One analyst is intrigued by the Tennessee football Volunteers’ preseason hype.
The Southeastern Conference has a long history of producing incredible college football seasons. However, Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports says this is one of the SEC’s most intriguing seasons in a decade, and Tennessee football is a big reason for that.
Amidst the hype surrounding Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach going to the Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs respectively, the SEC West no longer being dominated by the Alabama schools and pressure mounting on numerous coaches, Sallee listed the expectations behind the Vols as one of the 10 reasons this will be such an intriguing season.
Everybody knows about Tennessee football starting last year 0-2, 1-4 and then 2-5 only to finish on a six-game winning streak at 8-5. They followed that up with a top 10 recruiting class, a ton of talent returning and the addition of a superstar transfer offensive lineman and Cade Mays.
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Simply put, Jeremy Pruitt has provided plenty of reasons for Vol fans to be excited heading into his third season as head coach of the program, and Sallee sees that. He said they are either a “chic pick” or a team on the rise, noting that he picked the Vols to go 9-3 this year.
Pruitt keeping the team together in just his second season on the job after last year’s horrendous start was a testament to his abilities as a head coach, according to Sallee. Having 16 returning starters was another big deal to Sallee. He said he usually doesn’t value that too heavily, but this year is different because of the shortened offseason.
A big reason behind the intrigue is that while Rocky Top figures to be much better, the schedule is set to be much tougher. That could result in the Vols only matching their 7-5 regular season record even if they do improve dramatically.
Of course, Kiffin back in the SEC has some intrigue related to Tennessee football on its own, but the Vols certainly will make things interesting. Everybody has been wanting them to be back for over a decade, and they may finally get the chance to see that.