Tennessee Vols fans get a hint at new formation that Josh Heupel is planning to use
One of the reasons that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is so adept at fielding offenses that put up a massive amount of points is his willingness to constantly evolve. Tempo and wide splits are at the crux of what the Vols do offensively, but Tennessee's offense will also utilize other formations and approaches […]
One of the reasons that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is so adept at fielding offenses that put up a massive amount of points is his willingness to constantly evolve.
Tempo and wide splits are at the crux of what the Vols do offensively, but Tennessee's offense will also utilize other formations and approaches at times (we saw this multiple times in 2022 — specifically against Alabama and Kentucky).
Much of what the Vols do in 2023 will look like what they did in 2022. But there will be new wrinkles introduced in Heupel's third season.
The Knoxville News Sentinel's Adam Sparks appeared on 104.5 The Zone's "Ramon, Kayla, and Will" this week and he revealed that Tennessee debuted a new red zone formation during a recent practice.
Sparks told "Ramon, Kayla, and Will" that Heupel had the media stop recording during practice when the new formation(s) was used.
"There was this interesting situation over by red zone offense that they're running and some interesting alignments…how they were using the wide receivers," said Sparks on Tuesday. "There's a lot of routes to Dont'e Thornton and Josh Heupel had a big grin on his face [when he saw how] Joe Milton was throwing the ball to Dont'e Thornton. And then his eyes sort of went over to the sideline and all the media — we were filming this on our iPhones — and Josh Heupel immediately gave like the throat slash and said 'no, none of this, none of this'".
Tennessee wasn't afraid to get creative in the red zone last season. We saw the Vols utilize read-option looks, go under center with a fullback, and even a play that had only one intended receiver (the final touchdown against Alabama).
It sounds like we'll be seeing the Vols continue to find creative ways to score in the red zone in 2023 (Tennessee was No. 3 in red zone offense in 2022, trailing only Georgia and Ohio State)
Heupel is wise to keep his new red zone formations close to the vest. And the vague details that are out there thanks to reporters like Sparks will only provide opponents with more work this offseason as they try to scheme up ways to defend plays that they haven't seen yet.
