Tennessee has been masterful in the ever-changing NIL game. Paying players has seemed as traditional as the Vol Walk under fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel. However, the newest trend of funding athletes may be the Vols’ most deft move yet.
Heupel and the Vols certainly benefited from paying out some big-time cash to redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava during his recruitment, which ultimately led him to sign with Tennessee. However, now things have changed. Michigan proved that last season by winning a national championship. That’s what the Vols are trying to replicate.
The Wolverines won it all by keeping players on its roster last season instead of just doling out massive dollars to high school recruits, which they surely did as well. However, Michigan’s budget leaned toward maintaining a more consistent roster, as opposed to bringing in expensive transfers. That’s what the Vols essentially did this season and last, keeping key players in place and not allowing those they coveted to transfer elsewhere or go onto the NFL.
In other words, Tennessee, like Michigan, has tried to build a team, not just a crew of superstars. The Vols will test that theory when they host Chattanooga, led by head coach Rusty Wright, on Saturday at 12:45.
“There’s something to be said about it, you know?” Wright said during The Dave Hooker Show on Off The Hook Sports when asked about maintaining a consistent roster.
Wright said some teams had best be on the lookout for chemistry issues when assembling a roster with outsiders instead of those already involved with the program.
“You have a lot of good players, but you may not have a football team,” Wright said. “You see it happen. Not always the best players win. The best football team ends up winning when it’s all said and done.”
There are other teams, such as Ole Miss, that have been more aggressive in landing players in the transfer portal with big payouts.
“It’s going to get interesting for some people,” Wright said. “My thing is some of them spent a lot of money and if it’s not going well, it’s going to be a lot of money walking out the door.”
It appears Tennessee is staving off that situation. The Vols have let players leave, but the contention was that they were either malcontents or not good enough to play for Tennessee. We’ll see soon, beginning on Saturday when the Vols host Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium.
