From being a walk-on from Karns High School to becoming one of the best players in the country, Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop is embarking on a career that even he did not imagine as a kid. 

On Saturday night in the 34-6 win over Kentucky, Bishop became the second player in Tennessee history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in back-to-back seasons, joining Johnnie Jones, who did so in 1983 and 1984. His 1,048 yards this season rank No. 18 on the program’s single-season list, one spot behind his 1,076 from a year ago.

With his faith-led character and hard work, Bishop has placed himself among the Heisman hopefuls for the 2026 season, and Tennessee football officially launched a Heisman campaign for him Tuesday. The graphics posted to social media show the production that makes him the best running back in the nation, all of it compiled week in and week out in the toughest conference in college football.

From walk on to the nation’s top running back in the nation’s toughest conference.#BishopForHeisman pic.twitter.com/jfqS8woDzM

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 10, 2026

Bishop was also named a semifinalist Tuesday for the Maxwell Award, which goes to the nation’s top player. Three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 24, and the award will be presented Dec. 11 as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.

When Bishop was asked about the Heisman campaign Tuesday, he started where he always does.

“Praise Christ,” Bishop said. “He gets the glory, first and foremost. All glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, just for allowing me to even be here, just to even receive a recognition like that. It just goes back to where I started off. I was a walk-on. It’s not bad for a walk-on. At the end of the day it’s a team award.”

Bishop’s story has been highlighted and talked about over the past several weeks. Things weren’t always great for him in the beginning at Tennessee. But head coach Josh Heupel stuck with him and had patience.

“It starts with Heup as well too, a guy that took a chance with me even with my off-the-field struggles at the beginning of my journey,” Bishop said. “He stayed true to me and put me in a position to put the ball in my hand.”

Bishop passed Dylan Sampson on Saturday, and his 2,597 career rushing yards now rank ninth in program history. He needs just 80 yards to reach Jamal Lewis for fifth on the program’s all-time list, and he should climb even higher before it’s all said and done. His 32 career rushing touchdowns tie Joshua Dobbs for fourth-most in Tennessee history. Bishop is looking forward to finishing strong with his teammates and making this season even greater.

“It just shows the hard work pays off regardless of how you start,” Bishop said. “It’s not really how you start, it’s how you finish. I feel like there’s a lot more left on the table for me to go accomplish this year. Just looking forward to the rest of the season and what I got to do to help my team be successful.”

Faith runs through nearly everything Bishop says, and he’s open about where his life was headed before it changed.

“No matter how big I get, no matter how low I get, he gets all the credit, because truly I wouldn’t be here without him,” Bishop said. “The path I was going down was very destructive, and he saved my life.”

Tennessee running backs coach De’Rail Sims arrived when Bishop was still a walk-on. Asked whether Bishop belongs in the Heisman conversation, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

“There’s no doubt about it, he deserves it,” Sims said. “When you sit up here and you look at his whole body of work, what he’s been able to do. You got the ranked teams that we played against, how he’s going out in the second half and he’s been attacking that.”

For Sims, the case goes beyond the stat sheet for Bishop. Stats are great, but you have to look at the totality of Bishop. Also, if you take away Bishop, this team would look much different.

"Him as a whole entire person, when you sit up here and you talk about, okay, what is the Heisman Trophy? The best player in college football," Sims said. 

“That joker's story from where he came in as a freshman to where he is now to how he sits over there and takes over games in the second half, how he's a teammate, how he leads the team, his faith value that he's about. Like when you sit up here and talk about the best player in college football, okay, statistically it is what it is. But the best player in college football for his team is D-Bishop.”

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