Tennessee Vols coach eases big concern that UT fans have for the 2025 college football season
Regardless of how the 2024 season ends for the Tennessee Vols, there will be plenty of excitement on Rocky Top next fall when the 2025 college football season gets underway. Tennessee will return quarterback Nico Iamaleava in 2025 and they'll have the talent on the roster to compete for a national championship. Much of that […]
Regardless of how the 2024 season ends for the Tennessee Vols, there will be plenty of excitement on Rocky Top next fall when the 2025 college football season gets underway.
Tennessee will return quarterback Nico Iamaleava in 2025 and they'll have the talent on the roster to compete for a national championship.
Much of that talent, however, will be youthful — specifically along the offensive line.
Tennessee is set to lose several offensive linemen who have played important snaps for the Volunteers over the last few years.
Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins, John Campbell, Andrej Karic, Dayne Davis, and Jackson Lampley will all be moving on after the 2024 season.
Left tackle Lance Heard will be the only returning starting offensive lineman for Tennessee next fall.
Five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr, who will be a true freshman for the Vols next season, is expected to compete for a starting spot at one of the tackle positions (we'll see how it plays out with Heard….though it seems like Sanders will play right tackle in 2025).
Beyond Sanders, the Vols will look to the offensive linemen that are already on the roster to fill the other vacant starting spots along the offensive line (Tennessee will probably explore the NCAA transfer portal for options, but it's impossible to predict how that'll shake out for the Vols).
Fortunately for Tennessee, Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee feels like the program has some young offensive linemen that are ready to step up and play a key role in Josh Heupel's offense.
"I think we're in a good spot," said Elarbee on Vol Calls this week when asked about the future of the offensive line. "Heup's been super intentional this year, every Friday, those young guys [are] getting extra pass pro (reps), individual, fundamentals. And I think even guys that have been here a little bit, like, man, at practice, as my wife likes to call him, Larry Tre Johnson has looked really, really good. He's kind of sitting there waiting for his opportunity. Feel like he's on the verge. I think Jesse Perry as a freshman has done unreal things. Sham (Umarov) has come a long way in his development — he jumped into the game two weeks ago and played really, really good, did some great stuff on the outside zone. All those guys, they're so far ahead. They're just kind of champing at the bit, waiting on (their opportunity)."
2025 is going to be a big prove it year for Tennessee's offensive line development. So far, the Vols have leaned mostly on transfer players and Jeremy Pruitt era players (Mays, Spraggins, Davis, Lampley). The 2025 season will be the first season that the offensive line is primarily made up of players that Heupel and his staff recruited. And if the Vols are going to truly compete for a national title next season, they'll need those young offensive linemen to excel from the jump in 2025.
There’s an easy wrinkle Josh Heupel can add to the Tennessee Vols’ offense that would instantly provide a huge spark
No need to wait, make it happen
