The expectations for Tennessee football are all over the place. Some think the Vols could be in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot, while others think it could be an ugly year in Knoxville.
SEC Network pundit Paul Finebaum has a more pessimistic view of Tennessee. During an appearance on Crain & Cone, he shared why he’s a bit worried about the direction Josh Heupel’s offense is going.
“I bring Josh Heupel up — I like him, he has made the playoffs one time, but he’s been there, what, four or five years?” Finebaum said. “And it feels like the program is going in the wrong direction. That should not happen, and it’s a very bad sign for a name-brand program. Maybe I’m old school enough to still believe that Tennessee is one of those schools that should always be at or near the top.
“But the end of last season was a complete disaster. Losing at home to Oklahoma, and they also lost at home to Vanderbilt. Badly lost a bowl game. You can’t let that happen. And then, they got some bad luck in court, losing Aguilar, but they don’t have a quarterback. And you guys all tell me how you can win the SEC without a quarterback.”
“He’s been there, what, four or five years, and it feels like the program is going in the wrong direction. That should not happen, and it’s a very bad sign for a name-brand program.”
Paul Finebaum isn’t sure about Josh Heupel on Rocky Top…🟠 pic.twitter.com/195dhmoFFR
— Crain & Cone (@crainandcone) May 7, 2026
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The main point of concern for the upcoming season from Finebaum is the quarterback position. The Vols swung for some massive names, including Ty Simpson and Sam Leavitt, but ultimately settled on hosting a battle for the starting job. It’ll be between true freshman Faizon Brandon, redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
On the other side, the defense will be completely retooled. Tennessee fired Tim Banks as defensive coordinator and hired well-respected Jim Knowles to replace him. He added some familiar assistant coaches to his staff and a load of transfer portal players.
According to FanDuel, the Vols’ win total betting odds sit at 7.5. This is a one-win boost from the start of spring camp, when UT was listed at over/under 6.5 wins.
2 Responses
For someone who’s never played a down in competitive football, anywhere, how does Finebaum know this? In this era of transfer mania an all the other stupid effects that have destroyed sports, there’s no such thing as normal seasons, and if Tennessee can really shore up its Defense and the Offense plays at a decent level, he might have to eat these words. I realize I’m living in the past, but show me any colligate team with a porous defense that wins at a high level, I’ll eat MY words. General was always right – the other can’t beat you if they don’t have the ball. That means keeping it from them by any means possible.
Speculation, as usual.