KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –  The challenge stretches across the roster this week, Two position coaches, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, and tight ends coach Alec Abeln  addressed local media this week, one bracing his secondary for the sport’s most talked-about bloodline, the other rebuilding his position group on the fly after losing its starter for the season.

Ignoring The Name On The Jersey

Poindexter was asked directly how you prepare a secondary to face a quarterback with the pedigree Arch Manning carries into Knoxville.

“Kids got to understand: yes, he’s got talent, he’s a quarterback, but he and his uncle, he and his dad and I know he feels that way,” Poindexter said. “You watch the tape. Play speed, play technique, and be a great player. It’s going to be a challenge. I hope our guys are up to it.”

Asked more directly whether he’d ever had to specifically game-plan against a player’s name as much as his tape, Poindexter didn’t dodge the framing.

You kind of have to tell your guys: ignore the last name on the jersey,” he said. “Just look at the film. That’s what we’ve got to do to stop him.”

Building Depth For A Long Season

There is also ongoing rotation within the Vols’ secondary room for standard fall maintenance rather than a response to any single injury.

“It moves around a little bit, but you just got to keep bringing the young players along,” Poindexter said. “Guys that have been in the room, they’ve got to keep coming along so we can have the depth. It’s a long season. We know injuries are going to happen, and you’ve just got to keep building it through practice.”

A Red Zone Defense Built On Mentality

Tennessee has allowed just two touchdowns on seven trips inside the 20 this season, and Poindexter credited a specific mindset for the number.

“Coach Knowles always says, ‘Get to the end zone and defend,’” Poindexter said. “I think our kids have created that mentality, we don’t want to give up touchdowns down there. Obviously you don’t want to let them get into the red zone at all, but once you’re down there, you’re trying to hold them to a field goal.”

Speaking of mindset, LB Arion Carter told me specifically how mindset has helped this year’s team be more explosive and ready through week 3. Last season the Vols weren’t as explosive as they seem to be now, one year later after the arrival of strength staffer Derek Owings in the off season. Carter confirmed he now has 15 extra pounds and zero body fat with extra speed in just a few short months of preparation. 

#Vols captain LB Arion Carter told me today the team is showing far more explosiveness and readiness through Week 3 than they had at this point last season. He credits the mindset shift and an offseason built around new strength staff Derek Owings. Arion also confirmed he’s… pic.twitter.com/qej1sR38J6

— Ellie (@Ellie_Mai_) September 22, 2026

Qua Moss, Playing The Way Poindexter Wants Everyone To Play

The co-defensive coordinator  didn’t hold back when asked about transfer safety Qua Moss, who’s established himself as one of the more physical presences on Tennessee’s defense.

“He’s just a football player, man,” Poindexter said. “He plays with energy, plays with passion, and he’s tough. He’s all over the field and he’s got no regard for his body. Even as a fan, just watching him play, that kid knows how to play football. That’s the way you want to play the game.”

A Texas Receiving Corps That Demands Respect

A detailed scouting report on Texas’ receivers, led by Ryan Wingo, made it clear his room isn’t looking past a group he considers among the more dangerous ones on the schedule.

“Don’t sleep on them,” Poindexter said. “They’ve got a fantastic group. They’ve got length, they’ve got speed, and they’re fluid in their movements. They can run the whole route tree, and they’re comfortable with their quarterback. When you watch them on tape, they look like a real operation. It’s a real challenge.”

T.J. Metcalf’s Growth, And A Secondary Finding Its Identity

T.J. Metcalf is a player who’s taken a notable step forward since arriving on campus. He credits  a shift in mindset as much as physical development.

“I recruited him, so I’ve been watching his growth, and I’m happy to see how he’s growing,” Poindexter said. “He took some bumps and bruises the last two years, but I think he’s starting to understand the system now and accepting it, understanding me and what I want from him. He’s playing with better pace, better patience, and he’s actually doing what the defense is asking him to do. I’m proud of how he’s playing, and I hope he keeps playing this way.”

Metcalf’s versatility has also given the staff options to move pieces around the secondary. “He’s a smart kid,” Poindexter said. “We’re just trying to figure out what we’ve got, who we can use, and how we can use them.”

A Defense That Hasn’t Been Tested Deep Yet

Through three games, Poindexter said his group has avoided the big play that can define a secondary’s season, and he wants to keep it that way without asking his players to play tentative.

“Knocking on wood,  so far in three games, the ball really ain’t flown over my head,” Poindexter said. “As the secondary coach, the fastest way they score points is the deep ball, so you’ve got to play good defense. At the same time, you don’t want the kids playing scared. We want to attack, we want to be aggressive, which our kids have been doing, and just play within the scheme.”

He acknowledged Texas presents a different kind of test than anything Tennessee has seen so far this season.

“They’ve got more throws in that offense than the three teams we’ve played so far,” Poindexter said. “But we’re just going to do our job and try to keep the ball in front of us.”

“It’s all in,” he said. “It depends on the defensive call, whether we need run support in the secondary or not. We want to play a tough brand of football, an old-school brand: tackle hard, play hard. Whether it’s coverage or the run fit, we just want to play hard.”

On The Other Side Of The Ball, A Position Group Rebuilding On The Fly

While Poindexter’s secondary works to hold up against one of the country’s most talented receiving corps, Abeln’s tight end room is adjusting to a very different kind of test: replacing a starter less than two weeks after losing him for the season.

Ethan Davis tore his ACL in the fourth quarter of Tennessee’s win over Georgia Tech and will miss the remainder of the year. He’s already announced plans to return to the program next season, a decision Abeln pointed to as reflective of who Davis is as a teammate.

“There are a lot of things around college football these days,” Abeln said. “I think Ethan is a great example of what’s still good about it. He loves this place, he loves his teammates. He’s worked his butt off, been extremely loyal, put his head down and grinded. It absolutely sucks that he doesn’t get the opportunity to show his growth this year, but I could not be more excited to see him back.”

Filling The Gap Left Behind

There’s a particular kind of heartbreak that comes with watching a player do everything right and still lose the season anyway. Ethan Davis didn’t get benched, didn’t get passed over,his year ended in an instant, on a play like a thousand others he’d played before. Now he’s left to watch from the sideline while a role he built through years of quiet, unglamorous work gets handed to someone else. But if there’s any comfort in it, it’s this: the loyalty and effort he poured into this program clearly didn’t go unnoticed.

With Davis out, South Alabama transfer Trent Thomas has stepped into a larger role, one Abeln said he has confidence the position group can handle collectively, even without a direct one-for-one replacement.

“He’s a special player, so I can sit here and say it doesn’t change us a little bit,  but I do have a lot of confidence in the guys in the room,” Abeln said. “Every time Trent has touched the ball, he’s made somebody miss or broken a tackle.”

Abeln has also been struck by how quickly Thomas has developed as a receiving threat, given his limited receiving usage before arriving at Tennessee, he caught just five passes in his final season at South Alabama.

“Watching him, you can tell by the way he carries the football,  he’s not a passive runner when he’s got it. I think it’s a testament to the work he’s put in since he’s been here, and to our strength and conditioning staff. He moves at a different level than he was moving at last year, and as he continues to get more work, it’s just more confidence with the ball in his hands.”

In addition to Thomas, Abeln praised Luca Wolfe “In the two games he’s played, he’s done a good job, been physical and been assignment-sound,” Abeln said. “He’s far from perfect, but I do think he gives himself a chance to continue to grow each week. One is just knowing what to do and having the right mindset going into a play. It’s not clean enough yet, but as he plays more and gets more work, that will continue to improve.”

Luca  was on the receiving end of a designed 2-point conversion earlier this season, a call Abeln said reflects how much trust the staff already has in him with the ball in his hands.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and we know what he can do with the ball in hand,” Abeln said. “We look forward to getting him the ball as many times as we can.”

A Group Still Chasing Clean Protection

Asked what still needs the most work across his room, Abeln didn’t hesitate: pass protection, and specifically identifying pressure before the snap.

“That’s the biggest area for me that we’ve got to get fixed, and get fixed quick,” Abeln said. “It’s not big things,  it’s little details, little angles, little hand placement. That’s really where you talk about trust, and there’s nothing you need trust more in than protection. I’ll be picky about exactly how that’s supposed to look. It’s never really good enough in protection for me, but I understand that’s a huge area for us to attack.”

A Front Seven That Won’t Slow Down

With Texas’ defensive front looming Saturday, Abeln said the challenge his tight ends face changes very little week to week at this point in the schedule. It is still the details that separate one week’s result from the next.

“This week, every week, you’re going to see fronts with really good players who play with technique and physicality,” Abeln said. “I think our units are different, though, and it’ll be about the details, first step, hand placement. That’s really where the difference comes. You play good people, and you’re excited about the steps you take. Excited to see them take another step on Saturday.”

Confidence Built Through Reps, Not Scheme

Three games into the season, you might wonder how much further along his group feels compared to where they stood in the opener. Abelin confirmed it had less to do with scheme and more to do with reps. Rather than pointing to new wrinkles installed since Week 1, he framed the growth in terms of experience with the players seeing more live snaps, adjusting to game speed, and building the kind of instinctive trust that only comes from paying time. 

“As much as you drill, as much as you practice, it’s different when you’re out there,” Abeln said. “The more real snaps you get under your belt, the more you feel the real speed of the game, and the more you understand what it takes mentally and emotionally to be present one play at a time. It’s not your first game out there. It’s not your 50th snap. It’s your 100th snap. Having a little bit of confidence and understanding what it feels like is probably the biggest part.”

A Next-Man-Up Mentality, Without Dwelling On It

Asked whether the staff keeps a standing plan in place for replacing any given player in case of injury, Abeln said Tennessee handles those situations as they come rather than pre-scripting them.

“You don’t want to put that negativity in the air going into it,” Abeln said. “Obviously, in the back of your mind, you know what you can get through certain guys and what skill sets they have. As soon as it happens, it’s next man up, and you go put a plan together for those guys.”

Depth behind the top two tight ends remains a work in progress, with Drake Martinez and Cole Harrison both in the mix. Abeln singled out Harrison for his preparation.

“Cole’s really done a great job being ready at multiple spots,” Abeln said. “We had to play him a little bit on Saturday as well. It’s no different than any group in this league  things can happen real quick. You’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to be prepared. I think he’s done a good job mentally staying in it, understanding that when his moment comes, he’s got to be prepared to go do it.”

Both position groups are chasing the same thing from two very different directions.  One is trying to hold onto what’s working, the other trying to rebuild it on the fly. The secondary has quietly built something rare through three weeks, a defense that hasn’t been tested deep and doesn’t intend to be exposed  against a Manning.

Meanwhile, another part of the team is proving continuity isn’t always about keeping your best player healthy, it’s about how fast the next man can be trusted with the job. Neither story is finished. But Tennessee will find out plenty about how far this group can go by Saturday night. Intend to be exposed  against a Manning. Meanwhile, another part of the team is proving continuity isn’t always about keeping your best player healthy, it’s about how fast the next man can be trusted with the job. Neither story is finished. But Tennessee will find out plenty about how far this group can go by Saturday night.