I have no idea how many games Tennessee will win in 2026, or how fans will feel about the team at the end of the season, but I’m confident the Vols will be a dangerous team this fall.

And it’s mostly because of head coach Josh Heupel.

Now, that’s not to discredit the players — they’re the star of the show.

But this is Heupel’s program. If things go sideways, he’s the one who has to answer for it.

And it’s very clear that Heupel is motivated to make up for the way Tennessee’s season ended last year (blowout loss at home to Vanderbilt and a loss to Illinois in the Music City Bowl).

Josh Heupel has an edge going into the 2026 season

Heupel was not okay with the way things went for the Volunteers last season. It’s why he fired an assistant (defensive coordinator Tim Banks) for the first time in his career. And it’s why he hired the best strength coach in the nation (Derek Owings) away from Indiana.

“I don’t know Josh well — I’ve had the chance to work with him for just over a year now — but what I will say is that he clearly likes this football team,” said Voice of the Vols Mike Keith this week on WNML’s SportsTalk. “He clearly likes where his program is. He clearly likes the changes that they have made.

“His words and his actions and his demeanor at the end of last season told the whole story. He used the word disappointed. He used the word embarrassed. He didn’t like what happened to Tennessee at the end of last season. So I think he set about to make changes — knowing they would be hard. He made some big changes, especially from the standpoint that for the eight previous years as a head coach, he’d never done that (fired an assistant) ever at Central Florida or at Tennessee. And that’s hard. It’s hard to tell good people that we’ve got to make a change. And those people, they’re good coaches. They know what they’re doing, but sometimes you have to change it up. Josh, I think, feels very good about the changes and where this team is right now. What that translates to record-wise, nobody knows. But yes, I think he likes this football team. And what it means going forward? We’re all going to find out together.”

Again, no one knows how this season will play out. But one thing I feel confident about is that Tennessee is going to be a tough and physical team this fall. And they’re going to play with an edge — which starts with the head coach. They may lose some close games against good teams because a play or two doesn’t go their way, but I don’t think we’ll see the Vols look like they looked in the second half of the Vanderbilt game last season at any point in 2026.