War Room: Tennessee holds first scrimmage, 2026 recruiting nuggets, hoops and more
We begin this edition of the War Room as we always do. The War Room is a collective effort of Tennessee notes and news gathered throughout the week by the Volquest staff. And now, it’s on with the news.
Tennessee will hold its first scrimmage of the pre-season later tonight and it’s a big opportunity for several players to show where they are after a summer and 10 days of fall camp.
No one has a bigger opportunity than Boo Carter and Peyton Lewis respectively. Tennessee got a good idea about Carter in spring practice, but now with Jourdan Thomas out, Carter’s opportunity to be the starter at the star position is extremely real. Carter’s physical game is not a question, where he is at mentally is what he has to show the coaches the most.
That is why Friday night is an important scrimmage for him. It’s not the end all be all, but it is a real starting point to understand where he’s at and what they want and can do defensively with him at nickel.
It’s also the first real opportunity for meaningful, competitive reps at safety for guys like John Slaughter and Jakobe Thomas.
Offensively, the running back room behind Dylan Sampson is in flux as expected. Desean Bishop just continues to grind along. Cam Seldon won’t scrimmage as he’s not ready for contact and Sampson will get little to no work Friday night.
That’s means for Peyton Lewis, Friday night is a big chance. Lewis has being taking contact and getting plenty of work on the practice field, but scrimmages are different and this first scrimmage is a chance to show his ability as a runner and where he is with pass protection and an understanding of the offense.
We don’t expect any news about several of the receivers including Bru McCoy, who would be limited at best. The opportunity is at running back for Peyton Lewis. Not to win a job or to establish himself in the rotation, but just to see where he is at this point after missing all of spring ball. Lewis looks the part, but where is he in pass protection and how is he with contact. He gets his first opportunity Friday night.
Anyone observing practice, even in the early fundamental work has seen seen a different level of confidence from Nathan Leacock. He’s clearly not thinking as much and his hands have improved. Kelsey Pope noted on Thursday that no one put more time into catching balls this summer than Leacock.
“He caught more balls than anyone this off season. He’s anywhere between like 12 and 13,000 balls, which was a huge area that he had to grow in,” Pope said. “He’s changed his body. He’s healthy and he’s playing fast right now. And I think, you guys keep asking about growth from everybody, man.
“I think the true equalizer is competition. Like we done a great job of putting talent in that room and when there’s talent in that room, there’s an expectation to make plays, right? And as each guy in the room has done that, there’s a guy on the side that’s looking like, man, I gotta go make that play because I got to earn playing time. And that’s been a huge thing this off season that’s helped us be successful so far.”
Now that doesn’t mean Leacock has earned any kind of role in a deep receiver room, but he is clearly more comfortable than he was and has a shot to get on the field this fall.
At 245 pounds, Ethan Davis is more comfortable as well. Davis realized last fall that he had to get bigger, stronger and more physical. He has done those things. There will be plenty of scrutiny on the tight ends Friday night.
How much more physical are Davis and Holden Staes and how much more comfortable in space is Miles Kitselman? The growth of that group is important for this offense this season.
Cole Harrison won’t factor this year, but he has stuck his nose into the fire pretty well the first week or so of camp. I wouldn’t call him a surprise, but he’s impressed with what he has shown for the future.
Up front on defense, they are a test for the offensive line first team through third team. The depth is just really impressive and it’s also a reminder that guys like to be coached. There’s always this talk about how hard Rodney Garner is on the practice field, but this group wants to be coached that way and embraces it. That shows in the retention that Garner has with his veteran group.
It will be interesting to see what kind of scrimmage work, if any Keenan Pili gets. Pili is like Bru McCoy in that he wants to scrimmage, but Tennessee’s coaching staff is mindful of reps and obviously want to be smart with him.
Pili is getting contact work on the practice field every day, how much scrimmage work he gets the next few weeks is unclear. But they will be smart with him like they will some veteran offensive linemen as Glen Elarbee explained earlier this week.
On the facilities front, things remain pretty slow at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The press box is closer to being gone, but the rest of it is excavating and utility work that seems to be taking a while. The first priorities seem to be the seating down the right field line and the new restrooms in what will be an expanded concourse.
While progress seems slow at LNS, it’s clean up time at Neyland Stadium. The seat covers are off on the west club, contractors are removing debris, dumpsters and equipment on the south end. The new restrooms on the south end will not be completed for the season (they were never scheduled to be). They will be done for the 2025 season and the concourse then will really open up with the removal of the current restrooms.
New restrooms and concessions will be ready for the second level concourse on the north end of the stadium. The west concourse has been cleaned out of equipment and concessions are starting to be stocked. Rails are being finished up at the new student gate, some asphalt is going down. It’s about go time.
As athletics director Danny White said, this round of renovations isn’t real sexy, but there has been a ton of work done to the stadium’s infrastructure over the last nine months which will make next off-season’s renovations less intense and a much more finished product a year from now.
Recruiting
We are just over a week out from David Sanders announcement. He will make his pick just after the noon hour next Saturday. We will continue to reiterate that Tennessee has done a tremendous job in this recruitment and continues to be in tremendous shape with just over a week to go.
The state of North Carolina continues to be a point of focus for Josh Heupel and his staff. If the Vols land Sanders, they would have landed the top ranked three times and the second overall player once from the state in a five year span (2022-2026) by the On3 rankings. The 2024 class was the only year Tennessee didn’t pull one of the top players from the Tar Heel State.
The 2026 class got off to a quick start in North Carolina last weekend with the commitment of Faizon Brandon and there are several key targets there in that cycle.
Kendre Harrison just transferred to Providence Day so he will be around David Sanders and fellow 2026 offensive lineman Leo Delaney. At Myers Park, wide receiver Brody Keefe and edge Rodney Dunham will be a points of focus. Then up at Hough, Samari Matthews is someone that Tennessee has been on for a while along with West Charlotte edge Elijah Littlejohn.
As for the 2025 class, Tennessee is still looking to add another linebacker and has circled back around to Alabama commitment Jaedon Harmon. The two sides have been talking lately so it will be interesting to see if the Vols can get him up for a game this fall.
Tennessee also wants to add to the defensive interior and Ole Miss pledge Andrew Maddox is one Rodney Garner has been talking to some. He has a tie to Maddox so we will see if that is enough to get him up for a look this season.
Tennessee will also be heavily swinging for Virginia tailback Savion Hiter in this next cycle. He is near the top of the board for running backs in this coming class and De’Rail Sims has been on him plenty consistently over the last couple of months.
Tennessee made a big impression on top 2026 safety Zelus Hicks during his June visit to Knoxville. The Vols were the first school to reach out to him on June 15th as well, and he is feeling like a priority early on because of this and the communication with the staff. He has connected well with Tim Banks, and the two are talking frequently. He raves about the culture in Knoxville, and he has heard plenty about Rocky Top from former teammate Mike Matthews. We believe Hicks will be back in town in October for the Alabama game.
Elsewhere at safety, 2026 standout Craig Tutt has been to Tennessee twice now and is high on the Vols early on. He has heard from the staff routinely since June 15th and feels like they are making him a priority, along with Alabama, Michigan and several others. He is excited to get back to town in the fall, as he also reports a strong relationship with Danny O’Rourke and Tim Banks.
Tennessee has done a nice job with Alabama defensive lineman Tyson Bacon early in his recruitment. He has built a strong relationship with Coach Chop and Coach Garner, and the Vols are high on the fast-rising prospects list early in the cycle.
Elsewhere along the defensive line, 2026 top 100 prospect Ja’Reylan McCoy has built a nice relationship with Chop, and the Mississippi defender is planning to take in a game day this fall. He is high on the player development piece Tennessee offers, and the production from James Pearce has caught his attention.
Many have penciled Little Rock LB Jakore Smith into Arkansas’s 2026 class, but the four-star prospect made it clear to us this week that he likes the idea of leaving the state. He has been to Tennessee three times already, and that is more than any other school. We expect him back for the Florida game in October, as he has established a strong bond with William Inge and the defensive staff.
Tennessee is high on the list for 2026 Westlake High School (Ga.) wide receiver Deion Thomas. He has connected with Kelsey Pope and has heard plenty about the Vols from teammate and current Tennessee commitment Travis Smith. He will be back in Knoxville in the fall, and this recruitment has the early makings of another Tennessee-Georgia battle.
Tennessee has also done a nice job of getting versatile athlete Tyriq Green to campus. He can play running back or safety at the next level, and the Vols have built a strong relationship with the dynamic playmaker, who transferred to Buford for his junior season.
Hoops
At this point, with summer winding down, there’s not a lot to add to what we’ve been passing along about the current team.
Pretty much all the buzz that we’ve picked up as the fall semester creeps up on us has been positive.
This summer was going to be pivotal to incorporate the four new transfers into the returning core on the roster, and by all accounts, that’s been a success.
It’s looked good on the court, but probably just as importantly, the chemistry off the court and in the locker room has apparently been great. That’s a big deal for this program under Rick Barnes and the results have spoken for themselves over the years.
In terms of chemistry and bringing in guys that are fits, the staff does a TON of work in that regard in the recruiting process, vetting guys and steering clear of players who are obviously not cut out for Barnes’ program. But with such a tight window for recruiting the transfer portal, it’s possible that you might bring in someone who isn’t a great fit with your roster or culture.
That doesn’t seem to be the case with Tennessee as everything we’ve heard this summer suggests that the integration of the new guys has gone well.
We don’t have a lot to add from the tidbits we’ve been passing along here in recent weeks.
Chaz Lanier has shot the ball as advertised, consistently finishing tops in the team in most of the shooting drills that the staff charts.
Cam Carr has had a great summer. Don’t look for him to dominate every night out, but from what we’ve seen he’s going to have some games where he’s the best player on the court, or at least some extended moments where that’s the case.
The backcourt is deep, especially on the wings. As we’ve mentioned before, Bishop Boswell arrived more physically prepared than anyone expected just with his body, and he’s had a nice summer.
The jury is still out on whether he will carve out regular minutes as Zakai Zeigler’s back-up, but he’s given himself a chance at it.
We’ve talked before about how Tennessee’s front court could actually be improved from last season, and I’m more and more inclined to believe that could be the case.
I think at worst Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic are going to be a wash from Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t have a little higher ceiling.
Okpara will may never have an offensive play called for him but he’ll have a ton of dunks off of alley-oops and outbacks. Milicic as ourselves and others have noted, is just a different kind of ‘four’ than Barnes has had before with the ability to bang inside and step out and hit threes.
There’s a lot to like about this team on paper, but for now it’s all speculation.
On the recruiting front the biggest bit of drama out there is whether or not five-star wing Caleb Wilson, the No. 4 overall player in the 2025 class, is going to schedule an official visit to Knoxville.
At the conclusion of the summer travel season Wilson dropped a top-12 that included Tennessee. He has indicated in interviews that he intends to officially visit the Vols, but has yet to set the date for that trip.
He told on3’s Joe Tipton on July 30 that he had set up two visits to Alabama (Sept. 6) and Kentucky (Sept. 13). He has previously taken official visits to Auburn, North Carolina and Kentucky (with John Calipari). Wilson’s father indicated in a subsequent interview that Oregon was also in line for a visit.
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