The Tennessee Vols are 7-3 with two games remaining in the regular season. The program's second 10-win season since 2007 is still within reach. 

But the narrative from the national media is that the 2023 season has been a disappointment for the Volunteers. 

Just check out this headline from The Athletic this week. 

Tennessee's certainly had some disappointing losses this season, but a very bad year? 

I don't see how that's the case at all. 

Have we already forgotten where this program was from 2008 to 2020? 

The Vols' two best years during that stretch were 9-4 seasons in 2015 and 2016 — two teams that had loaded rosters but had the unfortunate distinction of being coached by Butch Jones. 

The 2023 team likely won't go 10-3 (unless they can upset Georgia on Saturday, which is possible, but won't be easy), but there's a decent chance they'll at least go 9-4 (with a win in their bowl game). 

Those 9-4 seasons during that stretch from 2008 to 2020 were outliers. The Vols averaged exactly six wins per season from 2008 to 2020. 

At worst, the Vols should finish 8-5 this season (if they lose to Vanderbilt, then it might be fair to have a conversation about a very bad season). 

I'm just having hard time understanding how Tennessee's current situation could even come close to being described as "very bad". 

Sure, Tennessee's players were vocal before the season about wanting to compete for the SEC East division title. And they came up short of that goal. But no one should be surprised that this year's version of the Vols weren't quite as good as last year's version. Tennessee lost a significant amount of talent from last year's 11-2 squad. 

Quarterback Hendon Hooker, wide receivers Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt, and edge rusher Byron Young were all third round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Right tackle Darnell Wright was the No. 10 overall pick in the draft. Left guard Jerome Carvin was an undrafted free agent that was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs (left guard, by the way, is a position that's given the Vols some trouble this season). 

In addition to the talent that Tennessee lost to the NFL, there's also the injuries that the Vols have dealt with this season. 

BYU transfer linebacker Keenan Pili hasn't played since the season-opener due to injury. Center Cooper Mays missed the first month of the season. Quarterback Joe Milton probably should've missed a couple of games in September. Wide receiver Bru McCoy is out for the year. Cornerback Kamal Hadden, who was statistically one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC, is out for the year. Essentially the entire offensive line has been forced to play through injuries due to a lack of depth. And now wide receiver Dont'e Thornton is out for the rest of the regular season. 

And yet the Vols could still have their second best season in the last 15 years (with a win against Georgia…which would totally change the narrative of the season). Or they'll equal their second best season since 2007 (with wins against Vandy and their bowl game opponent). 

It wasn't that long ago that nearly every national college football analyst was writing the obituary for Tennessee football in the wake of the recruiting scandal that got Jeremy Pruitt fired as the program's head coach. 

And just a couple of years later, Josh Heupel has some of those same national analysts believing that a 7-3 record through 10 games is "very bad". 

I can't make it make sense. But I can assure you that nothing about Heupel's tenure has been "very bad". There are some things the Vols would undoubtedly like to do better, but the program is clearly on an upward trajectory with Heupel at the helm. 

One likely source of Tennessee Vols’ road woes was revealed this week

Tennessee is 2-5 in their last 7 road games