Tennessee’s offense dipped last season. So did the won-loss record.

Can the Vols rebound and look more like the 11-2 team from 2022?

Or will we see more of 9-4 version of 2023?

SEC coaches that we interviewed are in-between. They see the Vols as better than last year but not as good as the Orange Bowl team of two years ago.

“Obviously the SEC is hard but I think they’ve got a chance (to make the 12-team College Football Playoff) if they get the quarterback position clicking,” one SEC coach said.

Most in the Vol Nation are optimistic the quarterback play will be more akin to what Hendon Hooker did in 2022 than what Joe Milton did in 2023.

Tennessee went from averaging a nation’s best 46.1 points per game to 31.8. They went from averaging a nation’s best 525.5 total yards to 448.1.

The result: two fewer wins and losses at Florida and at Missouri and at Alabama. UT beat all three of those teams in 2022.

“He’s got the talent and everybody says he’s got the makeup,” one SEC coach said of Nico Iamaleava, the former five-star recruit. “When all the stars align and the right guy is under center at the right place at the right time, it can go.’’

It went pretty well in the Florida Citrus Bowl where Tennessee routed Iowa 35-0 in Iamaleava’s first career start. He accounted for four touchdowns (three rushing) and ran the offense efficiently against a top-five ranked defense.

One SEC coach noted that success isn’t a one-man job, reminding folks that “Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl.”

Iamaleava’s supporting cast is solid. The receiving corps appears to be one of the best in the SEC. Dylan Sampson has a chance to be a 1,000-yard back. Tight end Ethan Davis will get help from transfers from Notre Dame and Alabama.

And Josh Heupel’s up-tempo offense should again be productive.

“It’s sustainable,” one SEC coach said. “Defenses have not totally caught up with it. Eventually, maybe. But not in Josh Heupel’s career at Tennessee.

“He runs the ball very effectively. It’s not just throwing it all over the lot. They led the SEC in rushing (in 2023). Right now, in this day and age, it’s sustainable.”

Tennessee led the nation in first-quarter points two years ago and ranked high in that category last year. Why have the Vols been so good so early?

“It’s really hard to practice (against an up-tempo offense),” a coach said. “And sometimes it’s based on what kind of offense does your own team run at practice. If your own team runs an up-tempo offense, it doesn’t faze you as much.”

One coach complimented UT and game planning.

“There’s some different elements Josh works into his offense,” the coach said. “If you watch what they do in the first five, six games, the seventh game could be very different with formations and motion. They don’t play the same cards.”

Heupel inherited a mess before the 2021 season. Tennessee went 3-7 in 2020, Jeremy Pruitt got fired, more than 40 players left the program and an NCAA investigation cloud hung over the program.

But Heupel went 7-6 that year, then 11-2 then 9-4 – making a bowl game all three years.

“I think they’ve recruited really well,” one coach said. “And from what I can tell, they’re managing the transfer portal as good as you can. I think they’ve got a good coaching staff, I really do. They fit together.”

Tennessee returns only seven starters, two on defense. The defense was underrated last year, ranking among the SEC’s top five in points allowed, total defense, run defense, sacks and tackles for loss.

The 20.3 per game points allowed ranked 23^rd in the nation compared to the offense which ranked 37^th.

“The transfer portal helps cover for that,” one coach said of the high number of starters lost, “and that staff is pretty sharp. They’re good at developing people.”

One coach made a prediction that is music to Tennessee’s ears.

“I bet they beat Alabama this year,” he said.