2025 is the year when Tennessee football is no longer the program it was once before. Josh Heupel’s star QB rocked the Vols camp in the spring, one of his best DBs was feared to follow suit, and Tennessee’s odds are taking a massive blow. Now, it seems that Tennessee football will have one more very noticeable change added to that list. UT is letting go of one partner to collaborate with a former one, with some major gains coming out of this rekindled bond.

UT is saying goodbye to one of its very old partners in 2026. The result of that will be coming next year, in the school’s athletic fashion. Tennessee’s contract with Nike is set to expire in 2026. That makes way for the competing juggernaut, Adidas, to replace the brand. The latter was infamous for designing some unflattering uniforms for the Vols. But the money that’s coming from Adidas made them the only correct choice for Tennessee. Nike couldn’t help but concede.

Adidas is reportedly offering a $20 million per year deal to UT, that too for 10 years. This is one of the biggest moves from the brand of late, especially in the NIL era. Adidas is also the apparel sponsor for Texas Tech, offering them a total $50 million for 10 years. With this new deal, Adidas will be getting $200 million by the end of the deal, which made it easy for the school to make the switch from Nike. With the House settlement in effect, UT will be investing $20.5 million directly towards student-athletes. Colleges have been looking at other sources for money, and Tennessee was offered one of the best on a silver platter.

With $200 million coming in by way of this partnership, Tennessee athletes stand to take a share of this whopping figure. Adidas brings with it a slew of NIL opportunities–the brand even plans to sign individual players in separate deals–that will only help the financial outlook of the school. “We want to make sure we provide opportunities to our partners that are competitive in the marketplace so they’ll have competitive teams on the field,” Chris McGuire, Adidas’ VP of sports marketing North America, told Yahoo Sports.

This will resume the Vols’ longstanding relationship with Adidas, which was the apparel partner from 1995 to 2015. The brand is known for its dubious uniform choices, while Nike was hailed for delivering some great ones. One of Tennessee’s former stars, too, was enraged at this development.

Al Wilson joined angry fans teaming up against the Tennessee-Adidas deal

It isn’t Tennessee football if there’s no orange, right? Adidas went up and switched out that iconic color for yellow. Fans were enraged online when news surfaced about Tennessee going back to Adidas. “Never go back to that c—,” one fan wrote passionately on X. We won’t know if the brand wins hearts or sees wrath from fans until it debuts new apparel next year. Vols legend Al Wilson also joined in the clarion call against Adidas being the new apparel sponsor.

“Vol Twitter it’s time we make another Schiano stand. This time we fight against Adidas. WE DON’T WANT THAT BS,” the iconic LB wrote on X. Wilson has a firsthand experience when it comes to this issue, since he wore Adidas gear during his time at Knoxville. He won the 1998 National Championship in uniforms that sported the 3 lines. But unfortunately, when there’s a 20 million annual deal being offered, fan criticism won’t move the top brass as much as it did when Greg Schiano was rejected as the Vols HC.

For die-hard CFB fans, uniforms are no joke. With Tennessee’s status in college football and in the SEC, Adidas swooped in with the right price and at the right time to solidify their foothold in the Southeast. With NIL changing the way of football, Adidas scored big with its move.