Things have certainly changed mightily for Tennessee’s football program in just a year. The Vols have gone from flying high to flying under the radar.
Case in point, EA Sports College Football ’26 doesn’t have quarterback Nico Iamaleava nor head coach Josh Heupel among its collection of college football coaches and players that are set to be on the cover in a leaked report.
Quarterbacks who got on the list include Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, D.J. Lagway of Florida, and Sam Leavitt of Arizona State. Iamaleava may be better than all of them but is certainly better than Lagway and Leavitt.
Coaches include Ryan Day of Ohio State, Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss, James Franklin of Penn State, Kirby Smart of Georgia and Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State. Nobody in Knoxville would take Frankling or Dillingham over Heupel.
Some Tennessee football fans may feel slighted. They shouldn’t. They should feel fortunate that the spotlight isn’t on a coach and player that took a bit longer to learn each other’s ways than most predicted. There’s also something to be said for being the underdog instead of the target.
After the Vols’ explosive 2022 season, every team in the nation was determined to not get embarrassed by them. The magical connection between Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt assured, Tennessee wouldn’t surprise anyone in the future. Since then, teams have sold out to take away the deep ball.
Heupel adjusted and went more 12 personnel, and the result was Dylan Sampson setting the single-season school record for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. If teams end up adjusting to that in response, Iamaleava could light the world on fire next year.
Heading into the 1998 season, the Vols lost a ton of headliners in talent, from Peyton Manning to Leonard Little to Marcus Nash to Terry Fair. Jamal Lewis was the only player who generated the same level of offseason hype that those players had. Al Wilson wasn’t a household name yet.
Lewis then suffered a season-ending injury four games in. It didn’t matter. With a new quarterback and a no-stars approach, the Vols went undefeated and won the national championship. That all occurred despite their lowest preseason ranking in four years entering that season. Simply put, flying under the radar works. UT fans should embrace it.
