We continue our countdown to kick-off with our series detailing one biggest concern for every SEC team heading into 2026. Today, we head to Knoxville to talk about the Tennessee Volunteers.
Will Jim Knowles’ defense be too complex to work in year one
The quarterback situation in Knoxville has been talked about ad nauseum. Neither player grabbed the reins in the quarterback competition this Spring, and no matter who Josh Heupel chooses as his signal caller, it will be a young freshman with zero starting experience at the collegiate level. There’s plenty of concern there for Tennessee.
There’s also a ton of positive optimism on that side of the ball. The Vols return mostly all their skill position players including two 800 yard receivers and their leading running back. First year quarterbacks tend to do really well in Heupel’s offense averaging over 266 yards per game and a total TD-to-INT ratio of 31-7 dating back to his time as the offensive coordinator at Missouri.
That’s not where their biggest concern is. Their biggest concern is whether or not the defense is able to pick up new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ defense in year one.
That’s notoriously been an issue at his previous stops.
In year one at Oklahoma State (2018) the Cowboys ranked 97th in scoring defense (32.5 ppg), 112th in yards per game allowed (452.5 ypg), 91st in yards per play (6.0), 118th in passing yards allowed per game (267.1), and 8th in rushing defense (185.4). The following year they jumped up 31 spots in scoring, and allowed 40 yards less per game overall and over 30 less on the ground. By the time he left in 2021, the Cowboys were ranked in the top ten in scoring defense.
The same happened at Ohio State. In his first year in Columbus, the Buckeyes ranked No. 24 in scoring defense and ranked in the top two nationally in the following two seasons. Their sacks went from 34 in 2022 to 53 in 2024. Their turnovers increased as well, and their yards allowed on the ground and through the air both went down by more than 30 yards per game from his first year to his third.
Knowles runs a complex defense. At a basic level it’s a 4-2-5 defense, but there are a ton of moving parts. It requires a lot of communication and even more pre-snap reads and adjustments, especially in the back seven. That can be an uphill battle when you have just three returning starters in your back seven and four transfers projected to start. Knowles brought several key pieces with him from Happy Valley, like Chaz Coleman, but the star pass rusher may not even play this Fall after an offseason of issues off the field.
The hiring of Knowles was one of the best of any SEC school this offseason. He brings a championship pedigree and nearly 40 years of coaching experience. Tennessee is really talented on the defensive side of the ball, but let’s not kid ourselves, this isn’t 2024 Ohio State.
Can Knowles get his defense up speed by the time a brutal SEC schedule starts? We’ll find out, but that is the Vols biggest concern for the 2026 season.
