Tennessee Football: Josh Heupel to Join SEC Rivals on Day 2 of SEC Media Days

The Tennessee Volunteers football team might be preparing for Spring practice getting started in a few weeks, but the SEC released its schedule for the 2024 SEC Media Days on Thursday. The event will take place July 15-18 in Dallas, Texas, for the first time. Media Days has previously been held in Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham.

We don't know which players from Tennessee will join Josh Heupel on the trip to Dallas, but we do know when Heupel will be speaking. The Vols head coach is scheduled to take the podium on day two of the event.

Some SEC rivals will join Heupel on day two. We don't know the order in which the coaches will speak, but we know that Georgia's Kirby Smart, Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz, and Oklahoma's Brent Venables will also speak on day two.

Heupel and the Vols are coming off another winning season, going 9-4 with a Citrus Bowl win over Iowa. Heupel's Vols will be looking to continue building on the momentum established at the end of last season, with Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Nico Iamaleava running the offense full-time moving forward.

Some questions may focus on the young quarterback taking over in Heupel's system. Another critical question for Vols fans is how Heupel will continue improving the defense in 2024, primarily the secondary. If Tennessee wants to make a serious run at the College Football Playoff, Tennessee's defense will have to continue to improve this year.

Tennessee will face some tough opponents early in the 2024 season. The Vols open the year against UT-Chattanooga before heading to Charlotte on September 7 to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack. This will be a hard-fought matchup for the Vols as the Wolfpack will be one of the top teams in the ACC this year. 

After a home game against Kent State, Tennessee opens SEC play in the stadium Heupel went 20-5 over two years at quarterback and won the Heisman Trophy in 2000. Tennessee will face Oklahoma on the road to start their tough SEC schedule.

The Vols will face two ranked opponents in the first four weeks and still have Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky on the schedule this year. Heupel has his hands full as he continues to develop a young quarterback while facing some tough opponents in the fall. Maybe we can see Iamaleava take some significant strides in year two of Heupel's system.

This will be the first SEC Media Days that Oklahoma and Texas will join the conference as the SEC moves to a 16-team conference. With the new additions, the SEC has scheduled four coaches to speak every day, with coaches from what was formerly known as the East and West divisions speaking on each day.

Full SEC Media Days Schedule

MONDAY, July 15 

LSU - Brian Kelly

Ole Miss - Lane Kiffin

South Carolina - Shane Beamer

Vanderbilt - Clark Lea

TUESDAY, July 16 

Georgia - Kirby Smart

Missouri - Eliah Drinkwitz

Oklahoma - Brent Venables

Tennessee - Josh Heupel

WEDNESDAY, July 17

Alabama - Kalen DeBoer

Florida - Billy Napier

Mississippi State - Jeff Lebby

Texas - Steve Sarkisian

THURSDAY, July 18 

Arkansas - Sam Pittman

Auburn - Hugh Freeze

Kentucky - Mark Stoops

Texas A&M - Mike Elko