Watching Tennessee’s offense has been like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. Work with me here.
Other than short-yardage or some unusual situation, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s offensive formation was pretty easy to predict last season. The Vols would have a running back, a tight end and three receivers, who rarely rotated during the game. No offense, but Tennessee’s offense before the snap was kind of boring before 2024. Then, the butterfly emerged.
The Vols have had success with a number of different personnel groupings, including utilizing two tight ends to hammer North Carolina State and a four wide receiver formation because, well, Tennessee has a bunch of receivers that are capable of playing at a high level.
“Depth in your personnel gives you the freedom, the luxury to do more things,” Heupel said. “That can be within your scheme, but it certainly is within our personnel groupings too. The first couple of years, we really primarily played two tight ends (at different times during the game).
“Within the structure of what we do, that limits how much exposure you want those guys to have in 12 personnel. A year ago we had, I think, six scholarship wide receivers. Got guys banged up. With our roster now, you have the ability to go into a four wide set and go play really, really good football.”
By exposure, Heupel means he was less likely to play a two tight end set because one of his players could get hurt. Therefore, the Vols couldn’t rotate tight ends between series to keep them fresh.
For the record, “12 personnel” means the Vols have two tight ends on the field. Moreover – for the record – Heupel said the four wide receiver set can mean “really, really good football.” In other words, the best of Heupel’s offense, which has been historically good, can be even better and, possibly, more explosive with four elite receivers on the field. That’s something for Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables to think about. Venables is considered a defensive guru, but what does he prepare for?
The Vols’ tempo won’t allow the Sooners to substitute once a drive begins. That means Heupel could outman Venables if the third-year Sooner coach isn’t prepared for what Heupel is throwing out on the field. The two tight end package is certainly an option. Heupel and redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava made mince meat out of the Wolfpack defense with 12 personnel in Week Two.
“We have great trust in those guys,” Heupel said. “Nico has a great trust with those guys. The route patterns, they’re going to see it the way he sees it. They’re going be able to settle in the zones and win versus man-to-man. Those guys have all done a really nice job through spring ball and have certainly gotten more comfortable in what we’re doing.
“Speaking specifically to the transfers, as we got into training camp, those guys took a big jump being able to operate within our system as we got to training camp.”
Those transfers are Miles Kitselman and Holden Staes, who transferred from Alabama and Notre Dame, respectively, Then, there is redshirt freshman Ethan Davis, who was the standout tight end in the season-opening win against Chattanooga. Kitselman and Staes have also had their moments and, given their experience at big-time college football schools, know what to expect when the Vols play Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m.
“This is going to be a great test for us,” Kitselman said. “They have a hell of a team over there, and I am just excited to see what the coaches give us as a game plan this week and ready to attack it. Oklahoma is definitely going to be a great test for us, they have a bunch of ball players over there.”
The Sooners are probably saying the same thing about Tennessee.
