The Tennessee Vols’ offense, despite evolving over the last couple of years, is still taking hits from the national media.

The idea is that Tennessee’s offense under Josh Heupel doesn’t adequately prepare players for the NFL. It’s a narrative that’s spread like wildfire over the last few years.

ESPN’s Field Yates, for example, questioned in February if Tennessee’s offense prepares wide receivers for the NFL.

“You just watch Tennessee tape, and he pops,” said Yates of former Vols wide receiver Chris Brazzell. “He can find ways to generate some separation at the top of his routes. It’s pretty much all on the perimeter. And Tennessee, to their success and credit during the college seasons — not as much during the pro development stage — has had a few of these guys come out as super long, fast, twitchy, athletic perimeter receivers that, at least to this point, haven’t really panned out that much at the NFL level.

“So I do think that will be part of the conversation (with Brazzell). A lot of the route tree at Tennessee is run far, run fast, run straight. Or run far, fast, straight, and then come back to the football. Guys like Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt a few years ago. Remember, they were the talk of the town during that breakout year for Tennessee, and they have not become, at least to this point, super consistent contributors for their respective teams. I think Tillman more so for the Browns than Hyatt. But it’s a little bit of swimming upstream here for Chris Brazzell. I think day two, maybe round three, or late round two for me, with this incredibly gifted athlete.”

Texas Longhorns 5-star commit drops strong quote about Tennessee’s offense

2027 five-star wide receiver Easton Royal, a Texas Longhorns commit since last November, visited Tennessee this past weekend.

Royal told On3 that one of his biggest takeaways from his visit to Rocky Top is that the narrative that Tennessee doesn’t run an NFL offense is false.

“Probably the biggest thing I could take away from this weekend is that a lot of schools and analysts say that Tennessee runs a not NFL type of offense, but that is not the case,” said Royal to On3. “He (Vols WRs coach Kelsey Pope) made that an emphasis, and I did not have to ask him. He brought it up in a presentation of Tennessee with running schemes, then showing how the NFL teams are running in live action. They run every route at Tennessee. They run digs, outs, go balls, curls, everything you can think of.”

Royal is rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2027 recruiting class. He’s a player that nearly every school in the nation, including LSU and Florida, would love to flip from Texas. If he’s saying this about Tennessee’s offense, then recruits around the country should probably listen up.

Tennessee’s offense has taken unfair criticism for the last several years. It’s long past time for this narrative to end.

Tennessee Volunteers News

Tony Vitello is catching heat for a Giants decision that other MLB managers are applauded for making

Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello is getting a baptism by fire in his first few games in the big leagues. The San Francisco Giants were swept in three games by the New York Yankees to open the Vitello era. San Francisco scored just one run in the series. Vitello faced some difficult questions […]

Zach Ragan March 29, 2026