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Tennessee football: 10 things to watch for in 2021 spring game

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel walks across the field during Tennessee Vol spring football practice, Thursday, April 1, 2021.Volfootball0401 0553
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel walks across the field during Tennessee Vol spring football practice, Thursday, April 1, 2021.Volfootball0401 0553 /

With an unfinished investigation still hanging over the program and a new head coach, Tennessee football still presses on, and the fans are still interested in the state of the program. On Saturday, they will get their first real glimpse, beyond a standard scrimmage, of what the program may look like in the future under Josh Heupel.

UT concludes spring ball with the Orange and White game. New offensive and defensive systems with position battles everywhere definitely make this an intriguing spring game to watch, much more than the most recent spring game that took place on Rocky Top back in 2019.

What will be the most standout things to watch? How can fans analyze this game given how, as is typical for spring ball, things are going to be somewhat limited? Well, there is still plenty of information we can get from these outings. Let’s break that down here. These are the 10 things to watch for in Tennessee football’s 2021 spring practice.

10. Energy from the coaches

There have been lots of stories about the energy that Heupel and his staff have shown in practice. In a concerning sign, it’s a bit reminiscent of the energy that Butch Jones and his staff were known to show when they first took over the program back in 2013. Simply put, energy doesn’t always translate to success on the field in the fall.

However, Jeremy Pruitt and his staff handled everything in such a businesslike approach that it didn’t seem to be fun for anybody. Now, that may work if you have Nick Saban running the show, but you also have to have Saban talent, which UT never had under Pruitt.

Without that talent and the credibility of a coach like Saban, you need coaches to pour more energy into the program and make things fun. As a result, keep an eye on how animated they are when Tennessee football takes the field Saturday. It’s a minor detail but one that could play a role in the type of team the Vols have this year.

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