{"id":24600,"date":"2026-06-17T16:29:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/why-preseason-predictions-might-have-underestimated-tennessee-football-adams-knoxville-news-sentinel\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:29:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:29:38","slug":"why-preseason-predictions-might-have-underestimated-tennessee-football-adams-knoxville-news-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/why-preseason-predictions-might-have-underestimated-tennessee-football-adams-knoxville-news-sentinel\/","title":{"rendered":"Why preseason predictions might have underestimated Tennessee football | Adams – Knoxville News Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana football didn\u2019t just win the national championship<\/a> last season. The Hoosiers made winning<\/a> a championship look easy.
In just two years, coach Curt Cignetti transformed Indiana from a perennial Big Ten punching bag to a champion. Not only did the Hoosiers go 16-0, 12 of their victories were decided by double-figure margins.
Their dramatic turnaround offers hope to any program whose fans are willing to invest in a championship venture. Even as fans expound on the evils of NIL and the transfer portal<\/a>, they can\u2019t ignore the promising possibilities that have arisen from this new version of college football.
Programs aren\u2019t doomed to mediocrity no matter how many analysts slot them in the middle of their conference in preseason.
Transfers play a prominent role in that. As teams revamp their rosters with an influx of transfers, predicting how those players might come together is tricky business.
Something else to consider: As players flee elite programs in search of more playing time or a bigger paycheck, they deprive the most well-endowed teams of precious depth. Translation: The best teams can\u2019t expect to replace an injured starter with a backup who\u2019s just as competent.
Keep that in mind when reading preseason predictions.
Tennessee is picked to finish ninth in the SEC by Lindy\u2019s College Football. Athlon has it at No. 8.
Although I would rank the Vols slightly higher \u2013 maybe, about sixth \u2013 I don\u2019t view those projections as terribly out of line. This schedule is their most challenging since Texas and Oklahoma joined the league. And their uncertainty at quarterback is glaring for anyone trying to make an educated guess on how the conference season might play out.
However, while SEC some teams have more proven quarterbacks, their offensive supporting cast might not be as well set as Tennessee\u2019s.
The Vols have two wide receivers \u2013 Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley \u2013 who had more than 800 yards receiving last season. DeSean Bishop is a returning 1,000-yard rusher.
Also, five of UT\u2019s offensive linemen have starting experience. And they have starting experience in coach Josh Heupel\u2019s offense. That continuity is significant in an era when so many teams are counting on newcomers to mesh in their offensive line.
Tennessee had to do that last season. Transfers Wendell Moe and Sam Pendleton became starters. So did freshman David Sanders after working through injuries. Now, those players offer experience as well as potential.
So, while the Vols are breaking in a new quarterback, they\u2019re able to surround him with players who aren\u2019t strangers to Heupel\u2019s system.
You can\u2019t be as sure of the defense. But it almost can\u2019t help but be improved after ranking 91st<\/sup> nationally in both total defense and scoring defense.
ADAMS: <\/strong>One reader optimistic about Tennessee football \u2014 in 2027. Why I agree<\/a><\/span>
New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is renowned as a defensive strategist and has come to Knoxville from Penn State with enough experienced assistant coaches and transfers to ease the transition from his defense to whatever the Vols attempted to play last season.
Better defense and a deeply experienced offense won\u2019t always overcome inadequate quarterback play. But they will enhance a new quarterback\u2019s chance of succeeding \u2013 and proving those preseason predictions wrong.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana football didn\u2019t just win the national championship last season. The Hoosiers made winning a championship look easy.In just two years, coach Curt Cignetti transformed Indiana from a perennial Big Ten punching bag to a champion. Not only did the Hoosiers go 16-0, 12 of their victories were decided by double-figure margins.Their dramatic turnaround offers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}