heupel. The results were relatively mixed, but a number of Tennessee underclassmen stepped up and had impressive seasons.
The Athletic released its two Freshman All-American teams last week and four Tennessee players landed on the list. The Vols’ four players led the country while Georgia’s three players were the second most. A number of teams had two players on the list including Ohio State, Washington and Notre Dame.
Tennessee redshirt freshman receiver Braylon Staley and true freshman cornerback Ty Redmond landed on the first team while redshirt freshman offensive lineman Jesse Perry and redshirt freshman linebacker Edwin Spillman landed on the second team.
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WR Braylon Staley
Staley stepped into the starting slot receiver role after playing sparingly as a true freshman the year before. He excelled, catching 64 passes for 806 yards and six touchdowns. Staley finished third in the SEC in passes, sixth in receiving yards and eighth in touchdowns.
The South Carolina native gives Tennessee a strong building block for the Vols’ offense entering the 2026 season.
CB Ty Redmond
Redmond was quickly thrust into a starting role in his freshman season after Rickey Gibson suffered a season-ending injury against Syracuse. He struggled at times early but got better-and-better as the season went on, totaling 39 tackles, nine pass breakups and three interceptions.
Redmond allowed 44 catches for 495 yards and five touchdowns on 70 targets.
OL Jesse Perry
Perry seemingly came out of nowhere in fall camp to win the starting right guard job, and then was thrust into the starting right tackle job after David Sanders suffered an injury in practice the week of the Syracuse game.
The Middle Tennessee native spent time both at right tackle and right guard over the course of the season. He allowed 10 quarterback hurries and two sacks— both of which came while playing guard against Vanderbilt.
LB Edwin Spillman
Spillman would have made an impact on Tennessee’s defense as a true freshman in 2024 but missed of the season with a hand injury. He didn’t start in 2025 but played the second most snaps amongst Tennessee linebackers, totaling 74 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two pass deflections and an interception.
Spillman graded out as the seventh best inside linebacker in the SEC last season according to PFF.
