2026 Tennessee football preview: Ian Duarte

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2026 Tennessee football preview: Ian Duarte

Dan Harralson, Vols Wire · Vols Wire

Tue, Jun 16, 2026 ·

1 min read

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Redshirt junior wide receiver Ian Duarte enters his first season at Tennessee in 2026.

The 5-foot-10, 181-pound wide receiver transferred to Vols after playing three seasons at Idaho State . He appeared in 24 games for the Bengals from 2023-25, recording 95 receptions for 1,035 yards and six touchdowns.

Duarte also totaled 17 rushing yards on six attempts, while recording 113 punt return yards and 242 kick return yards for Idaho State.

Against Western Oregon on Sept. 7, 2024, he set single-game career highs for receptions (nine), receiving yards (123) and receiving touchdowns (two). Duarte recorded his longest reception (64 yards) at UNLV on Aug. 23, 2025.

His longest punt return is 31 yards and kick return is 28 yards.

Duarte is from Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho. He also played baseball.

Ian Duarte. 2026 Tennessee football spring practices at Anderson Training Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tennessee will kick off its 2026 football season Sept. 5 versus Furman at Neyland Stadium . The season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+).

The Vols will also host Kennesaw State, Texas , Auburn , Alabama , Kentucky and LSU , while playing at Georgia Tech , Arkansas , South Carolina , Texas A&M and Vanderbilt during the 2026 campaign.