By Mark Nagi
The top storyline going into the 2026 season for Tennessee is the quarterback battle. After a year with veteran QB in Joey Aguilar, the Vols will either have a redshirt freshman (George MacIntyre) or a true freshman (Faizon Brandon) starting in the season opener on September 5 against Furman.
Inexperience at that position is not ideal, but there are a lot of folks on that side of the football that can ease the transition. Tennessee brings back four starting offensive linemen, a 1000-yard rusher in DeSean Bishop, and a receiving corps that could be one of the best in the SEC, if not the country, by the time December rolls around.
Passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope, now entering his fifth year on Josh Heupel’s staff, feels that there’s another level this offense can get to in the fall.
“I’m really looking for things that we may not have had answers to last year,” said Pope. “You look at different looks or games you feel like you struggled, or even games where you felt like you may have scored a lot of points, so we were good productively, and we just felt like we could have had a new wrinkle. I think being able to add onto those, to where it still is within your identity. For me as a pass game coordinator, those are the things I’m usually paying attention to, to help keep us balanced on our offense.”
While Chris Brazzell II departed for the NFL after the 2025 season, Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley are back. Matthews had 53 receptions for 813 yards and four touchdowns last year. Staley was named SEC Freshman of the Year and was a Freshman All-American in 2025. He led all SEC freshmen with 68 receptions, 837 yards and six touchdowns. He was second among all FBS freshmen in catches and yards.
“I’m more proud of those two probably more than anybody that I’ve coached in terms of leadership,” Pope said. “Those guys are coaching each other up, they’re coaching others up, and they’re holding a standard. They’re not afraid of conflict with the other guys. They had an off day recently, and Mike and Bray led the entire group in a walkthrough and an install, on their own. So obviously, those guys are self-confident and comfortable within themselves, but to be a productive receiver in the SEC, and still not be entitled and arrogant? I think that’s hard to do nowadays.”
The player in that receiver room with the most potential might be 5-star recruit TK Keys. He’s a true freshman but already turning heads at practice.
“You understand there’s going to be ups and downs as freshmen, but what you never want to coach is a guy’s ability to strain and compete, and that’s what he’s constantly doing,” said Pope. “He’s always competing, even if he’s in the wrong spot. But my message to him, just like those other guys, is, ‘If you want to do this, no matter who you are, how talented you are, you have to be consistent.’ And that’s what we’re focusing on with him.”
A trio of sophomores, Radarious Jackson, Travis Smith Jr. and Joakim Dodson, are all competing for playing time as well.
Pope is still trying to find the third starting receiver behind Matthews and Staley. “We have to get consistent right now, so it’s literally a search… It’s wide open right now. And for me, it’s just consistency daily. Not being up and down, and that’s what I’m getting from a bunch of guys right now.”
