Special Teams
Kicker: Brent Cimaglia (Sr.)
Tennessee has the best returning kicker in the SEC.
Cimaglia earned All-SEC Second Team honors last season after he finished second in the SEC in both field goals made (23) and field goal percentage (85.2). His career field goal percentage of 77.4 percent is currently the second-best in Tennessee history. Cimaglia is 41-for-53 in his career.
Punter: Paxton Brooks (Jr.), Brett Graham (Sr.)
Paxton Brooks’ finest moment was his perfect onside kick in the Gator Bowl. Brooks also played a key role on special teams as the kickoff specialist. Of his 64 kickoffs last year, 46 (71.9 percent) were touchbacks. Brooks will need to improve as a punter if he wants to hold off Brett Graham for the starting job.
Graham arrives in Knoxville as a graduate transfer from Connecticut. The Vols added Graham after Joe Doyle entered the transfer portal. As the starting punter for the Huskies in 2018, Graham punted 63 times for an average of 38.8 yards. He served as the primary holder on field goal and extra point attempts last season and did not punt.
Long-Snapper: Will Albright (Fr.), Matthew Salansky (So.)
Tennessee is in need of a new long-snapper following the graduation of Riley Lovingood. Walk-on Matthew Salansky was the only long-snapper listed on the spring roster, but the Morristown, TN native will be joined by incoming freshman Will Albright this week.
Albright, a native of Greenville, Tennessee, was a U.S. Army All-American as a long-snapper.
Kick Returner: Velus Jones Jr. (Sr.), Ty Chandler (Sr.)
Tennessee has two great options at kick returner for 2020. Chandler has been the kick returner for the Vols the following three seasons, but Pruitt brought in Jones who ranked sixth, fourth, and third in the Pac-12 in kick returns in each of the past three seasons. As a kick returner at USC, he tallied 1,947 kick-return yards for an average of 24 yards and also returned a kick for a score.
Chandler has averaged 22.3 yards per return on 35 returns in his career. He has one kick return touchdown to his credit, too.
Punt Returner: Eric Gray (So.)
Tennessee needs a new punt returner following the graduation of Callaway. Gray was the only Vol to return punts last season other than Callaway. The rising sophomore returned just two punts for an average of 6.0 yards per return. It may be a small sample size, but Gray certainly has the ability to be a game-changing return man.
