Tony Vitello has maintained this offseason that while there is no shame in how Tennessee baseball’s 2025 season concluded, a fifth straight super regional appearance is not quite the type of “Vol Year” his program has established.

Omaha is now the standard for Vitello’s Volunteers. Coming up two games short of a fourth trip to the Men’s College World Series in five years is not good enough. So to get back on track in 2026, the Volunteers went out and signed one of the best transfer portal classes of the offseason.

Tennessee signed nine transfers this summer as it rebuilt its roster heading into Vitello’s ninth season on Rocky Top. D1Baseball.com ranked the transfer class No. 6 nationally. The Vols’ class ranked ahead of SEC foes such as South Carolina (No. 8), Auburn (No. 10), Arkansas (No. 11), Florida (No. 12), Alabama (No. 14), Kentucky (No. 15), Ole Miss (No. 16), Oklahoma (No. 17), Texas A&M (No. 18), and Vanderbilt (No. 20).

Georgia (No. 1), Mississippi State (No. 2), Texas (No. 3) and LSU (No. 5) were the only SEC programs with better transfer classes than Tennessee, according to D1.

“As usual, the Volunteers made a big splash in the portal, building their class around one of the biggest prizes available in Virginia transfer Henry Ford,” D1Baseball wrote. “He has obvious first-round talent, and he should put up monster numbers as a junior in Knoxville.”

Ford was one of three position players Tennessee signed. It also signed Bowling Green utility man Garrett Wright and San Diego State middle infielder Finley Bates, as well as Rice two-way player Blaine Brown.

“Garrett Wright was another huge get on the position player side, as an accomplished righthanded hitter with a career .386 average over two seasons at Bowling Green,” D1 wrote. “Wright is a take-charge leader who loves to play, and he should thrive in Knoxville as he continues to make adjustments to his game, because he is very coachable.

“Blaine Brown arrived at Rice as an exciting two-way talent capable of running his fastball into the high-90s from the left side, but he mostly served as a position player as a freshman, reaching the double-digit homer mark. He has electric bat speed and could put up huge power numbers as he continues growing into his live 6-foot-3, 180-pound frame. And if Frank Anderson can help him harness his command off the mound, he could make a real impact there as well, making him a very intriguing wild card.”

.@Vol_Baseball yet again made a big splash in the portal, building its class around one of the biggest prizes available in Henry Ford (our No. 3 transfer hitter).

Tennessee also landed four of our top 30 transfer arms, led by Landon Mack (No. 12 transfer pitcher). pic.twitter.com/vvsx3MkexY

— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) October 7, 2025

Tennessee signed five pitchers in addition to its group of talented positioned players. Rutgers RHP Landon Mack headlines the group that includes ETSU RHP Brady Frederick, Duke LHP Mark Hindy, Kennesaw State RHP Bo Rhudy, and Virginia LHP Evan Blanco.

“The Vols also landed four of our top 30 transfer arms,” D1Baseball wrote. “Blanco was one of the more famous arms in the portal this year, on the strength of his strong freshman year, when he anchored the weekend rotation for Virginia’s Omaha team.

“Rhudy, Frederick and Hindy should all help bolster the UT bullpen.”

VOLS 2026 SEC SCHEDULE

The SEC announced Tennessee’s conference schedule for the upcoming 2026 season last month. UT will host Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama and Texas during the 10-week stretch of conference play. The Volunteers will hit the road to begin SEC play the weekend of March 13 to play Georgia. They’ll also travel to Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Tennessee has not yet released its non-conference schedule, but GoVols247 has learned that the Vols will host Nicholls State during opening weekend beginning Feb. 13. They’ll also host Kent State (Feb. 20-22) and Wright State (March 6-8) for weekend series leading up to SEC play.

UT’s big non-conference weekend will be Feb. 27 through March 1 when it travels to Arlington, Texas to participate in The Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field — the home of the Texas Rangers. UT will play UCLA on Friday at 4 p.m. ET, Arizona State on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET, and Virginia Tech on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET. 

Here’s a look at Tennessee’s complete 2025 conference schedule.

March 13-15: at GeorgiaMarch 22-24: vs. MissouriMarch 27-29: at VanderbiltApril 3-5: vs. LSUApril 10-12: at Mississippi StateApril 17-19: vs. Ole MissApril 24-26: vs. AlabamaMay 1-3: at KentuckyMay 8-10: vs. TexasMay 14-16: at Oklahoma