The Tennessee Vols held their first spring scrimmage on Thursday as the program begins to mesh its new look roster and coaching staff.

Tennessee is looking to build important team chemistry among its returning players, its 46 newcomers, and numerous new defensive assistant coaches, including new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

“This time of year, man, there’s so much growth that has to happen,” said Vols head coach Josh Heupel when asked about having so many newcomers. “Coaches got to apply pressure to the players and players got to apply pressure to each other to become as good as you can, as fast as you can to build and master ownership of fundamentals, technique, and the scheme. Through the winter and what we’ve done the first seven days, I like where we’re trending and where we’re going.”

One thing that Josh Heupel said on Thursday should be music to the ears of Tennessee fans

This Tennessee team obviously has a long way to go to get to where they want to be. There will be a ton of growth that happens with this team — both on the field and in the weight room — over the next several months.

For that reason, it’s not like Heupel is going to be completely satisfied with any position group at this point.

Heupel, though, was asked on Thursday if he thinks any of Tennessee’s position groups are ahead of schedule.

Tennessee’s sixth-year head coach stopped short of saying that any groups are ahead of schedule, but he quickly noted that he likes where the Vols’ offensive line is right now.

Heupel also mentioned the defensive line and the secondary.

“I don’t know that I’d say ahead of schedule,” said Heupel. “Holistically, I like where the offensive line is trending. I like a lot of what I see from the defensive line. Our secondary, it’s transfers, it’s the new guys, like the length, the athleticism, and the understanding of what we’re doing defensively.”

There probably aren’t three more important position groups on the field than the three that Heupel mentioned.

If you’re going to win in the SEC, you have to be elite in the trenches. That’s non-negotiable. So it’s certainly a big positive that Heupel likes what he’s seen from the offensive and defensive lines so far.

The secondary is obviously important, too. If you can’t stop the opponent’s passing game, it can make for some long Saturdays. And that’s an area where the Vols struggled at times under previous defensive coordinator Tim Banks.

It was a simple comment from Heupel, but considering how unwilling he usually is to part with information, it’s a great sign that he’s seeing progress at a couple of the most important position groups on the field.

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