It's easy to think 'what could have been' for Tennessee football this season now that the team is 6-3 on the year. What pains a lot of people is that the Vols are only a few plays away from being 8-1, as despite the lopsided defeat to Alabama, the Vols were in prime spots to take down Georgia and Oklahoma.
Kirk Herbstreit blasts Tennessee football fans who want Josh Heupel fired
One of the biggest disappointments for the Vols in both of those losses, and something that has been a theme throughout the year, has been the poor play on special teams. Evan Crabtree is in his first season as the special teams coordinator and he's been disappointing.
Crabtree took over for a man who needs no introduction: Mike Ekeler. Ekeler left this past offseason to return home to Nebraska to join Matt Rhule's staff with the Cornhuskers. Little did we know that the Ekeler move would be one of the biggest losses for 2025 for the Vols, as he's totally changed that area for Nebraska, while UT has been struggling in a massive way.
It seems like Heupel's philosophy has always been, don't make mistakes on special teams because our offense is the real threat. Fair catch everything, play it safe and prevent no return. That works when your offense is a threat, but if not it's just another area where you… https://t.co/u4zQb1OJdj
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) November 3, 2025
Mike Ekeler leaving Tennessee for Nebraska has come back to haunt the Vols
We don't want to pile on Max Gilbert, but the field goal kicking alone in pressure situations against Georgia and Oklahoma was back-breaking. In Week 3, Gilbert had a chance to win it for the Vols late, but his game-winning attempt sailed wide and the Dawgs won in overtime. Heartbreaking.
Then against Oklahoma, Gilbert missed what should have been a chip shot for him. Tennessee was up 10-7 at the time, but the miss loomed large late in the action. It's not all on Gilbert, though. The return game has been the opposite of electric.
It seems like whenever the Vols have a punt return, the returners don't quite know what they're doing. The hope was that Boo Carter, who didn't play any snaps on defense vs. the Sooners, would make a big impact there, but that hasn't been the case. Tennessee is losing field position battles far too consistently when it matters.
Crabtree was previously an analyst/grad assistant before getting his promotion leading up to this season. Head man Josh Heupel has given him a shot to get the job done, but instead fans are left fuming with how his unit has looked. Unfortunately for Crabtree, it might be needed for Tennessee to upgrade from him leading up to the 2026 campaign. That's something that fans are already calling for despite three games in '25 left on the schedule.