KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Specialists were in the spotlight Friday morning as Tennessee football wrapped up Practice No. 12 of preseason camp at Haslam Field. Special teams coordinator Evan Crabtree met with the media following the session to discuss the development and experience of his group entering the 2026 season.
The Volunteers return three of the longest-tenured players on the roster in fifth-year veterans Bennett Brady, Jackson Ross and Josh Turbyville, providing Tennessee with a veteran foundation across the kicking game.
“You’ll never regret having old specialists,” Crabtree said. “You need guys that have experience, guys that have been in that stadium a block or two away. You’ve got to have guys that know what that feels like and what it looks like. Being on the road, having those guys that are veterans is important. They help the young guys or the new guys kind of get a feel for it. … You can’t put a price on veterans.”
Brady enters his second season as Tennessee’s primary long snapper after taking over the role in 2025. The West Tennessee native has played in 20 career games and has executed every snap of his college career.
Ross, a returning Ray Guy Award semifinalist, enters his fourth season as the Volunteers’ starting punter and holder. The Australian native has averaged 43.4 yards per punt during his career, which ranks third in Tennessee history, and has recorded 63 career punts downed inside the 20-yard line and 22 punts of 50-plus yards.
“[Jackson] is always going, developing and trying to find ways to get better at his game, but a lot of the things he is improving on may not be measured on the field of play,” Crabtree said. “That might be slightly higher hang time or a little bit better location. Those are things the average viewer might not notice, but those are where he can continue to climb in the little things like that.”
Turbyville has handled kickoff duties for Tennessee since 2023 and returns after earning All-SEC Second Team honors from the league’s coaches in 2025. The Knoxville-area native has recorded 198 touchbacks on 247 career kickoffs and posted an 80.2-percent touchback rate from 2023-25, which ranked fourth nationally and second in the SEC during that span.
“He’s what a Tennessee guy is about,” Crabtree said. “He’s from here, he wants to be here and that is value in itself.”
The Volunteers also added junior placekicker Cooper Ranvier from Louisville, where he earned All-ACC honors in 2025. Ranvier was named to the 2026 Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List after converting 21 of 25 career field-goal attempts and 40 of 42 PATs, including a career-long 51-yard field goal.
Crabtree said Ranvier brings a unique football background to the position, having played receiver in high school before transitioning to kicking.
“He has a competitive edge to him, and he has a confidence to him that probably shows up more on the field,” Crabtree said. “He’s kind of that football player that kicks, rather than just a kicker. … He enjoys those football moments. That’s why he’s here.”
While the kicking specialists provide experience, Tennessee is also searching for the next difference-maker in the return game. Crabtree said the Volunteers are evaluating a deep group of candidates, including Qua Moss, Daune Morris, Braylon Staley, Mike Matthews, Isaiah Hardge and Ian Duarte.
“The return game is a priority around here,” Crabtree said. “We want to have the best guy out there that’s going to give us a chance to change the game, change field position, create an explosive and get a touchdown. That’s our standard. We want that.”
The competition will continue throughout preseason camp as Tennessee looks to identify the player who can combine explosiveness with the decision-making required to handle the responsibilities of the position.
“Number one what we look for, you have to be able to catch it,” Crabtree said. “You have to be able to catch in traffic. We like to say in there, you have to be fearless but not reckless.”
Tennessee also continues to simulate game-day pressure during practice, ending each session with situational kicking periods designed to replicate the stakes of a game.
“Every practice we end with kicks and situational kicks,” Crabtree said. “Offense, defense all out there together and there is a result tied with everything we do. You win or you lose. You could be down by one, down by two, tied whatever it may be, we try to put the situational pressure on the kicker and he’s got to go out and execute. And then you live with the result because that’s how it is in a game.”
The Volunteers continue preseason camp Saturday with a closed scrimmage in Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Aug. 21, 2026
Special Teams Coordinator Evan Crabtree
On who stands out in the punt return competition…
“Try to train as many as we can. Guys that stand out, Qua Moss, Daune Morris, (Braylon Staley), Mike Matthews, (Isaiah Hardge) who we got here out of the portal from another school, he’s been great, (Ian Duarte). It’s a huge group, but guys that are really, really explosive, that have been killing it in practice. Qua Moss, he’s got unbelievable speed. Daune’s been steady for us in the return game from a catching standpoint last year. So, we’re just continuing to work those guys and put them in situations with full covers, try to get live bodies flying at them as much as we can and see who can be the best one.”
On the value of the return game…
“The return game is a priority around here. Value, of course. Offense, defense, there’s tremendous value on all those guys, but when it comes to getting returns and investing in the return game, that’s our M.O. We want to have the best guy out there that’s going to give us a chance to change the game, change field position, create an explosive and get a touchdown. That’s our standard. We want that.”
On what he looks for in a punt returner…
“Number one what we look for, you have to be able to catch it. You have to be able to catch in traffic. We like to say in there, you have to be fearless but not reckless. A guy that has some courage back there and is not afraid to catch the ball with people running at him at full speed, knowing that he can take a tackle and take a shot at the same time, that’s fearlessness. But being reckless is putting yourself in harm’s way. Where in reality, there’s going to be a ball at some point in the game where we shouldn’t return. We shouldn’t put ourselves in harm’s way, and that’s being smart. We don’t want to have somebody that’s just a reckless, go up and run and try to return every single ball, but we have to have a guy that has that fearlessness. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is, what do you do with the ball in your hands? Can you make people miss? Because we’re going to have people in front of him, another 10 set of guys, where their whole job is to create space for the returner. But you as the returner, you have to make a guy or two miss before you can get vertical, that’s the other thing we’re looking for. Ball-in-hand.”
On how he scouts members of the team that can be involved in the return game…
“Has he done it in a game before? The first thing you ask a kid. There’s a crop of guys that have done it in a game before, whether that be here or at another school. But then, you know, you can see a look in their eye. A guy that’s fully ready to go, he wants it. He wants to get the ball in his hands and the game in his hands. The conversation with those guys is how you figure that out. Say, ‘Hey coach, I want to be the returner. I want to be the guy.’ When you start hearing that, you know they’re ready in their mind. But we have a lot of guys that are. Now, it’s about figuring out which one is going to be the one that gives us the best chance to return the ball.”
On Cooper Ranvier’s personality and confidence…
“I mean, you guys will talk to him later. Cooper, maybe on the surface level might come across as pretty quiet. He’s a respectful dude, good guy. He has a competitive edge to him, and he has a confidence to him that probably shows up more on the field. He played receiver in high school. He’s kind of that football players that kicks, rather than just a kicker. I think he enjoys that, that personality that he has with it and with that position. He has fun with it. Super serious, and takes it super seriously with his technique, but when it comes to the game, he enjoys those football moments. That’s why he’s here.”
On managing the roster from a special teams standpoint in the current era of college football…
“With specialists, there’s going to be a hard number we have every year that we are able to work with. That might be six spots or five spots depending on what (Josh Heupel) says, and we work our best around the numbers that we have. When it comes to specialists, you have to get the most talented, number one, and if it’s a guy that’s kind of developing or he’s younger, then you pick the best available – guy out of high school, or maybe that’s a portal guy. You have talent in the room, but you don’t have 10 to 12 specialists like the old days. You have to have the right guys there that are ready to go in a game. How we’ve managed it is we have collected guys that are really talented. Local guy, Josh Turbyville. He’s in the hunt to be a great kicker and a great kickoff guy. He’s a guy that’s been on this roster for five years. That’s talent in the room. A young guy, Grady Dangerfield has got a good leg, and he’s just getting developed. He’s younger, and he’s playing underneath some of these guys, but he is a guy that’s on one of those spots and somebody we’re continuing to develop. You won’t have four or five to pick from, but you have to pick your best two or three. Combo guys, guys that can do both punting a kicking. The punters, obviously (Jackson Ross) being a fifth-year, then we brought (Logan Foley) in who’s a freshman. Trying to have some balance with age there, too. With position players, we’re working hand-in-hand with everybody upstairs, other position coaches, and seeing how valuable a guy is out of the portal. What else can he do? He’s a receiver, but can he cover kicks? He’s a (defensive back), but can he be a guy that can block somebody on a return unit? When you talk about building a roster, that’s kind of our goal, is to then find the next-best players.”
On veteran leadership in the room…
“You’ll never regret having old specialists. You need guys that have experience, guys that have been in that stadium a block or two away. You got to have guys that know what that feels like and what it looks like. Being on the road, having those guys that are veterans are important. They help the young guys or the new guys kind of get a feel for it. There is a confidence that exists there, you’ve done it after your fourth or fifth year in college, you’ve done 10,000 reps at the same thing. Maybe not in a game, but in a practice and games. You can’t put a price on veterans. It helps us a lot.”
On simulating pressure in practice…
“Every practice, depending on what the tempo of the day is, if it’s a shorter practice and we’re just walking through, maybe not. But every practice we end with kicks and situational kicks. Offense, defense all out there together and there is a result tied with everything we do. You win or you lose. You could be down by one, down by two, tied whatever it may be, we try to put the situational pressure on the kicker and he’s got to go out and execute. And then you live with the result because that’s how it is in a game.”
On the value in having Josh Turbyville and what he brings to the team…
“Extremely. I can’t put into words how much we value him. He’s one of the best teammates we’ve had around here. For him to be here for five years and invest and spend the time and the effort, he’s highly talented and highly skilled and he can do a lot of things. He’s got a powerful leg. He’s a guy you love to have around and there is confidence in him. He’s got great confidence in himself. He’s grown so much from first year to fifth year. He’s what a Tennessee guy is about. He’s from here, he wants to be here and that is value in itself.
On the next step for Jackson Ross…
“He’s always going and developing and trying to find ways to get better at his game, but a lot of the things he is improving on may not be measured on the field of play. That might be slightly higher hang time or a little bit better location. Those are things the average viewer might not notice, but those are where he can continue to climb in the little things like that. I know his aspirations are to play at the next level, so he is continuing to grow in that. He is a guy that has power, can kick the ball high and far and he is a professional aimer. He can put the ball where we want it to go and he’s got a unique skill set as we know.”
