Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt drew the ire of Tennessee Vols fans a couple of weeks ago when he made some comments about Josh Heupel’s offense and its ability to prepare players for the NFL.

Klatt made the comments while discussing former Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

“Here’s why I would defend Nico a little bit is because he never really got a chance to tell his side of the story,” said Klatt. “Tennessee ran out basically a propaganda effort, and got to tell the story without Nico being involved at all. It was not all about money. It really wasn’t. If it was, he wouldn’t have gone to UCLA — which is the telltale sign. He wanted the offense to grow with him. And let me tell you why. That offense that Josh Heupel runs is almost like a glorified high school offense. It’s the old Art Briles offense that they ran at Baylor, and the reason that it doesn’t develop a quarterback is because everything is a half-field read. So it’s wide receiver choice routes on one side of the field, which is why none of those Baylor quarterbacks made it in the NFL.

“Nico understood that, and he knew that, and so they wanted the offense to expand and to grow and to develop. And when it didn’t do that through spring football, that’s when he was like, I don’t know if this is the right place for me, or the family started to think is this not the right place for [Nico]? He never got to tell that story, because Tennessee immediately ran out there and made it a money issue and tried to take the virtuous route and say, ‘Oh, woe is us, look at what our quarterback is doing — holding us hostage.’ Which in the very same breath, or in the next sentence, Tennessee was turning around and contacting guys that were at other schools and trying to get them to transfer to Tennessee — a clear tampering violation. So Tennessee got away with all of this, from a narrative standpoint, which is unfair to Nico Iamaleava. And I hope he succeeds, and we’ll see.”

Joel Klatt tries to get back on the good side of Tennessee Vols fans

I think Vols fans were more upset with Klatt’s comment about Tennessee “getting away” with controlling the narrative surrounding Iamaleava’s departure from the program than they were with his take on the offense.

Criticism of Heupel’s offensive approach is nothing new for the Tennessee fan base — those opinions have been flying around for years, and seemingly resurface every few months.

Nonetheless, Klatt took a few moments on his show this week to clarify his comments.

“I just want to clarify one thing — because I know the Tennessee fans, we probably don’t have a great relationship,” said Klatt. “That’s fine. Everything that I said about Josh Heupel and the offense does not mean that that offense cannot be really good in college football. It absolutely can. And Hendon Hooker proved that. The Baylor offenses under Art Briles proved that.

“There have been offenses that use this system that are incredibly potent. So I didn’t say anything about how good the offense can be. I just said that that offense doesn’t technically develop a quarterback very well for the National Football League. True statements — both of them.”

Klatt went on to say that he “kind of likes” Tennessee against the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend in Knoxville.

“This (Tennessee) team looks like a very motivated team,” said Klatt. “And a team that, to be honest, I kind of like this week. The way that Georgia looked against Austin Peay was terrible. [Georgia looked] not motivated. Stockton had to throw it 34 times as a starter against an FCS opponent. Meanwhile, Tennessee is out there putting up 72 points. I really like that. This offense can and is and will be potent through the rest of the year. I like what Joey Aguilar has done.

“This is a team that Josh Heupel has gotten ready. They’ve recruited well. So this can be, and probably will be, a pretty successful team. And listen, I think that place (Neyland Stadium) is going to be on fire against Georgia. Georgia might be walking into absolute buzz saw this week.”

I don’t know if those comments will be enough to win over Vols fans. But if nothing else, Klatt’s comments should at least be encouraging to Tennessee fans ahead of the game against Georgia. Klatt isn’t a guy who typically gives the Vols the benefit of the doubt. So if he’s feeling good about Tennessee this week, it’s undoubtedly because he truly likes what he’s seen so far this season from Heupel’s team.

Tennessee and Georgia kick off at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday.

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