CHICAGO – Tennessee senior linebackers Amare Campbell and Arion Carter were named to the preseason watch list for the 42nd annual Butkus Award, the Butkus Foundation announced Thursday.
The Butkus Award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker. Campbell and Carter were two of 51 players selected to the 2026 watch list, while Tennessee was one of eight programs nationally with multiple selections – joining Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
Campbell enters his first season at Tennessee after a standout 2025 campaign at Penn State, where he was the Nittany Lions’ leading tackler and a starting linebacker under current Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Campbell earned 2025 All-Big Ten Third Team honors from the media and was selected to the 2026 Preseason All-SEC Second Team by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
The veteran linebacker started all 13 games for Penn State and ranked sixth in the Big Ten with 103 tackles, including 64 solo stops and 9.5 tackles for loss. He also recorded three sacks, four quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
A two-year player at North Carolina before transferring to Penn State, Campbell has started 27 of his 37 career games and accumulated 193 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, three pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He enrolled at Tennessee in January 2026.
Carter returns for his senior season after leading the SEC in tackles per game in 2025. Despite battling a foot injury throughout the season, Carter started nine of the 10 games he played and paced the Vols with 7.6 stops per contest.
The Smyrna, Tennessee, native was a 2025 semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award and earned a spot on the 2026 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List. He was also selected to the 2026 Preseason All-SEC Third Team by the media and Athlon Sports.
Carter also recorded six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 2025. In 31 career games with 22 starts, Carter has totaled 161 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries, nine pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
A three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient and SEC graduate, Carter was voted to the 2025 SEC Football Leadership Council by his peers and was a member of the 2024-25 VOLeaders Academy. He was also ranked No. 6 on Bruce Feldman’s 2026 Freaks List by The Athletic.
The Butkus Award’s 2026 semifinalists will be announced Oct. 28, followed by the finalists on Nov. 20. The winner will be revealed during the week of Dec. 7 and recognized at the Butkus Award celebration in early 2027. The award is determined by performance throughout the season, and inclusion on the preseason watch list is not required to win the award.
Tennessee Football — 2026 Preseason Honors
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Dodd Trophy Watch List
RB DeSean Bishop
Maxwell Award Watch List
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon)
All-SEC Third Team (Media, Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
LS Bennett Brady
Mannelly Award Watch List
All-SEC Third Team (Phil Steele)
LB Amare Campbell
Butkus Award Watch List
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
LB Arion Carter
Butkus Award Watch List
Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List
All-SEC Third Team (Media, Athlon)
All-SEC Fourth Team (Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
TE Ethan Davis
John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DL Xavier Gilliam
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
OL Donovan Haslam
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DL Daevin Hobbs
All-SEC Third Team (Phil Steele)
DB Kayin Lee
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
WR Mike Matthews
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DB TJ Metcalf
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Wendell Moe Jr.
Lombardi Award Watch List
Outland Trophy Watch List
Walter Camp All-America Second Team
On3 All-America Third Team
Athlon All-America Third Team
All-SEC First Team (Athlon)
All-SEC Third Team (Media, Phil Steele)
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DB Qua Moss
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Jesse Perry
All-SEC First Team (Phil Steele)
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
PK Cooper Ranvier
Lou Groza Award Watch List
DB Ty Redmond
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Athlon All-America Fourth Team
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
P Jackson Ross
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL David Sanders Jr.
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
All-SEC Third Team (Media)
LB Edwin Spillman
Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
AFCA Allstate Good Works Team Nominee
WR Braylon Staley
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
LB Jeremiah Telander
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Shamurad Umarov
East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
