Randy Smith
As always this time of year, Tennessee football fans ask me, "What are the Vols going to do this year?" I usually have a pretty good insight into what to expect, but in 2025, I really have no idea, The Volunteers lost several key components from last year's playoff squad, including quarterback Nico Iamaleava. That was a huge loss, but as I've stated before, Tennessee will be better off without him. In other words, there is never any room for selfishness in college football. Replacing a running back like Dylan Sampson will be a lot tougher than replacing Nico will be.
Coach Josh Heupel has proven himself time and again at Tennessee.
In four years as head coach, Heupel is 37-15 and his overall coaching record is 65-23. After years of Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt (combiner 65-72 record ) the Vols now have a coach that can be trusted to do the right thing. Getting quarterback Joey Aguilar from the Transfer Portal was a good move. Aguilar has a track record of passing success at Appalachian State and the biggest question mark for him is....does he have enough time to completely grasp the Josh Heupel system?
What a lot of folks don't realize is that Tennessee must not only replace a quarterback and tailback this fall, they need some receivers as well. Mike Mathews and Braylon Staley could both be elite receivers plus, there are some talented newcomers as well. There has even been talk of allowing Chattanooga's Boo Carter to pull double duty at receiver and defensive back. A really potent passing attack is not out of the question for Tennessee in 2025.
Defensive holes need to be filled as well, but another good season of recruiting freshmen and older guys from the portal may fix that problem. The last time I remember there being this many question marks about an upcoming Tennessee football season was in 1998. Peyton Manning had graduated and was headed to the NFL. Tee Martin was the heir apparent at quarterback but the Vols had quite a few other holes to fill. You know the result....a 13-0 record and a national championship. I'm not saying that's going to happen again but it's quite possible. In other words, when you least expect perfection it happens.
A lot of things have to happen in years like this. Teams need to get a lot of breaks. They need to stay injury free and everyone needs to be on the same page. If all those factors come to fruition, the final element is a head coach you can trust. And Josh Heupel is that guy.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com