Josh Heupel, head coach of Tennessee, is going through an intriguing period.In Heupel’s fourth season, the team is somewhat rebuilding, but since it’s Tennessee and it appears that way, there’s a legitimate expectation that they’ll make it into the College Football Playoff.Let’s start here: Heupel has been an undeniable success.Notwithstanding all of Tennessee’s accomplishments throughout the years, including becoming the first-ever BCS National Champion, the 27 victories in Heupel’s first three seasons rank as the team’s greatest run since Phil Fulmer won 28 games between 2002 and 2004.However, if the College Football Playoff had been increased to twelve teams back then, none of those three teams led by the great Fulmer would have advanced. However, his 2001 squad and others would have

Although there is some space for conjecture here, Heupel’s 2022 team would have been the only Tennessee team in 21 seasons to qualify for an expanded CFP.Most good SEC teams now aim to be there, and given how good the 2022 squad was, a CFP appearance makes sense.Though they lacked the same enchantment, the 2023 Vols were nonetheless fantastic. Though Heupel still has some work to do, this year’s version might be excellent enough to go close.There are a lot of new pieces to replace, including the starting quarterback, the best running back, several receivers, the nearly new starting secondary, and numerous defensive front seven components. However, there is youthful potential waiting to be discovered.

PREVIEW: TENNESSEE FOOTBALL: OFFENSE – The offense was still incredibly, really good and will be again, even though it wasn’t nearly as deadly as the 2022 edition.It will continue to go at a hundred miles per hour, the passing game will continue to work, and there will be instances where the opposition simply has the necessary resources to stay up. But it needs to be more reliable; the offensive from the previous year was inconsistent, going 1-4 when it didn’t score more than 20 points and 8-0 when it did.It should be noted that the 2022 offense has only ever scored fewer than 31 points, and that was on the road against Georgia, the eventual national champion.