Where Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Day ranked Tennessee football on coaches poll ballot

Posted by author January 22, 2025 Football

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No coaches were impressed by Tennessee football more than Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and former Vols coach Butch Jones.

Each voted Tennessee No. 7 on their US LBM Coaches Poll final ballots, which were collected and released by USA TODAY Sports.

There were 54 coaches who voted on the 2024 poll as members of the US LBM Board of Coaches. UT coach Josh Heupel was not a voter this season.

Tennessee ranked No. 8 on the final coaches poll of the 2024 season. The highest it appeared on a ballot was No. 7 and its lowest was No. 13.

SEC coaches and former UT coaches ranked UT high on their ballots. Here are some highlights.

These coaches ranked Tennessee the highest

Eight coaches ranked Tennessee No. 7 on their ballot.

DeBoer ranked UT No. 7 and Alabama No. 15. The Vols beat the Crimson Tide 24-17.

Smart ranked UT No. 7 and Georgia No. 4. The Bulldogs beat the Vols 31-17.

Kentucky’s Mike Stoops ranked UT No. 7. He put four SEC teams in his top eight, including No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 8 Ole Miss.

Texas A&M’s Mike Elko ranked UT No. 7, one spot behind Georgia. Elko did not put his own team on the ballot, which had a solid 8-5 record.

Jones, who coached UT from 2013-17, ranked the Vols No. 7, one spot behind Georgia. He now coaches Arkansas State.

Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie and Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin also voted UT No. 7.

These coaches ranked Tennessee the lowest

Only two coaches ranked UT No. 13, and neither faced the Vols or had a direct connection.

UNLV’s Barry Odom, who coached in the SEC at Missouri from 2016-19, had UT at No. 13. He had Ole Miss at No. 9, followed by Indiana, SMU and Boise State in the three spots ahead of the Vols.

Troy’s Jon Sumrall ranked UT No. 13. He also voted Ole Miss No. 9, followed by Indiana, SMU and Clemson in the three spots ahead of the Vols.

Where Ryan Day, CFP coaches ranked Tennessee

Eight coaches of College Football Playoff teams voted in the coaches poll. Most ranked UT lower than the rest of the panel.

Georgia’s Smart ranked UT No. 7, and Oregon’s Dan Lanning ranked the Vols No. 9. But the rest bumped UT back on their ballot.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day ranked UT No. 9. His Buckeyes beat UT 42-17 in the CFP first round en route to winning the national title. He voted Arizona State and Boise State in the two spots ahead of the Vols.

Penn State’s James Franklin and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman also put UT at No. 9.

Boise State’s Spencer Danielson ranked his own team at No. 6 and UT at No. 10.

Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham ranked his own team at No. 5 and UT at No. 11. He put two SEC teams and three Big 12 teams in the top 10 on his ballot. He placed BYU at No. 8 and Iowa State at No. 10.

SMU’s Rhett Lashlee ranked his own team at No. 9 and UT at No. 11. He voted ACC champion Clemson ahead of both at No. 7.

Alex Golesh and other notable ballots

South Florida’s Alex Golesh, who served as UT offensive coordinator from 2021-22, ranked the Vols No. 8 on his ballot. He had Alabama at No. 24, one of the lowest rankings for the Tide.

However, five coaches left Alabama off their Top 25 ballot: UNLV’s Odom, Western Michigan’s Lance Taylor, San Jose State’s Ken Niumatalolo, New Mexico’s Bronco Mendenhall and Washington’s Jedd Fisch.

Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea also had UT at No. 8. Former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, now at Middle Tennessee, ranked UT No. 9.

Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz put his own team at No. 15 and UT at No. 10. He ranked Ole Miss No. 12 and Alabama No. 19.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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