Former Vols linebacker predicts Tennessee's final record for the 2026 college football season
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The 2025 college football season just ended, but some folks in the media are already taking a look at how the Tennessee Vols will fare in 2026.
Tennessee will be looking to improve on its 8-5 record from this past season, but it won’t be easy.
The Vols will likely be starting a new quarterback — unless Joey Aguilar is granted another season of eligibility and chooses to return to Knoxville.
Additionally, Tennessee will be facing a nine-game SEC schedule next season.
Former Vols linebacker Kevin Simon predicts Tennessee’s record in 2026
Former Vols linebacker Kevin Simon joined The Sports Source this week and shared his thoughts on how the 2026 could play out for the Volunteers.
Simon, who also served as Tennessee’s director of player development at one point, has the Vols going 9-3 next season.
“I’m gonna bet on them in the areas that we’re talking about — the defense, talking about strength and conditioning,” said Simon. “[I’m] talking about playing and being as good in the fourth quarter as you were early in the game. 9-3, somehow, someway.
“I think a disappointing thing for me is in some of our losses, we just haven’t been competitive. I hope that we are competitive throughout all of the games (in 2026), and maybe just come up short a few times. But it’s one of those things that we can say, ‘Hell yeah, that’s our guys out there on the field.’ So it’s a little bit more fight, a little bit more not letting the rope slip. I’m gonna go 9-3. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
With as much turnover as there is in college football on a year to year basis (due to the transfer portal), it’s tough to have a good feel in January for how a team will look in the fall. If a team hits on the right portal haul, for example, they can easily go from a six win team to a playoff team in one year (just look at the Oklahoma Sooners from 2024 to 2025).
Tennessee has two automatic wins on the schedule — no offense to Furman or Kennesaw State.
To get to nine wins, the Vols will need to beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta and go 6-3 in conference play (or if they lose to Georgia Tech, they’ll need to go 7-2).
The good news for the Vols is that they won’t face the Georgia Bulldogs in 2026.
The bad news is that playoff contenders such as Texas, Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt are on the schedule.
It’s going to be a grind for the Vols, but if they manage to go 9-3 with a nine-game SEC schedule, then they should be in the mix for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Jan 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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