Tennessee and coach Josh Heupel have agreed to contract extension which includes a raise that will pay him $9 million annually and keep him in Knoxville through the 2029 season. Heupel is 18-8 in two seasons leading the Volunteers, and led them to their first New Year's Six/BCS Bowl since 1999 following the 2022 season. The Volunteers finished ranked No. 6 in the final AP Top 25 and was the No. 1 team in the country in the first College Football Playoff Rankings of the 2022 campaign. 

"The results over Josh's first two seasons speak for themselves," athletics director Danny White said. "He and his staff have energized both our football program and our fanbase with an aggressive brand of football, a competitive culture that creates leaders and a relentless approach to raising the bar every single day. Despite a brief period of dormancy, Tennessee never surrendered its status as a college football powerhouse. We just needed an innovative leader like Josh Heupel to reignite the spark. It's been fun to crash the party, but as Josh said after our Orange Bowl triumph, the best is yet to come."