Tennessee decides to stick with continuity in a crucial area as they announce defensive staff for 2026

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The Tennessee Volunteers have gotten some excellent defensive line play in recent years. While some might question that after a very down 2025 season by the Vols' defense as a while, the program's defensive line unit has had some standouts and have been productive.

New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has spent the last couple of weeks evaluating Tennessee's players and staff on the defensive side of the ball, and that included defensive line coach Rodney Garner. As it turns out, Knowles must have liked what he saw with Garner.

The school announced its defensive coaching staff for 2026 on Friday, and Garner has been retained. As per GoVols247, he agreed to a two-year extension through 2027 with his annual salary being bumped up from $900,000 to $1 million.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Defensive line coach Rodney Garner being retained on Tennessee's defensive staff

Garner's defensive line was one of the most important parts of the 2024 team that reached the College Football Playoff. The Vols' defensive front was one of the deepest and most talented in the country, helping the Vols squeak by in some low scoring games to reach 10-2.

And it's not just about what Garner did before this season. His current players are very fond of him, as evidenced by Nathan Robinson's comments about him the week leading up to the Music City Bowl.

“I think it’s really important (Garner coming back) to who we are as a defense,” said Robinson. “And so I feel that it’s necessary that G (Garner) is able to come back. I’m not sure how it would look if he left — as far as the roster. I mean, we talked about the depth chart and all that stuff, but G is really important to us. And he’s helped us a lot growing as football players and as men. And so if that relationship just kind of ceased being an everyday thing, I mean, I know we’d have guys who would be pretty upset about that.”

Tennessee needs to get better on the field in just about every area in 2026 if they're going to sniff getting back to the playoff. Fortunately, they'll still have someone in the building who knows how to build a winning unit and already has great respect from his players. Those are never bad things.

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Jan 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos