One of the more interesting stories from Tennessee Football’s offseason over the last few months has been the saga around linebacker Arion Carter. The rising senior originally declared for the NFL Draft following his junior season on Dec. 12, but still hung around the team and was on the sideline for Tennessee’s Music City Bowl game against Illinois at the end of the month.
Then, on Jan. 16, a report came out that said that Carter was withdrawing his name from draft consideration and was instead set to enter the transfer portal. By the time this decision came down, Tennessee had already added former Penn State linebacker Amare Campbell as a key piece in the Vols’ portal class. After just two days, though, Carter worked out a deal to return to Tennessee and rejoin his former home.
Offseason drama aside, Carter is clearly an extremely talented and smart player. The 6-foot-1 linebacker totaled 68 tackles as a sophomore in 2024 and 76 tackles in 2025, despite missing some time with injury during that junior season.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach released his Way-Too-Early College Football All-America projections at the end of last week. While Carter didn’t make the selected group of players, he was listed as a consideration for the linebacker position. Ultimately, Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins was given the pick, with Texas Tech’s Ben Roberts and Tennessee’s Arion Carter in the ‘also considered’ category.
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With Carter returning to Tennessee in 2026, the Vols’ linebacker room is stacked with talent. The Vols return past playmakers such as Carter, Edwin Spillman, and Jeremiah Telander, young players such as Jadon Perlotte and Jaedon Harmon, and talented incoming freshmen TJ White and Brayden Rouse. As previously mentioned, the Vols also landed Amare Campbell out of the transfer portal, who played for newly hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles at Penn State last season.
The broad story around Tennessee’s defense this offseason as been with coaching staff changes, with Knowles coming in as the DC and Anthony Poindexter taking the role of co-defensive coordinator. But while the Vols had a few changes on the defensive staff, one of the positions that wasn’t changed was the linebacker position. Tennessee opted to stick with linebackers coach William Inge in his current position on Knowles’ newly assembled staff. Inge served as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator for the Music City Bowl after Tim Banks was let go following the season.
We’ll get our first look at Tennessee’s linebacker room and the Vols’ defense when UT heads out for spring training camp in the next few months. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more details on Tennessee Football’s offseason newscycle.
