Peyton Manning sends message about Tennessee athletics after the Vols' national championship
The Tennessee Volunteers are on top of the mountain in the college baseball world. For the first time in program history, the Vols are national champions in baseball. Tennessee hung on for a thrilling 6-5 win over the Texas A&M Aggies in Game Three of the College World Series championship series. There were luminaries of […]
The Tennessee Volunteers are on top of the mountain in the college baseball world. For the first time in program history, the Vols are national champions in baseball. Tennessee hung on for a thrilling 6-5 win over the Texas A&M Aggies in Game Three of the College World Series championship series.
There were luminaries of the world of Tennessee athletics at the game, including Josh Heupel, Danny White, Rick Barnes, and Peyton Manning. After the game, Manning wasn't shy during his interview about where Tennessee athletics stands after the first men's championship in the three major sports since 1998.
"To sit up there with Rick Barnes and Josh Heupel tonight and watch this, I'm telling you. This is not the last. Tennessee is coming in all sports. It's a special night, but this is the first of several to come. I really believe that.
With the way the three programs have been competing, who's to question him at this point (outside of some grumpy/jealous fans from rivals on social media)?
Heupel is just one year removed from taking the Vols to 11 wins and an Orange Bowl championship and has a promising roster led by one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. Rick Barnes just delivered one of Tennessee's best seasons and has built a roster through the transfer portal – headlined by incoming transfer Chaz Lanier from North Florida – to generate serious excitement about advancing further in 2024-25.
And, as Vitello has shown, advancement from one year to the next is the natural progression towards a championship level season. The Vols made Omaha in 2021 but were swept out. They missed as the #1 seed in 2022. They finally won a game in Omaha in 2023. And now, they're at the top of the mountain.
Tennessee athletics – across all three men's sports – has never been in better combined hands than then are with the trio of men in charge right now. We'll see if the Vols can continue to thrill fans, starting this fall in Neyland Stadium.
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