'We expect him to be a big part of what we’re doing' – Vols' offense should improve in 2025 because of under-the-radar addition
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols made an under-the-radar addition earlier this offseason that should help UT's offense improve in 2025. During Heupel's first two seasons at Tennessee, the Vols' offense was one of the most explosive offenses in the nation (UT led the nation in scoring in 2022). The Vols' offense, however, has seen […]
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols made an under-the-radar addition earlier this offseason that should help UT's offense improve in 2025.
During Heupel's first two seasons at Tennessee, the Vols' offense was one of the most explosive offenses in the nation (UT led the nation in scoring in 2022).
The Vols' offense, however, has seen a drop in production over the last two seasons.
There are various reasons for the downtick in production — quarterback play, offensive line play, wide receiver play, and predictability in play-calling.
Another potential reason for the drop in production is the loss of offensive coordinator Alex Golesh after the 2022 season.
Golesh served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator for the first two seasons of the Heupel era. He left to become the head coach at USF in late 2022.
Heupel replaced Golesh ahaed of the 2023 season with quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle.
It's tough to know exactly how much Golesh's departure has impacted the Vols' offensive approach the last two seasons. But I think one thing he brought — and that's now missing — was a challenging presence in the room.
And it's not that I think Halzle doesn't provide that — I just don't think it's at the same level as Golesh. Halzle, after all, played under Heupel at Oklahoma. So it's likely that Heupel's working relationship with Halzle is different from the one he had with Golesh.
That's why I think the offseason addition of former North Texas head coach and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell to the coaching staff was an important move by Heupel.
Littrell will serve as a senior offensive analyst for Tennessee. His title isn't as important, though, as what he'll provide for Heupel and the Volunteers.
The former Oklahoma running back should provide that "challenging presence" for Heupel that we assume has been missing since Golesh left.
Littrell was teammates with Heupel at Oklahoma for two seasons. The two served as captains during the Sooners' national championship winning-season in 2000. Littrell is the one person on the offensive staff who knows Heupel more as a player than as a boss or a coach. As a result, he should feel comfortable sharing some hard truths (if necessary) about the offense with Heupel.
This is something that Heupel hinted at during his appearance at SEC Media Days in Atlanta this past week.
"Seth [is] somebody that I’ve played with and got great trust in," said Heupel. "He’s the kind of guy that’s going to be clear in his communication to me. His experience as a head coach is another tool that he brings to us. He’s had elite offenses with great players and done it at an extremely high level.
"His knowledge, expertise, his understanding of some of the things that we do offensively and the ability to bring some creative things that are maybe good additions to what we’re doing. Seth has been great for us since he got there in February, and we expect him to be a big part of what we’re doing."
Heupel’s comment about Littrell being a guy who’s "going to be clear in his communication to me" is essentially another way of saying Littrell won’t be afraid to be brutally honest with him.
The addition of Littrell and his ability to communicate openly and honestly with Heupel isn't going to automatically make the Vols' offense better. It still comes down to the players executing and the coaches providing them with a solid game plan on Saturdays. But the addition of Littrell should help the process on the offensive side of the ball get back to what we saw from Tennessee in 2021 and 2022.
