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Tennessee football: Five questions for Josh Heupel at 2022 SEC Media Days

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel on the field before the game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel on the field before the game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) during a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021.Kns Tennessee Florida Football
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) during a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021.Kns Tennessee Florida Football /

4. Will the personnel changes result in any schematic changes on offense?

There are some basic principles to the offense Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh run. They want to rely on tempo, they love the horizontal passing attack to complement the deep ball, and they rely on the vertical rushing attack to set up the passing attack. However, they do change their schemes on a yearly basis depending on the personnel.

For instance, they ran it close to 60 percent of the time their first year with the UCF Knights, and it was their best season, but personnel forced them to have a 50-50 run-pass ratio in 2020. Even with Tennessee football, they ran it nearly three times as much as they threw it when Joe Milton III was in the game.

Simply put, there are lots of other factors, including weapons at receiver, the mobility of your quarterback, your offensive line and your running backs. This year, the Vols return their quarterback in Hendon Hooker, their go-to receiver in Cedric Tillman, their main running back in Jabari Small and four of five offensive linemen.

So what’s the question? Well, they have suffered two key losses at receiver. Velus Jones Jr. was their star slot guy and took a lot of pressure off Tillman, and JaVonta Payton became a big-play threat on the other side. Will Heupel change things up without them? That’s a question that needs to be asked.

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