Vols Conclude Spring With Annual Orange & White Game

April 11, 2026 | Football

Josh Heupel Press Conference Players Press Conference Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football concluded its spring with its 15th and final practice as nearly 48,000 fans watched the Volunteers hold their annual Orange & White Game on Saturday afternoon inside Neyland Stadium.

The free admission experience featured individual periods, special teams work, "pressure kicks" and scrimmaging with the first, second and third teams. Quarterbacks George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon each took snaps with the first and second teams, while Colorado transfer Ryan Staub fired a 75-yard touchdown to Carson Whitehead with the third team.

"Each of them (quarterbacks) has to be on their journey of building and mastering their fundamentals, their technique, ownership and the scheme, and that's what we do and then mastering what's happening on the other side of the football too," said sixth-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.

The day featured appearances by current NFL VFLs Alvin Kamara and Dylan Sampson. Kamara was recognized for his generous philanthropic gift this week.

"I want to say thanks to 'AK,' Alvin Kamara, just what he's done since I got back with this program," said Heupel. "Coming back, pouring into our entire team, being around every time he gets an opportunity. You look at him stepping up and his commitment to this university, to this athletic department, the gift that he made. I can't thank him enough for everything that he means to us."

Much of the spring focus has been the defensive play under new coordinator Jim Knowles. The Vols retooled their secondary with several transfers and returned safety Edrees Farooq and Freshman All-American cornerback Ty Redmond. They also feature a loaded linebacker room with Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander, Edwin Spillman and several new, talented faces.

"You combine that with our players, how attentive and how hard they've worked to grow inside the scheme, and I think that's why I've been pleased," said Heupel. "But where they're at as we finish out spring ball and obviously still growth inside of it, but I'm really proud of what they've done."

Kicker Cooper Ranvier, a transfer from Louisville, drilled all three of his pressure kicks. Tulane transfer running back Javin Gordon closed out the scrimmage with a 61-yard touchdown run.

The Vols will continue weight room and conditioning workouts to wrap up the semester. Tennessee opens its 130th football season on Sept. 5 against Furman in Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel
April 11, 2026

Opening Statement
"Great day. Had an opportunity to play some ball. I want to thank our fans for showing up the way that they did on a beautiful Rocky Top day. Vol Walk, it was awesome to have been there and, in the stadium, as well. Got a lot of players and players' families that are back this weekend so appreciate them showing up. Also want to say thanks to 'AK,' Alvin Kamara, just what he's done since I got back with this program. Coming back, pouring into our entire team, being around every time he gets an opportunity. You look at him stepping up and his commitment to this university, to this athletic department, the gift that he made. I can't thank him enough for everything that he means to us. Great having a lot of players back too. Having Alontae Taylor and Dylan Sampson back, getting a chance to spend time with them, but as much as anything be a part of this weekend with us too. I want to say special thanks to all our former players that came back as well."

On challenges with a younger group of quarterbacks compared to previous seasons and accomplishments from that spot…
"Not everything, but you never accomplish everything. But I do love the growth from that group. I love the way that they've competed with themselves, with each other. I love the way that they've grown every single day. Each of them maybe had a day where it was a little bit below what they had shown and their expectations too. They responded and came back the next day and were a lot better. So, there's a lot of positive, a lot of things that they and we have to work on as a football team, but I like the work that they've put in and where they're at. Now we got to continue to grow here. We have four weeks before we break from school, and then we get back to our summer schedule and the routine that they have to go through to continue to grow and expect everybody on this roster and the quarterbacks included to be a lot better when they come back and we start in August."

On what the quarterbacks can do between now and training camp to separate themselves…
"Each of them has to be on their journey of building and mastering their fundamentals, their technique, ownership and the scheme and that's what we do and then mastering what's happening on the other side of the football too."

On what excites you about your pass rush looking strong today and what it does for the offensive line to go against a group like that every day in practice…
"Lot of great competition on the defensive line. Interior and edges, some young guys that got some play last year that got to continue to grow. We need to be up front on the defensive side of the football. Offensively, you got a lot of guys who are coming back, where we'll obviously, you know, wasn't involved in the team portions of what we were doing throughout the course of spring. Some new faces, and some guys that redshirted a year ago that got to continue to grow. But you know, it's both sides of the football. There's competition inside of the position room and good young talent that just has to continue in their growth."

On the secondary coverage today and how it compared to the rest of spring practice…
"Yeah, you know, we busted on the one third down. We would give up a big play early in the scrimmage. In general, that has not happened throughout the course of spring ball. I think defensively overall, our guys have grasped what we're doing defensively, communicated at a really high level, continued to get better fundamentally, continued to strain and worked into a better body positioning in tackling and that's live periods and thud periods too. In the secondary, there is competition, safety spots, corner spots, and I think that's driven those guys to compete on the field but in the classroom and in the meetings as well at a really high level. A lot of guys that if they continue to grow the way they have, since we got back in January, have a chance to put themselves in a position to play high level football."

On how you view the quarterbacks in the spring game versus practice…
"Today's the biggest difference in today, in another scrimmage or practice, is people in the stands and how that feels and handling a negative play and responding to the next play. All things that you see in practice as well, but it's different when there's eyes on you and there's media out there. So, I thought in general they handled it really well today and went and played the next play. Some things we need to correct off of it as well. But you want to see them in control with what you're doing offensively and a lot of that is communication, that's on the field, signal, call, motion shift, whatever it might be. It's also sideline mechanics. In general, I thought they handled themselves well. Again, there's a lot left out there for us to continue to grow into."

On how you clean up some of the penalties that happened today…
"Yeah, in general it's the most that we've had on the defensive side of the football. They've been doing a pretty good job here through spring ball. Disappointed in that today. Some of the playing penalty stuff is fundamentals and technique. It's your eyes and getting your body in the right position. That has to continue to clean up as we go through. Even the summers, you go through some of your installs and some of the time you get on the field and straighten it through training camp. But it's the growth of a lot of young players and see guys who can play some football."

On Chaz Colemans's status…
"Yeah, ultimately, Chaz is dealing with some things off the field, and he's got to handle that and go through that process. We're here to help and support him in all those ways, and we'll continue to do that. But that's ultimately the beginning of his journey right now, and there's some things he has to work with."

On the growth of the defensive staff…
"We got a lot of guys, support coaches, young coaches that have had time in what we're doing defensively, the scheme. They have been in the unit meeting room with coach, and I think that was a part of the early part of our growth and being able to understand install wise in the past-how you can continue to grow as coaches to make it as efficient and easy as possible. I think it's a part of getting into your players and growing quickly, even before you get to spring ball and during the early part of spring ball. You combine that with our players, how attentive and how hard they've worked to grow inside the scheme. I think that's why I've been pleased and why defensively we've been so pleased with how much effort they put into it. But where they're at as we finish out spring ball and obviously still growth inside of it, but I'm really proud of what they've done."

On Cooper Ranvier's kicking performance and high-leverage kicking situations throughout the scrimmage…
"Today we tried to carve out some intentional times where all eyes were on them and try to put them in pressure situations. We've done that throughout the course of spring ball. Finished every practice, really, with a pressure kick. And he (Ranvier) and 'Turbo' (Josh Turbyville) both have been really consistent in it. I like what we've done, from the snap to the hold, to the kick, and we'll continue to refine some of that, but operation time and then efficiency and accuracy of our kicks have been really good."

On Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre's deep ball accuracy...
"Today, I didn't think we created a lot of separation at times at the wide receiver spot, had some protection issues on some of the plays where we're trying to push it further down the football field, and at the end of the day, didn't create enough explosive plays today. Some of our wide receiver group obviously was out thin. Once you get, because of injury, behind some of the starters, and Mike (Matthews) was obviously wasn't going today, too, in general, those guys are doing a good job. And that's the wide receivers attacking the football, making plays down the field, Mike and Travis (Smith Jr.) and 'RaRa' (Radarious Jackson) certainly, Braylon (Stayley), too. And quarterbacks have done a good job too, but there's growth in that for us still as we go through the summer and training camp."

Freshman QB Faizon Brandon

On how the environment of the fans in the building for the first time affected him…
"I thought the energy was pretty good, you know, with all the fans coming out. I'd say the energy just felt really good."

On what were the nerves like, knowing they've been practicing behind the scenes but were going to be seen today…
"I would say you definitely feel the nerves with the first few plays of the game, but after those, you definitely feel them go away. You're able to just be calm and play your game."

On if he's felt improvement since the first couple of practices…
"For me, it was just my lower body and getting with the pace of college football. That was my biggest focus at the start of spring, and I feel like I've adjusted pretty well to that."

On how much has surprised him at the college football level…
"Things definitely surprised me a little bit. The first, our first practices, but I will say it's definitely slowed down for me as where I am now. I feel like it has slowed down, but I still think there are a lot of things I have to work on to make me better throughout this process."

RS-Freshman QB George MacIntyre

On how he needs to grow in the offseason…
"I would say just keep building a relationship with the receivers. Over spring ball, I feel like we installed almost the whole offense, so we have that to look at and to watch throughout the offseason. We've got all these plays that we've already ran and all this stuff to continue to grow in, and then just growing in it with the receivers, the tight ends, the running backs and the pass game as well, getting that chemistry."

On the nerves today playing in front of fans…
"Yeah I agree with Ryan (Staub). Super grateful, you know, with Vol Nation showing up, huge crowd and a lot of positive energy. I feel like we fed off that. It just felt like another, that was our third scrimmage that we had technically, so just kind of that. It felt like another scrimmage with added fans and added interview."

On if he feels he accomplished as much this spring as last spring..
"Yeah, for sure. I don't think they held anything back schematically at all. I think we actually grew in our scheme this year. There's still a lot on the quarterback, a lot of different check skills and stuff like that. Obviously a very different room and a lot of new faces, but both groups have done a very good job of learning their job and doing it well."

On how much more comfortable he has felt this spring…
"I feel a good bit more comfortable. I think a lot of that growth happened between practice one and practice fifteen, not necessarily between now and last year. But I'm a lot more comfortable, a lot more clear visions, operationally, you know just getting in the playbook. Once you've got 15 days stacked on top of each other everything felt really clear."

RS-Junior Ryan Staub
On the nerves today playing in front of fans…
"Yeah, I mean I think at first nerves were kind of there. There were a lot of fans and it's exciting, and as soon as those first play or two goes. The rest, it's just, kind of goes. We are just out there playing ball, and it's fun."

On pieces of personal game that have elevated throughout spring…
"I think for me, the biggest thing I need to improve on is my feet. There's a lot of changes. I've got some old habits that I have to get rid of with this new system, and just continue to grow and continue to get better every day. For me, it's defining my feet, defining my eyes, and I'll be in the right spot."

On connecting with Carson Whitehead on a deep ball…
"We got the right reads. We were three by one, the safety to the boundary, played to the field, and we got the vertical up the sideline. So, it's a good way to get on the board early, and that was fun."

On learning how to navigate Coach Knowles' complex defensive system…
"For me, it's more coverages than I'm used to seeing, especially this early in the spring, and man, it's a really good thing for us as a QB room to see all those different pictures, how much stuff changes pre- and postsnap, different box looks, different fronts. I mean, you get everything with Coach Knowles, and so I think it's really good for us as a QB room to develop and to see all of these pictures in spring."