The Tennessee Volunteers have added the Furman Paladins to their 2026 football schedule, according to Furman Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly.
Donnelly revealed the news on the latest edition of Inside Furman Athletics on Monday in response to a question from a fan.
“Yeah, that’s happening,” Donnelly said. “I had to double-check and make sure we mentioned the contract, that we got it back. That’s 2026 we’re going to play Tennessee. Certainly very excited about that.”
Furman was previously scheduled to play at Tennessee on Sept. 19, 2020, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Paladins were slated to receive a $500,000 guarantee for that contest, according to the copy of the contract.
“Looking forward to getting Tennessee on the schedule in 2026, which is a make-up from the COVID year,” Donnelly added. “And they did right by that. They did everything they could to put that together at the time.”
An exact date for the Furman at Tennessee game in 2026 was not mentioned, but it will likely be played as the season-opener or in late November. Tennessee’s only other non-conference game scheduled in 2026 is at the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sept. 12.
Furman is a member of the Southern Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Paladins also have four other Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) contests on their future schedules — at Clemson in 2022 and 2025, at South Carolina in 2023, and at Ole Miss in 2024.
On the same edition of Inside Furman Athletics, Donnelly also mentioned discussions for a football game at another FBS school.
“I know that (head football coach) Clay (Hendrix) has had some conversations with Billy Napier and Florida. Might be a possibility down the road, particularly as a part of that relationship and he’s been very supportive in that way.”
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