Tennessee junior linebacker Jeremiah Telander spent his high school career in Gainesville, Georgia.
Telander played his first three seasons at North Hall and his senior year at Gainesville, so he was always within an hour of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This Saturday, the 6-foot-2, 238-pounder will finally get a chance to compete inside the spacious $1.6 billion facility that opened in 2017.
“I cannot wait,” Telander said this week in a news conference. “I’ve been to Mercedes-Benz a couple of times, but I’ve never played a game there. I’m having dreams about it almost every single night.
“I’m really looking forward to it, and I have no idea what it’s going to be like, but it’s going to be fun. That’s all I know.”
The No. 24 Volunteers will open their 2025 season against Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Classic, which has a noon kickoff and will be televised by ABC. They will do so with an abundance of former Peach State prospects, with Georgia comfortably in second in terms of the state that produces the most Vols players.