ESPN insider pushes back on narrative about the Tennessee Vols' offense and the NFL
Late last week, Fox Sports' Joel Klatt suggested that Nico Iamaleava's unexpected breakup with the Tennessee Vols was partially due to concerns about UT's offense and its ability to prepare players for the NFL. "Did he also, I've been told, ask that the offense grow a little bit, because of what I was just discussing […]
Late last week, Fox Sports' Joel Klatt suggested that Nico Iamaleava's unexpected breakup with the Tennessee Vols was partially due to concerns about UT's offense and its ability to prepare players for the NFL.
"Did he also, I've been told, ask that the offense grow a little bit, because of what I was just discussing about the draft process for quarterbacks going into the NFL? Yes he did," said Klatt. "And I think he was unhappy and I think his people and his team were unhappy with the way that spring ball was going, in particular seeing that the offense was not changing and was not growing. This is the old Art Briles/Baylor offense that Tennessee uses. No quarterback has really succeeded going from that offense and into the NFL."
ESPN's Pete Thamel, who isn't exactly a Tennessee apologist, pushed back on that narrative this week during the College GameDay Podcast.
"Just to put a coda on the NFL Draft/Tennessee piece of it, (former Vols QB) Hendon Hooker was the 68th pick in the draft in 2023," said Thamel. "He was coming off a torn ACL. So he's basically the 68th pick in the draft with a redshirt year facing him. So there's plenty of recent empirical evidence that a successful quarterback with multiple years in that system, who has a lot of arm talent, like Nico does, and like Hendon Hooker does, can go (in the draft) and the NFL is going to look at that system and say, 'Okay, this translates'.
"This isn't Baylor 15 years ago, where people are going, 'We can't draft that guy'. It's just — the world is changing. The NFL looks a lot more like college now. So there were just a lot of like, from the fetal position excuses that got machine gunned out that were greeted around the industry with a lot of eye rolls."
Tennessee's offense isn't a true pro-style system. It's certainly unique. And there are definitely some learning curves that players from that offense have to adjust to when making the jump to the NFL. But that's true of most players that come from college offenses.
Ultimately, if a quarterback has NFL-caliber talent, they'll find a way to be successful as a pro (just look at Patrick Mahomes, who came from the Air Raid system at Texas Tech).
