One of the most important ingredients to a good college football team is having key team leaders.

Last season, the Tennessee Vols had a couple of key team leaders in cornerback Alontae Taylor and defensive lineman Matthew Butler.

Taylor and Butler, however, are off to the NFL after standout careers at Tennessee. That means the Vols will need a couple of guys to step up in 2022 to help fill that void.

Fortunately for the Vols, it appears the program has already found its two main team leaders for the upcoming season.

Quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Cedric Tillman — two players who could've gone to the NFL after the 2021 season — are already showing elite leadership simply via their reasons for returning to Tennessee.

Hooker and Tillman each made it clear on Thursday that NIL deals were not their main motivation for returning to Tennessee. Instead, their main motivation is "unfinished business" and continued development.

Players getting paid to sign with colleges via NIL deals is a hot topic right now. No one really knows what's going on or how these deals are being worked. Nor do we know the amounts that players are getting paid. But it seems like it's a driving force in the decisions of many current players (transfer portal decisions) and recruits.

That's why it's refreshing to hear this take from Hooker and Tillman.

When the star quarterback and the star wide receiver are downplaying NIL deals and instead talking about what happens on the field, it's a great sign for the program. It sets a good example for the rest of the team.

If players are just out there chasing NIL deals, they're probably not going to be very successful.

That's something that Tillman pointed out on Thursday.

"Hard work got me these opportunities," said Tillman (via 247Sports' Wes Rucker). "If I don’t keep working hard, I’ll lose them. You have to stay humble. You have to keep working. Football comes first. This stuff is second."

Hooker echoed those sentiments.

"It’s about making the main focus the main focus," said Hooker. "Keeping football first, keeping God first, keeping family first. Everything else is icing on the cake. That stuff is secondary. The main things come first."

That's the kind of leadership the Vols need in order to take a big step forward in 2022.

Tennessee should be in a good place in 2022 with those two leading the offense and the locker room.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK