Tennessee reveals just how much of an impact new strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings has made with his players
The Vols’ new S&C coach has apparently already put his mark on the Vols’ roster in just a few months.
The Tennessee Vols picked up a huge offseason win that did not appear in any transfer portal database. Josh Heupel went to Indiana, just as the Hoosiers were in the midst of playing for the national championship, and plucked a key part of IU’s run to the national title in strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings.
Owings was announced as Tennessee’s new S&C coach the day after the Hoosiers’ 27-21 win over Miami to claim the national title. From that point, he’s been working to make the Tennessee roster the best physical version of themselves they can be.
Over three and a half months, according to Tennessee on Wednesday, the Vols have collectively gained over a third of a ton in muscle mass while losing over 200 pounds of fat.
Tennessee football roster has gained over 850 pounds of muscle and lost over 200 pounds of fat since January
“We’ve had a lot of that have added already 15 pounds of muscle in a six and a half week training block,” Owings previously noted back in March.
“Everything we do, it has to fit together like a puzzle. The reason why we track speed every single week, we track power every single week, vertical jump, to make sure that the weight we are putting on is good weight. What makes these guys great is because they’re athletic, they’re twitchy, and they’re good football players. As soon as we make them too big that takes away from those qualities, now we’re taking away from football.
“So, we want to enhance those abilities, not hurt them. So, it’s the constantly tracking, week to week, to make sure the weight we’re putting on is good weight. If we get to a point to where, hey, this kid is too big [and] we’re getting slower, then we’ve got to pull back, keep him there until we can start increasing that speed, that power, that explosiveness again, and then we’ll see if we can keep improving. Because there are some kids who are at a good body weight. We’ve got to get leaner, we’ll get faster, we’ll get more powerful, but we don’t need this kid to be heavier than what he is right now.”
With 33 players adding double-digit pounds in muscle, the Vols could be in as good of shape as we’ve seen them in a long time.
Naturally, that’s got to translate to playing good football, but last season Indiana was a great example to point at. Despite being physically undersized on the lines of scrimmage at times, particularly on their defensive line, they were quick, physical, and powerful for their weight.
There’s always reason for optimism once fall camp arrives, but with revamped diets and training, the Vols could be in position physically to surprise a lot of people on the field in 2026.
