When Tennessee football kicks off the 2022 season against Ball State Thursday, they’ll likely be in a much better position than they were a year ago. However, that doesn’t mean every question is answered.

Josh Heupel still had to address a few position battles from fall camp. That happens every year, though. What’s key for the Vols specifically this year is adding more depth.

“We need a lot of guys,” he said in his Monday press conference. “A year ago, we were the thinnest football team in America.”

Doing that didn’t just involve identifying talent in camp. For Heupel, that means finding who stands out in the game. That’s why Vol fans can expect to see lots of players on the field Thursday. 

“It’s the realest thing and the most important thing that we do, perform in those moments,” he said of in-game production. “I think as you go through a season, you’ve got to understand that players are going to grow and change and evolve, and they’re going to get better, in particular the younger players inside your program.”

Perhaps this is why Heupel said both candidates to start at left tackle, Jeremiah Crawford and Gerald Mincey, will see action on Thursday. He also named both Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker at STAR. Without naming anybody, he also said multiple people would play cornerback. Those were some of the major openings in the offseason.

Finding depth, not forcing depth for Tennessee football

While the lack of a confirmed starter may be a concern, particularly at a place like cornerback, Heupel doesn’t just have to use multiple players at open positions to add more depth. He can use it at more crowded positions.

As we wrote over the weekend, the Vols’ wide receiver room is now crowded in a good way. That doesn’t mean Heupel can’t run multiple guys there with USC Trojans transfer Bru McCoy now eligible. At the same time, Heupel said he wouldn’t try to force more depth.

“Guys have got to show that you can trust them on the football field,” he said. That’s playing their assignment and then being able to make plays.”

Make no mistake, though, the need for identifying depth is nowhere near as daunting as last year. In the first month of 2021, they had to identify who could start. As Heupel noted, the full rotation wasn’t really figured out until October.

It’s also clear if you listen to Heupel that the Tennessee football program is in a better position than 2021. Obviously, things should be better in the second year than the first year under a head coach, Heupel says it has been so far.

“You can see it in the way, you know, as we transition from how we practice during training camp to the season, just the comfort with our players and what we’re doing,” he said. “That’s true for our coaches too. We’re in sync.”

Part of that is being fully healthy, but it does help that so many starters are back. That way Heupel doesn’t have to spend as much time getting players and coaches familiar with each other.

Addressing Tennessee football’s concerns to end last year

An example of Heupel’s confidence in the team’s approach to the season is at defensive back. Last year, the unit was historically bad in its Music City Bowl loss to Purdue.

That game raised many concerns as to how the Vols would operate without Alontae Taylor, who opted out of the Music City Bowl, in the secondary. Those concerns still exist, but Heupel said they have been a motivating factor for the defensive backs.

“The guys that we have inside the building, they’ve prepared in a really good way since we started the offseason, each quarter of our offseason, from strength and conditioning, spring ball to what we’ve done in the summer,” he said. “Now it’s being able to handle everything that comes with gameday.”

Regardless of the questions surrounding Tennessee football, Heupel clearly expressed a lot more confidence in the program. Rather than be concerned about the need to improve upon last year’s lack of depth, his comments suggest the opener as being an opportunity to do just that.