Consensus says there are two ways to look at the 2023 Tennessee Football season. Either the Vols didn’t have the right quarterback and Joe Milton III and fell victim to a rash of injuries, or opposing coaches have figured out Josh Heupel’s offense after such a successful 2022.
Based on the 2024 preseason Coaches Poll, coaches themselves feel the latter, if they are putting much effort into this. Coming off a 9-4 season and a No. 17 finish in both polls, the Vols came in at No. 15 in the preseason poll for 2024, good for seventh in the SEC, just above the Oklahoma Sooners.
However, this ignores that Tennessee Football got a massive upgrade at quarterback and is much healthier. Rather than take any of that into account, the head coaches are lazily thinking that nothing about Heupel is special anymore. There’s a reason it’s the most overpaid profession in the United States.
Believe that Heupel has been figured out at your own risk. Many analysts felt the same thing when he was with the UCF Knights, as he went from a 12-0 regular season in 2018 to 6-4 in 2020. Nobody took into account COVID or the injuries they suffered that year.
Danny White, Heupel’s athletic director with the Vols and at UCF, saw more than many coaches do. All you have to do is look at the success coaches are having across the country running Heupel’s system, including his most recent offensive coordinator, South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh.
Add in the fact that Milton was a bad fit for the system in 2023, and there’s actually another way to look at this. Tennessee Football had an incredibly efficient offense, as Milton completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 2,813 yards (7.9 yards per attempt) and had 27 total touchdowns with just five interceptions.
If that’s what having your offense figured out looks like, Heupel should be thrilled. Now, the Vols have Nico Iamaleava, a generational quarterback, and their achilles-heel since Heupel took over, the secondary, is deeper than it’s ever been. Simply put, coaches are putting too much weight on 2023.
There are only two teams on the Vols’ schedule ranked ahead of Tennessee Football: The Georgia Bulldogs at No. 1 and Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 5. However, behind them are the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 16 and N.C. State Wolfpack at No. 22, both of whom they face.
