Josh Heupel didn't say a lot about Tennessee's first scrimmage, but he made one subtle comment that's encouraging for Vols fans
If you ask Tennessee Vols fans what they're hoping to see from the football program in 2025, the answer you're most likely to hear is "more explosive plays". Tennessee was an explosive play factory during the first two seasons of the Josh Heupel era. Over the last two seasons, however, Tennessee's seen a significant downtick […]
If you ask Tennessee Vols fans what they're hoping to see from the football program in 2025, the answer you're most likely to hear is "more explosive plays".
Tennessee was an explosive play factory during the first two seasons of the Josh Heupel era.
Over the last two seasons, however, Tennessee's seen a significant downtick in explosive plays, partially due to the way opponents have defended the Vols.
Tennessee is hoping to see an increase in explosive plays in 2025 thanks to a few scheme tweaks, another year of experience for starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, and a more dynamic group of wide receivers, led by sophomore Mike Matthews and redshirt freshman Braylon Staley.
On Monday night, the Vols held their first scrimmage of spring practice.
While speaking with reporters after the scrimmage (which was closed to the media), Heupel, who was mostly vague (as is usually the case) with his answers about the scrimmage, noted that he saw some "big plays" down the field.
"I saw some big plays down the football field tonight," said Heupel. "Young wide receivers, I thought, did a good job in their first opportunity in a scrimmage environment. [They] went and made plays. So I like what I saw on that tonight, but in early part of spring (practice), too."
If Tennessee is going to reach the College Football Playoff again in 2025, and make it past the first round this time, the Vols will need to hit on explosive plays at a significantly higher rate.
There's still a long way to go until the start of the 2025 season, and as Heupel noted on Monday night, Tennessee is still "a long ways away" from they need to be.
But it's certainly a great sign that Tennessee's offense is seemingly already "clicking" with a lot of new faces playing in key roles.
There's a lot of elite talent on the Vols' roster. And it sounds like that elite talent came into spring practice ready to hit the ground running. Now they just need to make sure they carry that momentum through the summer and into fall camp.
‘He does a great job of trying to get guys to go eat dinner outside the facility’ – Vols transfer addition is big for UT’s culture
That’s great to hear if you’re a Tennessee fan
