A deep dive into every step Josh Heupel has taken as head coach of Tennessee Football makes it clear that he was loading up for 2024. Now, that year has arrived, and after an offseason of quiet confidence, Heupel is not shying away from that narrative.
From opening the NIL checkbook to land Nico Iamaleava to using NIL to get veterans like Cooper Mays and Omari Thomas to return to meticulously adding the right transfers, specifically at defensive back, the Vols are where Heupel wants to be. He spoke ahead of fall camp as if the bumps are behind him.
“That stems from us being intentional further along in the recruiting process as coaches, recruiting to our culture and knowing what we are bringing in,” Heupel said of the program’s emergence at his media session. “I think it also stems from the leadership inside our locker room, being able to grab those guys and make sure they understand the standards of what it means to be a Tennessee Vol.”
All offseason, Heupel told anybody who would listen that this was the deepest roster he’s had since he’s been with Tennessee Football. He inherited a complete mess in 2021 from Jeremy Pruitt with a wave of players hitting the portal and an NCAA investigation that hampered recruiting.
To come out of that, Heupel had to be extremely methodical about who he added. He also had to be selective. The result was a plan to give people a taste of what could be, which 2022 was, and then be fully ready to go in 2024. This isn’t a load up for one year and collapse though. Heupel is using this year as a launching pad.
“Being smart and having a plan for the current year but where we need to be in a year or two as well, and then you look at what we have been able to do on the recruiting side of it from personnel to our coaches, at the end of the day, the brand continuing to get stronger and what our success has been out on the road, you put all of that together, and that’s allowed us to continue to build the roster that we need to go win,” he said.
A big part of the improvement has been in the secondary. Tennessee Football had six defensive backs hit the portal, and the Vols added three key transfers in freshman All-American Jermod McCoy from the Oregon State Beavers, MTSU Blue Raiders transfer safety Jakobe Thomas and Temple Owls transfer cornerback Jalen McMurray.
Then there are key players returning and a splash recruit in Boo Carter. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks acknowledged this is the deepest defense he’s had since taking over the Vols, but he actually touted the dominance up front, building his unit from the defensive line on back. Superstars like James Pearce Jr. help with that.
“We did not have that luxury when we first got here in terms of our depth, but we have been very deliberate with our approach in terms of recruiting to make sure we have enough big guys up front,” he said. “It is still a big guy league. You got to have guys up front that can help you stop the run but you also have to be athletic enough to be able to come off the edge. We have a lot of guys that if they continue to do what we think they can do that will fight for playing time. That is definitely a luxury, not just in this league but in any league.”
Of course, beyond more depth and an elite defensive line, there is then the key factor, the $2 million man himself. Heupel and the Vols are now mostly using NIL to keep players, but as part of their plan, they opened the checkbook to get their first transcendent star.
After balling out in the Citrus Bowl, Iamaleava has impressed the coaches all offseason. Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle couldn’t say enough about his development as he gets set for his first season as the full-time starter with Tennessee Football.
“Just watching that kid in the spring scrimmages after he’d been here for two months and it’s like man this guy just gets it on the football side of the ball,” he said. “Now, getting to take this whole offseason and really dive into the intricacies of understanding why are we calling certain things in certain situations? Why are we doing things a certain way? Why are we switching our protection? He is blossoming in that. I think we are going to see his play go to an even higher level, which is a scary thing to think about because just his natural ability to step on a football field and go play well is elite.”
Heupel added praise for his leadership.
“The players have great trust and confidence in him because of those things and then obviously the talent as well,” he said.
Taking all this into account, it can’t be any more clear that Heupel and the Tennessee Football coaches are all in on 2024. This is the culmination of a long-term plan he had to build up the program. Does it mean automatic national title? No. It does mean, however, that the Vols have arrived.
