The Tennessee Vols’ cornerback situation is one of the program’s most important competitions heading into the 2026 season. 

Tennessee needs to find a starting corner opposite sophomore Ty Redmond, and the depth behind that starter matters just as much after last season proved how quickly things can fall apart at the position.

Last season, Tennessee entered the year with Rickey Gibson and Colton Hood as the starting corners, with the hope that Jermod McCoy would return at some point from his torn ACL. McCoy, however, never came back, and Gibson suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the season. The Vols had to throw true freshman Ty Redmond into the fire as a result.

Redmond will enter the season as Tennessee’s No. 1 cornerback after developing into a solid player as a true freshman. He had some early struggles — that’s expected for any true freshman — but he improved significantly as the season went along (I think the evaluation by Tennessee’s staff deserves credit here — Redmond wasn’t a highly rated recruit, but he proved he belonged in the SEC).

Auburn transfer addition Kayin Lee is probably going to be the starter opposite Redmond. Lee had a solid spring and looks like the top option to serve as the other starting cornerback. It’s important, though, that Tennessee identifies its No. 3 cornerback, too. 

Vols insider shares latest on cornerback competition

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday and discussed how the cornerback competition is shaking out as we get closer to the start of fall camp. 

Hubbs believes the Vols will be better at cornerback this fall than they were a year ago.

“I think they’re going to be better (at cornerback) because Ty Redmond is going to be a year better,” said Hubbs. “He was thrown into the fire last year as a freshman, so he’s only going to be better. Kayin Lee is a guy who had an okay spring — he had a really good spring game. I think he’s a guy that the more people you put in the stands, he’s probably a better player than he is just a regular practice player. So that’s got to develop a little bit. But I think athletically and skill wise, they went and got him out of the portal for a reason, and that was to come in and play quickly. And I think he will.

“I think the third corner at this point is Tre Poteat. And then where’s Tim Merritt? Where are some of these young guys that have come in here? This time last year, cornerback was going to be the strength of the football team. And it became a struggle for them because Rickey Gibson got hurt, and Jermod McCoy never made it to the field. If they stay healthy, I like where they are at cornerback. I think Redmond is a good player. I think he got better and better as the year went on. I think Kayin Lee is a guy who’s probably a little more athletic than Redmond. Redmond’s longer. I’ll be interested to see if Tennessee plays a boundary corner and a field corner, or if they just play it straight up. We just don’t know exactly how (defensive coordinator) Jim Knowles is going to orchestrate and put this defense together. But there’s good competition there.”

Hubbs also noted that Tennessee needs to find a backup nickel/slot corner, behind presumed No. 1 option Quay Moss, as well.

“They love Quay Moss as their nickel,” said Hubbs. “The question is going to be, who’s the backup nickel? And I think that’s probably the overriding question of this secondary between now and the end of fall camp.”

For now, the backup nickel competition is wide open with no clear favorites to serve as the top backup.