Josh Heupel explains why DeSean Bishop was a walk-on out of high school despite the Tennessee coaching staff viewing him as an impact player
Tennessee Vols running back DeSean Bishop is an SEC star, but he started his career as a walk-on at UT.
Tennessee Vols running back DeSean Bishop earned Second-Team All-SEC honors in 2025 after rushing for 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Not bad for a guy who started his college career as a walk-on.
Bishop’s story, though, isn’t surprising to Tennessee’s coaching staff. They knew he had the ability to be an impact player in the SEC.
So why was Bishop, a former standout at Karns High School in Knoxville, a walk-on?
According to Vols head coach Josh Heupel, it’s because Tennessee had limited spots due to the scholarship reductions that were imposed after the Jeremy Pruitt recruiting scandal.
“He’s a guy that was highly productive at a high school that’s 35 minutes from (Tennessee’s) campus,” said Heupel at SEC Media Days in Tampa. “His offers, we didn’t feel like, necessarily matched what his potential skill level was. He had great vision, balance, body control, and great feet in the hole. There were some things that he had to continue to grow in.
“But we were able to talk to him and just at that time, we were limited in some of the roster spots that we were able to have with some of the things that we inherited from the previous staff. And we talked to him about our vision of who he is, how he could develop, and how he could become an impact player. And he certainly lived up and surpassed those expectations.”
Interestingly, Bishop, who also considered opportunities at Coastal Carolina, Liberty, and Appalachian State, said he didn’t initially realize that it was a walk-on opportunity at Tennessee.
“Tennessee came knocking on the door and gave me the opportunity to walk on there,” said Bishop at SEC Media Days. “And honestly, it’s funny because I didn’t realize it was to walk on when I got there. But it was all part of God’s plan.”
It couldn’t have worked out better for both Bishop and Tennessee.