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.
“We’ve got 20 players from the state of Georgia and 15 guys from the Atlanta area,” Tennessee fifth-year coach Josh Heupel said. “They’re going to have a lot of friends and family at the game, and it’s a great way for us to kick this off.”
The success of Atlanta-area players will be key in determining Saturday’s outcome, with Telander joined on defense by Kennesaw edge rusher Joshua Josephs and McDonough defensive back Colton Hood, who began his college career at Auburn in 2023 and was at Colorado last season.
Offensively, the Vols could line up with Lilburn receiver Mike Matthews, Atlanta receiver Travis Smith Jr. and Atlanta tight end Ethan Davis.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and family coming,” Matthews said. “It’s really exciting to be able to play back at home.”
In Tennessee’s 2025 recruiting class that contained 25 members, seven signees were from the Volunteer State and seven from Georgia.
Winning in Georgia has been a difficult task for the Vols, who have lost to Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs four straight times in Athens. Tennessee’s last win in the Peach State took place at Mercedes-Benz in 2017, when the Vols outlasted Georgia Tech 42-41 in two overtimes.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” Telander said. “Now they have the (GHSA) state championships there, but when I played, they didn’t. A lot of guys have never been able to play there, and the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in Georgia is such a blessing.
“We have a lot of Georgia guys on our team, and going back to the home state is the best feeling ever.”
Keys flips to Vols
Tennessee received a commitment Thursday night from Tristen Keys, the nation’s No. 1 receiver in the 2026 signing cycle.
The 6-3, 180-pounder from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, had been committed to LSU since March 19. He is the nation’s No. 6 prospect overall, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
Keys is the 24th commitment in Tennessee’s class, which is ranked eighth by 247Sports.com.
Odds and ends
The Vols are the home team for Saturday’s opener and announced Thursday that they will wear their orange jerseys and white pants. … Despite each team winning 10 games last season, Tennessee was predicted to finish ninth in the 16-member Southeastern Conference, while Syracuse was picked to finish 12th in the 17-member Atlantic Coast Conference. … Heupel has never faced Syracuse as a player, assistant coach or head coach. … Tennessee and Kentucky are the only SEC programs to start a new quarterback each of the past four seasons (2022-25).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.