Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols want less money standing around on the sidelines moving forward.

The Vols feel like they’ve had too many high-price young players standing on the sidelines not helping the team win games the last couple of years. So as a result, Tennessee is planning to be more choosy when it comes to which high school recruits they’re willing to give big NIL deals.

This new approach has already cost the Vols a couple of in-state players that were expected to land at Tennessee (Miles Brown and Jarrell Chandler).

“They’ve (Tennessee) had too much money standing on the sidelines the last several years because they went a certain path with the rev share and NIL stuff,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price this week on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “They’re trying to get to the point where they spend it on players that are going to play and make an instant impact. If you’re going to have a bunch of money tied up, it needs to be tied up in guys who are on the field, and that’s what they’re trying to get to now.

“Inevitably, you’re going to spend some money on some players that aren’t going to play right away, but they’re trying to eliminate that as best as they can. And so, with both of those kids (Brown and Chandler), they felt like they made them fair offers. The other schools just kind of went above it.”

Tennessee’s new roster-building strategy will be put to the test with another elite in-state recruit

The Vols are in the mix for another in-state recruit who will likely command a decent NIL deal.

Tennessee is battling Alabama and Notre Dame for 2027 four-star tight end Malik Howard, 6-foot-4/231 pounds from Oak Ridge, TN.

Howard is rated by 247Sports as the No. 8 tight end in the nation and the No. 8 player in the state of Tennessee.

“They’re recruiting me harder than ever right now,” said Howard to On3 this week of his interest in the Volunteers. “They’re doing everything they can to keep me home. I know the Tennessee coaches want me. They show me and tell me every day.”

Alabama and Notre Dame are similar to Tennessee when it comes to getting into NIL bidding wars (none of those programs are going full Texas Tech and throwing crazy money at recruits).

NIL, though, is likely going to play some sort of factor in Howard’s decision. How far will the Vols will be willing to go? True freshmen tight ends don’t usually make a big impact, so it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive Tennessee gets in trying to land Howard since he likely wouldn’t help the Vols much in 2027.

We’ve already seen that Tennessee is comfortable letting in-state players walk if they’re asking for too much in NIL cash. We’ll see if that trend continues with Howard, who plays high school football just 35 minutes from Neyland Stadium.