Passing the eye test: Vols look ‘dramatically different’ in Year 3 under Josh Heupel
Forget what Tennessee looked like on Day 1 of fall camp on Wednesday morning. For head coach Josh Heupel, it’s more about what his Vols looked like through the offseason.
“Seeing competition and feeling it,” Heupel said during his Wednesday press conference.
It wasn’t that long ago that Tennessee barely had enough bodies to compete.
When Heupel took over in 2021, following the firing of Jeremy Pruitt and his staff, he inherited roughly 65 scholarship players after the NCAA Transfer Portal had decimated the roster.
Those days are gone, though. After winning 18 games over the last two seasons and stacking a couple recruiting classes, Heupel is finally getting the depth and competition he’s so long desired.
‘You just look through the depth of our roster … it’s dramatically different’
Through the offseason, he watched what a difference it made.
“It’s driven guys in the summer,” Heupel said, “and that’s how they’re preparing their bodies. But also in the meeting room, we get a chance to spend a little bit time with them or out on the grass. There is a heightened sense of competitiveness because you know there’s other guys in the building that look like and have the athletic traits that they do too.
“We felt that all off season, felt that (on Wednesday) too.”
Heupel signed a recruiting class in 2022 that included 23 high school prospects and eight transfers. The group was headlined by edge rusher James Pearce, defensive lineman Tyre West and offensive lineman Addison Nichols, finishing ranked 15th nationally and fifth in the SEC.
Lsat season the Vols signed 26 prep players and added nine transfers, finishing 12th in the national rankings and fourth in the league. The group included five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 class, as well as five-star defensive line Daevin Hobbs.
Vols vs. Virginia, Sept. 2, Nashville, Noon ET, ABC
The added numbers were evident on the first day of camp, even if the Vols were just in shorts and helmets.
“You go ones, you go twos, go the next guy’s up, threes, and there’s real players at all levels right there,” Heupel said, “that we certainly didn’t have early in my tenure here.”
After Wednesday’s practice, Heupel was asked if this team passes the eye test more than his last two, including the team that won 11 games and went to the Orange Bowl a year ago.
Heupel said that question could be better answered by the media that watched practice.
“It’s dramatic, dramatically different than we were Year 1,” Heupel said. “I would say that with the guys that run out there with the first unit today, too. But you just look through the depth of our roster, the length, size, the ability to bend. You know upfront, in particular the athleticism, the ability to move out in space with our guys.
“It’s dramatically different.”
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