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Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel sent a blunt message to the young talent on his roster ahead of the 2025 season. The Volunteers are coming off a productive fourth year under their head coach, who saw the program reach the College Football Playoff for the very first time. While the year didn't end ideally, as Tennessee was blown out in the first round of the CFP by eventual national champion Ohio State, Heupel has brought stability to a program that hadn't seen consistent success since Phillip Fulmer was in charge.
Now it's all about taking that good-to-great jump, but it won't come easily in 2025. Tennessee football is losing several key contributors from last year's roster, including superstar tailback Dylan Sampson and starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. During SEC Media Days, Heupel delivered a brutally honest assessment of what he needs from his young players for the Volunteers to replicate, and potentially even exceed, last year's squad.
“Now, our young guys, and this has been something we’ve talked about a lot inside of our program. Our young guys don’t have time to be young. You can look at the schedule that we play early. You can look at being inside of this league. Our young guys have got to grow early. That’s been something that’s been talked about for me, applying pressure to our staff to get them ready. But, in particular, the leadership inside of our position rooms and make sure they understand the standard and getting those guys ready to play at a championship level.”
DeSean Bishop is expected to step in to replace Sampson in the backfield. It will likely be a group effort to make up for the loss of an All-American running back between Bishop, Peyton Lewis, and Star Thomas. Who starts Week 1 under center is a little more up in the air, with Heupel still saying there is still an open competition for QB1. Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar is the favorite to start, and if he does, he will need to have his best season for the Volunteers to return to the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee football's schedule is its usual daunting self. Josh Heupel's team opens the season against Syracuse before starting SEC play two weeks later at home against Georgia. The usual suspects are on the conference slate, including visits to both Alabama and Florida. Interestingly, the matchup against the Gators is scheduled for later in the season, in November. Overall, though, this roster has the potential to contend in the SEC once again. But as Heupel states, many of this team's young players will need to step up to the plate immediately.
