Tennessee Volunteers Football Offseason Preview

Tennessee football has been mediocre for a long time, and far longer than fans in Knoxville expect or want. Tennessee has a rich football heritage going back to General Robert Neyland, for which the team’s football stadium is named. The Volunteers were relevant and successful in the 1980s under then-coach Johnny Majors and in the 1990s under national championship head coach Phil Fulmer. Tennessee was still competitive in the SEC through 2007, when the Volunteers made another SEC Championship Game appearance as the SEC East Division champion. Little did anyone know that 15 years later, Tennessee would still be waiting for that next SEC title game berth and a chance to win the SEC championship.

One of the consistent themes of the past 15 years of Tennessee misery has been the lack of a passing game and a high-tech offense. Tennessee has cycled through a lot of coaches who did not focus on passing the ball and did not concentrate much on developing quarterbacks or teaching technique to skill players. When they hired Josh Heupel, the former coach at UCF who won the 2000 national championship as a quarterback at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, the Volunteers finally hired a coach who taught the passing game.

In one season, Tennessee didn’t fix all of its problems, but the offense definitely became a force. Tennessee was one of only three teams in the SEC to score over 500 points for the season. The other two teams were the teams which played in the national championship game, Alabama and Georgia. That’s a testament to how much Tennessee’s offense has grown. Now, the Vols and Heupel will try to develop their defense, because in 2021, all that offensive firepower led to only seven wins in 13 games. UT is still a long way away from being a 10-win program, which is what it used to be in the glory days.

Key Personnel Lost

The Vols lose cornerback Alontae Taylor, a top-50 pick, part of a five-member NFL draft class. There are a number of players Heupel and the coaching staff have to replace, but their recruiting has them optimistic they can pull it off.

Important Incoming Freshmen

Tyre West is a four-star defensive line recruit. Justin Williams-Thomas is a new running back. The Vols have a number of fresh faces ready to make their mark on the program and turn potential into a much more positive reality in Knoxville. There is complete confidence and trust that Heupel can develop the offense, but the questions surround new defensive players and their ability to make the grade.

Key Position Battles

Most teams’ key position battles are on offense, but for Tennessee, it’s the defensive line by far. Tennessee got thrown around like a rag doll on defense for much of the 2021 season. That’s why this team scored over 500 points but won barely more than half of its games. Tennessee allowed the third-most points in the SEC. Only Vanderbilt and Missouri allowed more. Tennessee has to get a defensive line which can compete at a much higher level.

Biggest Offseason Goal(s)

Defense, defense, defense. Every waking moment has to be spent getting the defense from substandard to average or maybe even slightly above average. With a high-powered offense, just a moderately better defense could do big things. Junior college transfer cornerback Desmond Williams and other new faces will try to make that happen.