Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop has a remarkable story. As a local prospect from Karns High School in Knoxville, Bishop originally began his collegiate career as a walk-on running back in 2023 and 2024. Despite having scholarship offers from mid-major programs, Bishop decided to bet on himself after seeing the path that Tennessee imagined for him.
“We painted a vision of what we thought DeSean could become inside of our program,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on Brooks Austin’s YouTube channel Monday. “He had great trust in our coaching staff- Coach (De’Rail) Sims, our running backs coach- bought into that vision and came onto campus. Has competed and worked his butt off.”
In addition to being a walk-on, Bishop also suffered an ankle injury before his freshman season that slowed him down for the year. But through the adversity, the high and low moments, Bishop has leaned on his faith as a guiding principle in his life and career.
While representing the Volunteers at SEC Media Days on Monday, Bishop’s answer on how his faith has shaped his life has gone viral on social media. It has racked up hundreds of thousands of views online and has even been reposted by big-name personalities such as Kirk Herbstreit.
“Man, I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t be here without it,” Bishop said about his faith. “My Lord and Savior has treated me very good. More than I honestly deserve. Like I said, I don’t really deserve to be in front of y’all. But by his grace and salvation, he saved me from a really dark place. The path of destruction that I was on, man, it was leading me to a place I didn’t need to be. When God swooped in and saved my life for what it to be, came with all this that I have received now. All glory to him, man. If you are out there and don’t know much about him, man, I encourage you to at least try to find a relationship with him. Because it changes your life for the better.”
Peter Burns, the ESPN reporter who conducted the video, wrote on social media that it was linebacker Arion Carter who nudged him into asking Bishop about his faith.
Bishop’s faith has been a common throughline for anyone who has been following his career, especially during the numerous press conferences that he has been a part of over the last few years. Whether it’s a postgame interview, a weekly interview, or a training camp interview, Bishop is quick to mention the topic that is so important to him.
As shown by Carter’s eagerness for Burns to ask the question, Tennessee’s team is fully aware of Bishop’s faith. And Bishop works to share that faith with his teammates each and every day.
“It’s a daily battle,” Bishop said. “Because I’m sure as people tried to pour the gospel in me, man, I wasn’t listening. I ain’t gonna lie. It’s a daily battle just trying to live the way that I live. Believers, they look different, you know? They act different. There’s something different about them that when someone sees something different in me, I want that difference to be the Lord. So just by the way I live my life, I just try to encourage them to be on the right path because realistically, all this stuff that we chase is temporary, you know? We’re chasing the eternal things like getting into heaven. So that’s the main focus we have. Obviously, live life to the fullest, come to things like this, accomplish your goals, but don’t forget to give God the praise, because he deserves it.”
The most important 90-second interview you’ll see from 2026 SEC Media Days.
Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop has one message to get across in Tampa as a molder of men.#RockyTop @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/CXiiJw2MHF
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) July 20, 2026
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This past season, Bishop was the lead back for Tennessee’s offense. He totaled 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns on 182 carries through 13 games. This marked the third straight season the Vols have produced a 1,000-yard back after Dylan Sampson and Jaylen Wright did it before getting drafted.
In 2024, as a redshirt-freshman, Bishop was the second back in the room behind Sampson. He recorded 455 yards and three touchdowns on 74 totes. He missed his true freshman season due to an injury suffered in the preseason, but Josh Heupel spoke glowingly of him during that stretch of practices.
Bishop is a local product out of Karns High School in Knoxville. He won back-to-back Tennessee Titans 5A Mr. Football awards after totaling more than 6,000 all-purpose yards over his last two seasons. He led the Beavers to their first home playoff win in program history over Walker Valley in 2021.
Bishop was initially committed to Coastal Carolina with offers from Tulane and App State. However, after a coaching change, he decommitted and walked on with the Vols over offers. He was placed on scholarship ahead of the 2025 season.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more SEC Media Days coverage.
