Josh Heupel answered the big question that Tennessee fans have after the season ending injury to tight end Ethan Davis
Tennessee Volunteers senior tight end Ethan Davis will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel announced on Monday that senior tight end Ethan Davis will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury (Davis is eligible to return to UT for a fifth season in 2027).
It’s brutal news for Davis, who has struggled with injuries during his time at Tennessee. The Georgia native was off to a great start this season after missing much of fall camp (two touchdowns in two games), but he’ll now be sidelined for the rest of the year.
Josh Heupel answers the big question everyone has after the season-ending injury to Ethan Davis
One of the big questions that fans and media have now that Davis is out for the year is whether Heupel will alter his offense moving forward.
The Vols have been using a lot of 12 personnel and heavy tight end sets — which helps in the run game — and Davis was a key part of that.
“Does Tennessee alter some of the 12 personnel and the two tight end stuff that they use, and maybe get back into more of their traditional three wide receiver stuff?” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs this week on WNML’s SportsTalk. “We won’t know the answer to the schematic part of it this week. But moving forward, what does that look like?”
Heupel said on The Mike Keith Show on Monday evening that he doesn’t see the Davis injury changing anything Tennessee does offensively.
“The next guy has got to step up,” said Heupel. “I don’t see it changing who we are offensively. We’ve got some young guys that we are confident in that we want to see continue to grow, but they gotta take ownership. It’s next man up, and let’s go play ball.”
With Davis sidelined, it means that sophomore DaSaahn Brame and South Alabama transfer Trent Thomas will now operate as the Vols’ top two tight ends.
Brame, notably, has improved as blocker this fall.
“He’s gotten much better as a blocker,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price of Brame on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “Josh Heupel praised him after the game on Saturday for the block that sprung the touchdown by Daune Morris there late in the fourth quarter.
“He has become a much more consistent player at the line of scrimmage. He’s always flashed in practice with his ability to make one-handed catches and just make the hard look routine, but he’s never really gotten a ton of run because Ethan Davis has played that role.”
Additionally, true freshman Luca Wolf will likely see an expanded role with Davis out.
Wolf, who is from Austria, has only been playing football since 2024, but he has the physical tools to be an impact player in the SEC.
“Luca Wolf is a fascinating story on this football team,” said Hubbs this week. “He just started playing football in 2024. He didn’t know anything about the game when he started playing it at the NFL Academy in London. So you’re talking about a guy who’s in his third season ever of playing football. How quickly can he accelerate on the mental side of things? Physically, he’s got all the tools.”
Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln praised Wolf in August and said that he has a chance to help Tennessee this fall.
“I think he’s absolutely given himself a chance to be a real contributor this fall,” said Abeln of Wolf in early August. “… Just the maturity of that kid, the way he works, the coachability of that kid — he’s going to give himself a chance. And then physically, I mean he’s big, strong, and able to survive in there right now.”
Wolf played 20 snaps in Tennessee’s season-opener against Furman. He didn’t play any snaps against Georgia Tech.
I’m sure there will be some small things that Heupel tweaks with Davis out. But for the most part, it sounds like Tennessee won’t be cutting down its usage of 12 personnel and tight end heavy set just because Davis is sidelined.
