The Tennessee Vols are counting on junior linebacker Arion Carter to have a big season in 2025 while serving as one of the team’s top leaders. 

Carter, a former four-star recruit from Smyrna, TN, started all 13 games for the Vols as a sophomore last season. He led the team with 68 tackles. 

The Tennessee native primarily played running back in high school, so it’s taken him a couple of seasons to master the linebacker position at the college level.

Entering year three, Carter is poised to break out in a big way. In fact, according to VolQuest's Austin Price, he may even be off to the NFL after this season if he has a big year for the Volunteers.

"You want him to be the man," said Price when asked about Carter during an appearance on 99.1 The Sports Animal. "He's had two years to build up to it. It feels like he's finally healthy and ready to go. He's your best playmaker on the defensive side of the ball — minus (cornerback) Jermod McCoy — and you need him to be the vocal leader. McCoy is not that (a vocal leader).

"Arion Carter is one that will rally the troops. He's the guy that in the pregame will give the Drew Brees speech. He's that type of player. A year ago, it was Dylan Sampson. So it certainly feels like he's ready to take off. This is a real opportunity for him this year. This, to me, is a contract year — if he has a really good year, he's off to the NFL. So he's motivated. He's an in-state kid. He wears the Power T with pride, and it feels like he's ready to go boom."

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Carter has certainly been putting in the work this offseason to be "the guy" in Tennessee's defense. 

Vols head coach Josh Heupel said at SEC Media Days earlier this week that no one is putting in more extra work this offseason than Carter. 

"Nobody is more consistent in who he is as he comes into the building every single day," said Heupel of Carter. "There’s nobody putting in more extra work than he does. What I love about Arion is that he’s got the ability to bring guys along with him and he’s done a great job with that." 

“When AC talks, everybody’s listening….you got somebody that’s going to give you a Ray Lewis motivational [talk] before the game.” Vols DL Bryson Eason on linebacker Arion Carter (?:WBIR) pic.twitter.com/svKUJv4dvR

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) July 15, 2025

Carter is a player that former Alabama head coach Nick Saban desperately wanted to land during the 2023 recruiting cycle. 

It sounds like we're going to see in 2025 why Saban so badly wanted Carter in Tuscaloosa. 

Vols senior details how one of Tennessee’s quarterbacks is ‘calling people out at practice’

That’s probably a good thing for the Vols