The Tennessee Vols have something under Josh Heupel they haven't had in a decade
The Tennessee Vols haven't had a 10-win season in 15 years. There are obviously numerous reasons for the Vols' lack of on-field success. One of the biggest reasons Tennessee has struggled has been an inability to win in the trenches — specifically on the offensive side of the ball. If a team is going to […]
The Tennessee Vols haven't had a 10-win season in 15 years.
There are obviously numerous reasons for the Vols' lack of on-field success.
One of the biggest reasons Tennessee has struggled has been an inability to win in the trenches — specifically on the offensive side of the ball.
If a team is going to compete for division titles in the SEC, the offensive line has to play at an elite level. And that hasn't been the case for the Volunteers over the last 10 years.
The subpar offensive line play has been a direct result of coaching. Tennessee's had some talent — maybe not Alabama-level talent, but they've had enough talent to win 10 games.
The offensive line coaches, however, have been a consistent source of frustration for Vols fans.
From 2013 to 2020, Tennessee had three offensive line coaches. And none of them were exactly fan favorites.
- Don Mahoney — 2013-2016
- Walt Wells — 2017
- Will Friend — 2018-2020
The offensive line consistently underperformed during that eight-year period.
Fortunately for the Vols, Josh Heupel brought an elite offensive line coach with him when he left UCF for Tennessee 14 months ago.
According to Dave Bartoo and Matrix Analytical Solutions, an analytics firm that works with athletic departments on targeted coaching hires, performance metrics, recruiting edges, and in-game situational analytics, current Vols assistant Glen Elarbee is a top 10 offensive line coach in all of college football.
I'd say that puts Elarbee in elite offensive line coach territory (Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh as top five play-callers are obviously elite, too).
Tennessee hasn't had an elite offensive line coach since Sam Pittman, the current head coach at Arkansas, was on Derek Dooley's staff in 2012.
Heupel has done a good job of building a quality staff in Knoxville. It's not a staff comprised entirely of big names, but instead a mix of coaches that understand Heupel's philosophy and culture. The right fit is always more important than the right name.
The only question now about this staff — including Elarbee — is whether or not they can recruit at a high level. Tennessee picked up some momentum in late 2021, landing the No. 17 recruiting class in the nation in Heupel's first full year on the job. That's a nice start. But in order to compete with Georgia, the Vols will need to start consistently landing top 10 classes.
If that happens, then I think Tennessee's talent combined with above-average coaching will give the Volunteers a shot at their first SEC East division title since 2007.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
