Tennessee football needs to play fast this season. Really fast.
The Vols have more than their share of challenges on offense this season, which could signal a return to the high-tempo offense that set the country on fire in 2022. However, it was a bit more tame the last two seasons. Sure, UT could get elite quarterback play and still run the same slow(er) offense than it ran last season, but that doesn’t seem to be a path to success.
Josh Heupel has to replace running back Dylan Sampson, who was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year last season with 22 touchdowns, the most by any SEC player since 2020 when Alabama running back Najee Harris scored 26 times. The Vols were fortunate to be able to lean on Sampson last year, who was vastly underrated heading into the season.
Sampson will be replaced, perhaps, by former Karns High School standout DeSean Bishop, who played extensively last season. Sophomore Peyton Lewis will also likely have a say in the running back race. However, it’s hard to imagine it being as productive as last season.
There are issues at receiver as well. Junior Chris Brazzell II, sophomore Mike Matthews and redshirt freshman Braylon Staley are expected to be the top trio, but they have little experience and a new quarterback at the helm, most likely transfer fifth-year senior Joey Aguilar if he can hold off redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger. Either way, Tennessee football will field a rebuilt offense this season, which could use tempo to offset any talent deficiencies.
At tight end, the Vols don’t have such deficiencies with senior Miles Kitselman and sophomore Ethan Davis. Kitselman is a proven commodity. Davis is thought to be a star in the making.
Aside from winning football games, there are other reasons to return to a fast-paced offense. Athletic director Danny White loves the marketing angle. Head coach Josh Heupel just seems more at ease with the offense he originally brought to Tennessee. Of course, there’s also the matter of getting four new starters ready on the offensive line. Their development could limit just how deep Heupel is ready to go into the playbook.
WNML’s Will West first proposed the idea of needing to go fast again, and it makes plenty of sense. Can the Vols beat the best teams on their schedule by playing opponents “straight up?” Probably not.
It also wouldn’t hurt to get the aforementioned tight ends more involved, as they were in 2022. However, that’s a notion for another column.
If Tennessee football can’t go up-tempo or manage a way to win games with a bevy of new offensive starters, it would be easy to wonder if Heupel’s offense went to South Florida with former UT offensive coordinator Alex Golesh following the 2022 season. Let’s face it: Tennessee hasn’t looked the same offensively since Golesh left for Tampa.
Another possibility is that Aguilar could be a special quarterback who makes a ton of plays for the Vols despite being in a new setting with inexperienced players surrounding him. Former Vol Hendon Hooker was that kind of player. He was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2022.
Whatever the answer is, Heupel had better find it. Tennessee was known as a school with an elite offense that helped them score a ton of points and score some big-time prospects in recruiting. With subpar quarterback play since then, the Vols haven’t looked the same.
If this rebuilt offense is sub-par, fans can blame it on former Tennessee football quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who transferred to UCLA. However, that seems a bit too convenient. Iamaelava wasn’t running Tennessee’s offense in 2023 when it slipped to average.
Was Heupel or Golesh more responsible for the Vols offense in 2022? There’s only one way to find out.
It’s time to go fast. Really fast.
