5. More than half the starters play the full season
This is a goal based on what’s happened the last two years. A rash of injuries, after Butch Jones inexplicably didn’t hire a full-time strength coach, kept Tennessee football from likely going 11-1 back in 2016. Then, in 2017, under strength coach Rock Gullickson, the Vols still struggled and lost over half their roster at some point.
This year, they have to hope that things are significantly different. After training all offseason under their fourth strength coach in four years, Craig Fitzgerald, the Vols are looking to return to a healthy season. It isn’t just the change in a strength coach, however, that matters here.
Jeremy Pruitt also overhauled the medical staff, and given the fact that they appeared to clear Brett Kendrick to play with a concussion last year, that was probably a great idea. As a result, expectations for staying healthy are big this year.
Knock on wood, UT has been lucky so far through fall camp. Instead of losing players to injury, they’ve had players return. That’s a huge boost for them going forward. But one start to turning things around is carrying that into the season.
If Tennessee football can have, say, 15 guys play the full year, that would be amazing. But we’ll set our expectations a little lower. When Pruitt releases his depth chart last week, the Vols should hope for 12 of the 22 starters to play the full year. Of the 44 in the two-deep rotation, they should hope 23 can make it. That will go a long way toward being successful.