Josh Heupel enters his sixth season as Tennessee’s head coach in 2026. During his first five seasons, Heupel and the Vols have produced three 1,000-yard running backs in a season.
Running back Dylan Sampson set a school record for rushing yards (1,491) and rushing touchdowns (22) in 2024.
Advertisement
In 2025, DeSean Bishop recorded 1,076 rushing yards. He became the third consecutive running back to total 1,000-plus yards in a season since 2023, joining Sampson and Jaylen Wright. Wright finished Tennessee’s 2023 season with 1,013 rushing yards. He also led the Vols in rushing yards in 2022 (875).
In Heupel’s first season at Tennessee in 2021, running back Jabari Small led the Vols with 796 rushing yards.
Below are year-by-year leaders for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns under Heupel at Tennessee since 2021.
|
Year – player |
Rushing yards |
|
2025 – DeSean Bishop |
1,076 rushing yards |
|
2024 – Dylan Sampson |
1,491 rushing yards |
|
2023 – Jaylen Wright |
1,013 rushing yards |
|
2022 – Jaylen Wright |
875 rushing yards |
|
2021 – Jabari Small |
796 rushing yards |
|
Year – player |
Rushing touchdowns |
|
2025 – DeSean Bishop |
16 touchdowns |
|
2024 – Dylan Sampson |
22 touchdowns |
|
2023 – Joe Milton III, Jaylen Wright |
Seven touchdowns |
|
2022 – Jabari Small |
13 touchdowns |
|
2021 – Jabari Small |
Nine touchdowns |
Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Advertisement
This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Top Tennessee running backs each year under Josh Heupel with Vols
