It's time for coach Josh Heupel and No. 15 Tennessee to prove they can keep up.
Not just the bigger and even more powerful Southeastern Conference. Heupel and his Vols have to measure up to the other programs on campus.
The Vols won the SEC men's basketball title under coach Rick Barnes, and Tony Vitello led the baseball program to Tennessee's first national title in any sport since 2009.
In Knoxville, no program faces more pressure or attention than football, where Heupel has revived a program that was struggling to fill seats inside Neyland Stadium into one with a lengthy waiting list for season tickets. He knows better than anyone that it's his turn to prove just how good his program can be.
“I’m not sure that there’s ever been a better time to be a Vol,” Heupel said.
Heupel goes into his fourth season coming off a 9-4 record and a No. 17 ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll. He has guided the Vols to 20 wins over the past two years, the program’s best two-year stretch since 2003-04.
That's not what Vols' fans and supporters want, not with millions being spent renovating Neyland and the SEC now bigger with the additions of Texas and Heupel's alma mater, Oklahoma.
Heupel won quite a few games with Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton III, both now in the NFL.
Star recruit Nico Iamaleava now gets his turn to run Heupel's fast-paced offense, and he will have both Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle in his ear with college coaches now able to talk directly to quarterbacks via helmet electronics.
Heupel thinks Iamaleava has a better understanding of his offense too.
“I think we are going to see his play go to an even higher level, which is a scary thing to think about because just his natural ability to step on a football field and go play well is elite,” Heupel said.
Heupel tweaked his offensive approach from Hooker to Milton, and now he has a quarterback who got to watch and learn before winning his first start with a 35-0 rout of Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
Iamaleava can run but his arm is his biggest strength. He also believes he has a better feel and understanding of why Heupel goes so fast on offense after spring practice.
“Why we do certain things, why we motion and why tempo is important," Iamaleava said. "Just things like that. I think that’s definitely somewhere where I grew this past offseason.”
The Vols had the SEC's best rushing offense in 2023, averaging 202.6 yards per game led by All-SEC running back Jaylen Wright who led all of FBS averaging 7.39 yards per carry. Dylan Sampson is poised to replace him in the backfield.
Wide receiver Bru McCoy also is back after a season-ending injury. Squirrel White led the Vols with 67 catches for 803 yards, and Chas Nimrod also is back having added strength and size through the offseason.
Tennessee ranked 10th nationally with 36 sacks and sixth with 93 tackles for loss led by All-SEC edge rusher James Pearce. He led the league with 10 sacks himself and already is considered a top pick for the 2025 NFL draft if not No. 1 selection overall.
He has defensive lineman Omari Thomas back for a sixth year to help anchor that line. Thomas had 4 1/2 tackles for loss himself.
The Vols open the season Aug. 31 hosting Chattanooga, then play No. 24 North Carolina State in Charlotte. They have a Sept. 21 visit to No. 16 Oklahoma, where Heupel led the Sooners to a national title in 2000.
Tennessee's first SEC road game comes Oct. 5 at Arkansas, then the Vols start a four-game home stretch with Florida on Oct. 12 and No. 5 Alabama on Oct. 19. The late regular-season schedule includes a Nov. 16 trip to top-ranked Georgia and a Nov. 30 closer at Vanderbilt.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll