National college football analyst says the Tennessee Vols could be 'frisky' in 2026
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There’s a strange narrative surrounding the Tennessee Vols entering the 2026 season.
Expectations aren’t high for the Vols after going 8-5 last season. Tennessee isn’t a trendy pick to make the College Football Playoff. Almost no one in the national media, in fact, is predicting Tennessee to be one of the 12 teams in the playoff.
That’s mostly because the Vols will be rolling with a first-time starter at quarterback this fall (either redshirt freshman George MacIntyre or true freshman Faizon Brandon).
At the same time, many in the media feel that Tennessee needs to have a better season than they did last year to keep head coach Josh Heupel’s seat from getting warm.
I think it’s ridiculous to even suggest that Heupel’s job should be in jeopardy — he’s done an incredible job since arriving at Tennessee in 2021, while navigating some tricky situations (Boo Carter saga, Nico Iamaleava’s untimely exit, penalties from the Jeremy Pruitt era, etc).
But that’s the current state of college football — just ask James Franklin, who was fired at Penn State despite nearly leading the program to the national championship game the previous season.
National analyst thinks the Vols could be better than advertised in 2026
On3’s JD PicKell is one national analyst who feels like the Vols could be a “tougher out” than many expect in 2026.
“My take on Tennessee is [that] I think that they’re going to be a lot more difficult of an out than people realize right now,” said PicKell. “I don’t think Tennessee fans are punting on this season and saying, “Man, well next year is the year for us, after we get George MacIntyre a year [in the] system, year two for him is going to be the year.’
“I don’t see a reason why Tennessee can’t be frisky this year, and why that offense can’t surprise some people nationally and make some noise. Bottom line, still kind of getting our sea legs when it comes to who’s going to be the quarterback, and this new defense and installing all of that. But this is a team that’s got some skins on the wall in terms of guys that have played at those positions, even guys that have transferred in, that played for Jim Knowles at Penn State. There’s some real scar tissue there, in a good way. There’s confidence right now in Knoxville.”
There’s certainly plenty of reasons to be optimistic that Tennessee can be “frisky” this fall.
The Vols return the bulk of their offensive line, which features a likely future NFL starter in left tackle David Sanders. And they return a couple of stud wide receivers in Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley. Tennessee also has plenty of young wide receiver talent in Travis Smith, Joakim Dodson, Radarious Jackson, TK Keys, and Tyreek King.
And then there’s the defense, which has the potential to take a big step forward under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who brought several coaches and players with him to UT that he was already familiar with.
Perhaps most importantly, there’s the new strength coach, Derek Owings, who is already making a huge impact for the Vols during his first two months on the job.
There’s urgency in Knoxville this offseason. The Vols don’t care where they’re predicted to finish in 2026 — they’re planning to win every Saturday they take the field.
Related: Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs gets some bad news to start the week
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Mar 24, 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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