CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2025 Tennessee

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Josh Heupel.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2025, game by game: won vs. Syracuse 45–26; won vs. East Tennessee State 72–17; lost vs. No. 6 Georgia 41–44; won vs. UAB 56–24; won at Mississippi State 41–34; won vs. Arkansas 34–31; lost at No. 6 Alabama 20–37; won at Kentucky 56–34; lost vs. No. 18 Oklahoma 27–33; won vs. New Mexico State 42–9; won at Florida 31–11; lost vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt 24–45; lost vs. Illinois 28–30+55−21Won 45–26 vs. Syracuse+19SyracuseWon 72–17 vs. East Tennessee State+55East Tennessee …Lost 41–44 vs. No. 6 Georgia-3No. 6 GeorgiaWon 56–24 vs. UAB+32UABWon 41–34 at Mississippi State+7Mississippi Sta…Won 34–31 vs. Arkansas+3ArkansasLost 20–37 at No. 6 Alabama-17No. 6 AlabamaWon 56–34 at Kentucky+22KentuckyLost 27–33 vs. No. 18 Oklahoma-6No. 18 OklahomaWon 42–9 vs. New Mexico State+33New Mexico StateWon 31–11 at Florida+20FloridaLost 24–45 vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt-21No. 12 VanderbiltLost 28–30 vs. Illinois-2Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSyracuseW 45–⁠2657%
Sep 6vsEast Tennessee StateW 72–⁠1790%
Sep 13vs6GeorgiaL 41–⁠4449%
Sep 20vsUABW 56–⁠2483%
Sep 27atMississippi StateW 41–⁠3464%
Oct 11vsArkansasW 34–⁠3175%
Oct 18at6AlabamaL 20–⁠3739%
Oct 25atKentuckyW 56–⁠3470%
Nov 1vs18OklahomaL 27–⁠3365%
Nov 15vsNew Mexico StateW 42–⁠988%
Nov 22atFloridaW 31–⁠1162%
Nov 29vs12VanderbiltL 24–⁠4560%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsIllinoisMusic City BowlL 28–⁠3056%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Illinois 30–⁠28 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 62nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 24
  2. Wk 2: 22
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 15
  6. Wk 6: 15
  7. Wk 7: 12
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 14
  11. Wk 11: 23
  12. Wk 12: 21
  13. Wk 13: 20
  14. Wk 14: 18
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
517–⁠375
Coach
Josh Heupel
Elo
1625 −3 this season
SP+ rating
15.0 No. 19 of 136; offense No. 7, defense No. 63, special teams No. 33
SRS
11.7 No. 23 of 136 in FBS
Returning
22% of last season’s EPA, No. 91 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 11 roster talent No. 16 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Joey Halzle
Defensive coordinator
Tim Banks
Offense
Veer and Shoot
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense10th of 136
  • Defense66th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted11th of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted61st of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2649%1.2810th of 136
Defense0.1046%1.1466th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.24 off
0.09 def		50% off
44% def		—11th off
61st def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense52%9.0 yds13%3.3011%
Defense45%6.5 yds7%3.1017%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.7own 2812% allowed
Defense4.1own 2718% caused

CORE rating 12.3, 30th of 136 (offense 14.5, defense 2.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJoey Aguilar QB3,565 yds
Passing touchdownsJoey Aguilar QB24 TD
Rushing yardsDeSean Bishop RB1,076 yds
Rushing touchdownsDeSean Bishop RB16 TD
Receiving yardsChris Brazzell II WR1,017 yds
Receiving touchdownsChris Brazzell II WR9 TD
TacklesEdwin Spillman LB81 tkl
SacksDominic Bailey DL4.5 sacks
InterceptionsTy Redmond DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

David Sanders Jr. OT★★★★★No. 6
Isaiah Campbell DL★★★★No. 33
DaSaahn Brame TE★★★★No. 61
Mariyon Dye DL★★★★No. 77
Travis Smith Jr. WR★★★★No. 85
George MacIntyre QB★★★★No. 151
Jaedon Harmon LB★★★★No. 168
Christian Gass LB★★★★No. 202

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.935
Running backs23.50.888
Receivers43.80.929
Offensive line34.00.931
Defensive line54.00.933
Linebackers43.80.908
Defensive backs53.20.884
Athletes and specialists14.00.897
Whole class253.70.913

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 2Colton Hood CBNew York Giants
Rd 3Chris Brazzell II WRCarolina Panthers
Rd 4Jermod McCoy CBLas Vegas Raiders
Rd 5Joshua Josephs DEWashington Commanders
Rd 7Tyre West DEDetroit Lions

Roster 110

The 2025 roster

110 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 77 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 7

The 2025 portal
Sam Pendleton OL★★★★from Notre Dame
Wendell Moe Jr. OL★★★from Arizona
Colton Hood CB★★★from Colorado
Amari Jefferson WR★★★from Alabama
Star Thomas RB★★★from Duke
Joey Aguilar QB★★★from UCLA
Josh Schell DL★★★from Grand Valley State

Transfers out 24

Nico Iamaleava QB★★★★★to UCLA
Mike Matthews WR★★★★returned to Tennessee
Jayson Jenkins DL★★★★to Florida State
Squirrel White WR★★★★to Florida State
Cameron Seldon RB★★★to Virginia Tech
Holden Staes TE★★★to Indiana
Jakobe Thomas S★★★to Miami
Jalen Smith LB★★★to Mississippi State
Christian Charles S★★★to Virginia
Jordan Matthews CB★★★to Vanderbilt
Kalib Perry LB★★★to Louisville
Larry Johnson III OT★★★to Colorado

And 12 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ole Miss7–⁠113–⁠23
Georgia7–⁠112–⁠26
Texas A&M7–⁠111–⁠28
Alabama7–⁠111–⁠49
Texas6–⁠210–⁠312
Oklahoma6–⁠210–⁠313
Vanderbilt6–⁠210–⁠315
Missouri4–⁠48–⁠5
Tennessee4–⁠48–⁠5
LSU3–⁠57–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Florida2–⁠64–⁠8
Auburn1–⁠75–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠75–⁠8
South Carolina1–⁠74–⁠8
Arkansas0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.