Why Tennessee football will be better (or worse) than we think, including schedule

Is this Tennessee football schedule softer than we think? Will Josh Heupel‘s offense actually miss a beat just because it has a young quarterback? And why do we assume UT’s offensive line and linebackers will be elite?

We have reached the portion of the preseason that’s ripe for second guessing. So let’s challenge some widely-accepted assumptions about the 2026 Vols.

On this podcast episode of “The Volunteer State,” beat writer Adam Sparks and columnist John Adams push back against conventional wisdom about the 2026 Tennessee football team with some contrarian takes.

To hear the full discussion, listen to the 52-minute podcast. Here are a few highlights.

Conventional wisdom says Tennessee’s schedule is difficult. A nonconference game at Georgia Tech is no gimme. And the SEC schedule is loaded with games against No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 11 Alabama and No. 13 LSU.

That’s a major factor in prognasticators setting the over-under at 7.5 wins for the Vols. Sparks and Adams agree that they foresee an 8-4 record.

But when they go through the schedule game-by-game, it’s not hard to conclude UT posting a 9-3 record.

So why is there a discrepancy? To hear full explanation, listen to the opening topic of the podcast.

Conventional wisdom says that Heupel’s offense will struggle some because it’s breaking in a first-time starter at quarterback, either George MacIntyre or Faizon Brandon. And conventional wisdom says Jim Knowles’ defense will struggle some because it usually takes a full season for his scheme to hit peak performance.

But what if Heupel and Knowles are the best offense-defense coaching duo in the SEC? Doesn’t that mean UT has a strategic advantage before the game kicks off?

Sparks and Adams considered how Heupel and Knowles compared to these SEC coaching duos:

• Texas: Steve Sarkisian (offense) and Will Muschamp (defense)
• Georgia: Mike Bobo (offense) and Kirby Smart (defense)
• Alabama: Kalen DeBoer (offense) and Kane Wommack (defense)
• LSU: Lane Kiffin (offense) and Blake Baker (defense)

Sparks and Adams disagreed slightly. But they concluded that Tennessee has one of the top three or four coaching duos in the SEC. To hear that debate, listen to the second topic on the podcast.

Conventional wisdom says that Tennessee will be really good on the offensive line because it returns five players with starting experience. But were those players considered elite last season?

Returning experience doesn’t guarantee success, so maybe we should rethink expectations of that unit.

After all, UT had its worst rushing season of Heupel’s tenure in 2025, when the offense averaged 4.55 yards per rush.

Sparks and Adams broke down the offensive line. To hear that discussion, check out the third topic of the podcast.

Similarly, conventional wisdom says that Tennessee’s linebackers are among the SEC’s best. Three starters return — Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander and Edwin Spillman — and Penn State transfer Amare Campbell joins the group.

But don’t forget the criticism that UT’s linebackers drew last season. They sometimes struggled in pass coverage. And UT was among the SEC’s worst tackling teams.

Sparks anda Adams said Carter’s health will be a major factor in the group’s performance. And they predicted that fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks will catch flak if these linebackers plays up to expectations.

To hear that discussion, check out the final topic of the podcast.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee football will be better (or worse) than we think, including schedule