Three Tennessee Football breakout players hint at return with Vols next season

Three Tennessee Football players coming off breakout seasons hinted at their return to the Vols for the 2026 season in posts on social media on Friday. Wide receiver Braylon Staley, tight end Ethan Davis and cornerback Ty Redmond all appear to be returning to Tennessee.

Davis posted on social media that he was “excited for 2026” along with a picture of himself in a game this season.

Staley posted an orange heart along with a picture of himself celebrating with wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope and Redmond posted a picture from the Georgia game this season with both orange and white hearts. 

Braylon Staley, Ty Redmond coming off breakout seasons

Redmond was forced into action at corner early in his freshman season with Jermod McCoy sidelined by a torn ACL and Rickey Gibson III lost for the season with an upper-body injury suffered in Week 1 against Syracuse. 

He finished the season with 43 tackles, three interceptions and 12 passes defended. 

Redmond is a big part of Tennessee’s future in the secondary with McCoy and Colton Hood — Hood starred at the other corner position after transferring from Colorado — both entering the 2026 NFL Draft and Gibson set to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Ethan Davis became impact player for Tennessee at tight end

Davis had a career year with 21 catches for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He had 13 catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman last season and two catches for 33 yards in two games as a freshman in 2023.

He did the bulk of his work later in the season, with 20 catches for 256 yards and both touchdowns over the final five games of the regular-season. He had a career-high seven catches for 72 yards and a touchdown at Florida on November 22 and five catches for 62 yards against Oklahoma on November 1.

Staley, meanwhile, was arguably the biggest breakout performer of the season, catching 68 passes for 837 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 64.4 yards per game and 12.3 yards per catch over 13 games. 

His 68 receptions led the team. He finished second in receiving yards this season, behind only the 1,017 from Chris Brazzell II, and second in touchdown, behind Brazzell’s nine. 

Staley was a four-star recruit, ranked No. 83 overall in the Rivals Industry Ranking. He was the No. 17 wide receiver and the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of South Carolina. 

Redmond was a three-star prospect out of Georgia and Davis was a four-star out of Texas.