The college baseball season is less than two weeks away with more rankings and preseason accolades releasing every day. The latest came Tuesday when USA Today released its preseason coaches poll.
Tennessee came in at No. 15 in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll as they enter Josh Elander’s first season as head coach.
The Vols are one of nine SEC teams in the preseason coaches poll, coming in behind No. 1 LSU, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 9 Auburn and No. 12 Georgia. Tennessee comes in ahead of No. 16 Florida and No. 18 Vanderbilt. Kentucky, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Alabama also received votes.
Josh Elander’s first Tennessee team has home series against LSU and Texas while heading on the road for series against Georgia, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. The Vols also have a lone non conference matchup against No. 2 UCLA as part of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas.
The coaches poll is the lowest Tennessee has been in any major preseason rankings. Baseball America pegged Tennessee as the No. 13 team in the country in the preseason. Perfect Game pegged Tennessee at No. 3 in its preseason rankings while D1Baseball has the Vols at No. 14.
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Danny White tabbed associate head coach Josh Elander as the program’s new head coach. Elander retained a number of assistants including Ross Kivett. He promoted Josh Reynolds to replace Anderson, hired Florida associate head coach Chuck Jeroloman to replace himself as associate head coach and hired Keegan Knoll to replace Eberhardt.
On the field, Tennessee returns veterans Reese Chapman, Ariel Antigua and Stone Lawless in the field and is hoping rising sophomores Levi Clark, Chris Newstrom, Manny Marin and Jay Abernathy take a second year step forward.
The Vols added a number of transfers who could make an impact at the plate led by Virginia’s Henry Ford and including Rice’s Blaine Brown, Bowling Green’s Garrett Wright and San Diego State’s Finley Bates.
Tennessee’s pitching staff projects to be even better than its offense. Sunday starter Tegan Kuhns is back and looking for even more after a solid freshman season. LHP Brandon Arvidson also projects as a weekend starter after a strong back half of the 2025 season. Rising sophomore Brayden Krenzel is another returnee after impressing during his freshman campaign.
The Vols are also active with their pitching staff in the portal, adding Virginia’s Evan Blanco, Kennesaw State’s Bo Rhudy, Rutgers’ Landon Mack and ETSU’s Brady Frederick. Freshman LHP Cameron Appenzeller could also make an impact in his debut collegiate season.
