The national media needs to pay attention to the latest comments from the Vols, it might change how they view Tennessee in 2026

The national media doesn’t have high expectations for the Tennessee Vols in 2026.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The national media, for the second straight offseason, doesn’t have high expectations for the Tennessee Vols.

And for the second straight offseason, that’s fair.

It’s not Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s fault — he’s just had to deal with some unique scenarios over the last couple of offseasons (such as losing his starting quarterback at the end of spring practice last year).

One reason why the national media isn’t high on the Vols entering the 2026 season is because Tennessee has a new defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles.

Knowles is a highly respected defensive coordinator, but his defense has a reputation for being hard to pick up.

Oklahoma State, for example, had the No. 97 scoring defense in the nation in 2018, which was Knowles’ first season as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. In 2019, Oklahoma State had the No. 61 scoring defense in the nation. By Knowles’ final season in Stillwater (2021), the Cowboys had the No. 9 scoring defense in the nation.

It was a similar story when Knowles took over as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. The Buckeyes were No. 24 in scoring defense in 2022 before finishing No. 2 and No. 1 in Knowles’ final two seasons.

It’s certainly a fair take from the national media, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how things will go for Knowles and the Vols.

Jim Knowles thinks his install will be faster at Tennessee

Knowles told reporters Thursday in Knoxville that he thinks his install will move faster at Tennessee because of the coaches he brought with him that already know his system (co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, LEOs coach Andrew Jackson, and cornerbacks coach Derek Jones).

The Vols also added four defensive transfers that were with Knowles last season at Penn State.

“We can go faster than other situations that I’ve been in because of the fact that we have a lot of coaches who have worked with me before,” said Knowles. “That’s a huge advantage. So definitely faster than other places. And we have a few players, which is really kind of crazy in this day and age, that you have a few players that have been in this system, really at all levels of the defense. Xavier (Gilliam), Amare (Campbell), DeDe (Dejuan Lane), Chaz (Coleman) – all levels (of the defense). They’ve been around, so they can help.

“So yeah, I would say there’s that opportunity. And we do try to throw a lot at them early. It’s a whole-part, whole-philosophy. You kind of start out, throw a lot at them, see what they can take in. Shrink it down once you figure out their strengths and weaknesses and how they learn. It’s really important how they learn. And then hopefully build it back up to a whole on the other end. But how you get to the other end is really based on the players and how they pick it up. So kind of put in a lot, shrink it way down to see what they know, and then take it step by step to build it back up.”

Vols co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, who was with Knowles last season at Penn State, pointed out Thursday that the terminology can be one of the most difficult parts of picking up a new system.

“Anytime you’re going into a new system, there’s going to be a learning curve,” said Poindexter. “That was probably the third defensive system or fourth defensive system that I had been in since I’ve been at Penn State. But it’s just like anything. It’s more the terminology than the system itself. There’s some different things that he does that the other systems I’ve been in, we hadn’t done. But it’s more just the terminology, especially on the back end. In the back end, you’re gonna have cover two, you’re gonna have cover four, you’re gonna have cover three, you’re gonna have man coverage. It’s just the terminology of how you wanna play it.”

Poindexter should be able to hit the ground running this spring while coaching Tennessee’s secondary because of his year of previous experience under Knowles.

If Tennessee’s offense can perform at the same level it did last season, which will largely depend on whether quarterback Joey Aguilar gets another season of eligibility, and if Tennessee’s players pick up Knowles’ scheme quicker than expected, the Vols could be a sleeping giant in the SEC this fall.

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