Tennessee — SEC
HC
Josh Heupel · Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN · 102,455 cap
PPA off / def
0.32 / 0.15
2025
Class rank
#8
class of 2026
Returning PPA
35%
returning production
| 2024 |
OSU W 42–17 | Columbus |
| 1995 |
OSU L 14–20 | away |
2026 schedule
2025 results (8–5)
Statistical comps — 2025 Tennessee's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (21 in / 29 out)
Origins
General Neyland's seven maxims are still recited before games, and his defenses pitched 71 shutouts. Peyton Manning arrived a century later and made the place a quarterback school; 102,000 sing at the end of the third quarter regardless.
Founded 1794 · Blount College, chartered before Tennessee was a state · first football 1891 · defined by Robert Neyland
All-time record
All-time
869–404–51
1902–2025
Win %
67.6%
121 seasons played
Winning seasons
89
74% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1998 | 13 | 0 | SEC |
| 1938 | 11 | 0 | SEC |
| 1995 | 11 | 1 | SEC |
| 1989 | 11 | 1 | SEC |
| 1970 | 11 | 1 | SEC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1902 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 388 | 57% |
50% | 6 of 136 | 6.3 | 13% |
| 2nd down | 277 | 48% |
51% | 10 of 136 | 7.5 | 16% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 39 | 85% |
79% | — | 4.3 | 8% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 48 | 27% |
40% | — | 5.2 | 13% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 53 | 11% |
38% | — | 9.9 | 21% |
| 4th down | 17 | 47% |
76% | — | 5.2 | 6% |
160 drives · 42% ended in points · 7.3 plays and 46.7 yards per drive · 1.91 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 1 | Syracuse |
Joey Aguilar pass complete to Braylon Staley for 73 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK) |
73 | 6.53 |
| 3 | Georgia |
Joey Aguilar pass complete to Chris Brazzell II for 72 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK) |
72 | 6.37 |
| 10 | Oklahoma |
Braylon Staley 54 Yd pass from Joey Aguilar (Max Gilbert Kick) |
54 | 6.08 |
| 13 | Florida |
(09:57) Shotgun #9 S.Thomas rush right for 52 yards gain to the FLA01 (#28 D.Moore), 1ST D… |
52 | 5.79 |
| 9 | Kentucky |
End of 1st quarter. |
92 | 5.24 |
| 3 | Georgia |
Joey Aguilar pass complete to Chris Brazzell II for 56 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK) |
56 | 4.92 |
| 9 | Kentucky |
(10:48) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 J.Aguilar pass complete deep left to #4 M.Matthews caught at … |
62 | 4.69 |
| 8 | Alabama |
DeSean Bishop run for 44 yds for a TD (Joey Aguilar intercepted) |
44 | 4.64 |