As the Tennessee Football program flips the page to the offseason following the Music City Bowl loss on Tuesday, we now have the latest news about upcoming staff changes that the Vols look set to make. According to a report from VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs on Thursday afternoon, Tennessee Director of Competition Development Kurt Schmidt will “not be getting an extension on his contract and will not return for the 2026 football season.”
Schmidt and Heupel have been together for quite some time now. Schmidt was hired as UCF’s Director of Sports Performance when Heupel first took the job with the Knights in 2018. Heupel then brought Schmidt with him to Tennessee as the head strength coach in 2021. Schmidt has served in the role of Director of Competition Development for the past five seasons at Tennessee.
Schmidt was also the Director of Applied Performance at Missouri during the 2017 season, while Heupel was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Tigers. The two have spent nine straight seasons together, but it looks like Tennessee is going to be making a new move for the future.
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According to Hubbs’ report, Schmidt was given a one-year deal last January, which will expire at the end of January 2026. Because of the expiring contract, Tennessee will not owe Schmidt any additional money.
During his five seasons at Tennessee, Schmidt oversaw “the Volunteers’ strength and conditioning and sports performance efforts,” according to his staff page on UTSports. He’s helped shape the Vols’ roster for each season and the big events in the Heupel era, such as an appearance in the Orange Bowl in 2022 and the College Football Playoffs in 2024.
Since the conclusion of the regular season, we’ve seen a few big staff moves from Tennessee. From a retention standpoint, Tennessee announced extensions for both offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope in December. Additionally, On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos reported on Dec. 28 that the “expectation” is for defensive line coach Rodney Garner to stay in Knoxville. Garner was the lone assistant coach on an expiring contract this offseason.
The biggest news regarding staff changes came when Tennessee fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks and hired Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to fill the vacant position. Knowles has yet to make any moves regarding his defensive staff, but it would seem likely that announcements will come in the near future.
