Why Tennessee winning a national championship in baseball is going to help Vols football win its own natty
The Tennessee Vols experienced a monumental moment on Monday night when the baseball program won its first ever national championship. Tennessee took two out of three from Texas A&M in the College World Series in Omaha, capping a tremendous season for the Vols. The win is obviously huge for the Vols' baseball program as it […]
The Tennessee Vols experienced a monumental moment on Monday night when the baseball program won its first ever national championship.
Tennessee took two out of three from Texas A&M in the College World Series in Omaha, capping a tremendous season for the Vols.
The win is obviously huge for the Vols' baseball program as it officially makes Tennessee one of the "it schools" in college baseball (move over Vanderbilt and Arkansas).
It's also a huge win for the football program.
Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel was in Omaha on Monday night for the Vols' win against the Aggies. And he was fired up to see Tennessee claim a national championship, calling UT's players "elite competitors".
When Heupel was asked when the football program is going to do the same thing (win a natty), the fourth-year Vols head coach said "yeah, well, stay tuned to the fall, here we go".
Heupel is as competitive as it gets. In fact, in 2022, Heupel was asked by ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy if he or Vitello is more competitive.
"Not even close, I am," said Heupel. "Tony is a fierce competitor for sure, but he's a close second."
Heupel was already full of energy and ready to lead the Vols to a national championship — just like he led Oklahoma to a national championship in 2000 as a player — before UT's win in Omaha on Monday.
But winning a championship isn't easy. It takes grit, dedication, sacrifice, and determination. It also takes motivation, an often overlooked ingredient that nearly every championship team in every sport has.
Motivation helps players/coaches get through the grind of a season without becoming complacent for even a second. It's complacency, after all, that kills championship dreams.
While Heupel is absolutely thrilled to see Vitello and the Base-Vols claim a national championship, it's undoubtedly going to light even more of a fire under the Tennessee football coach. There's no doubt that Heupel badly wants to win a championship as a coach (not just for himself, but for his players). And that desire almost certainly increased after watching Vitello claim a natty on Monday night.
I don't know when it's going to happen. It might be in 2024, it might not be for another few years. But at this point, it feels inevitable — just like it did with Tony V — that Heupel is going to bring a football natty back to Rocky Top.
Tennessee LHP Zander Sechrist said what every Vols fan is thinking about Tony Vitello after College World Series win
What a night for the Volunteers
