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Five things for Tennessee football to address between now and National Signing Day

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.Kns Tennessee Georgia Football
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.Kns Tennessee Georgia Football /
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Riverdale’s Elijah Herring (31) gets in position during Friday’s win over Siegel.Elijah Herring 31
Riverdale’s Elijah Herring (31) gets in position during Friday’s win over Siegel.Elijah Herring 31 /

Early signing day is in the books for Tennessee football. Now Josh Heupel, with 20 commitments and a top 15 ranking across the board, has a month and a half to fill out with class. Given the three new commitments UT picked up Wednesday, he should have a pretty good idea of where he needs to put his focus as well.

Of course, a lot of what Heupel does will be based on the talent he adds from the transfer portal and the guys who decide to come back. However, without any of that knowledge, it’s easy to find out where he needs to upgrade for the future.

As we get set to break down which of those areas are most crucial, we’ll discuss the positions he needs to focus on and exactly what he needs to focus on with those positions. They will be ranked based on importance. Heupel needs to focus on these five things for Tennessee football’s 2022 class between now and National Signing Day.

5. Finding an inside linebacker

Right now, the Vols have two linebackers committed in Kalib Perry and Elijah Herring. Both are listed as outside linebackers on Rivals, they have no specification on 247Sports, and Herring is listed as an outside linebacker on ESPN as well while Perry is listed as an athlete. However, none are listed as true inside linebackers.

This could be an issue going forward for UT. It’s not as crucial as it might have been in Jeremy Pruitt’s system, but seasoned linebackers can still be a big deal. Juwan Mitchell getting healthy should help with this unit, but depth was a real problem there last year.

At this moment, Tennessee football appears to just have two undersized edge rushers who can complement the defensive ends committed in Tim Banks’ system. Maybe one of them can shift over to the middle, but this is something the Vols need to be sure of. Adding one would really help this 2022 recruiting class.

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