Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel makes interesting decision ahead of SEC Media Days

Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel made an interesting decision ahead of 2024 SEC Media Days.

On Monday, Tennessee announced the three players that will join Heupel in Dallas at SEC Media Days later this month -- defensive lineman Omari Thomas, offensive lineman Cooper Mays, and linebacker Keenan Pili.

This will be Thomas' second time as a rep at SEC Media Days for the Vols (Thomas also made the trip last year).

Two of the choices to represent Tennessee at SEC Media Days didn't come as a surprise at all. Thomas and Mays were obvious choices to make the trip to Dallas.

Both players are viewed as a key team leaders for the Volunteers. And both players are entering their fifth season at Tennessee, which means they were around for the final season of the Jeremy Pruitt era (which gives them a unique viewpoint of the Heupel era from day one).

The decision to bring Pili to Dallas was a bit more of a surprise.

It's not that Pili isn't deserving -- he's also been praised a key team leader for the Vols. The former BYU linebacker will be incredibly important on the field for Tennessee, too.

Pili, however, has only played in one game for the Vols after suffering a season-ending injury in Tennessee's season-opener against the Virginia Cavaliers last season. I thought a player like running back Dylan Sampson, wide receiver Bru McCoy, or wide receiver Squirrel White would be among the three players joining Heupel at SEC Media Days -- not a player that barely has any game experience in a Tennessee jersey.

(It wasn't a surprise, by the way, that redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava wasn't included...there's no need to put Nico in that spotlight before his first career start in a regular season game.)

It's not that I think including Pili is a bad decision by Heupel, it was just unexpected. Perhaps it's a sign that Pili is much more important to Tennessee than a lot of folks realize. Or maybe Heupel simply trusts Pili because he's older and he has a lot of media experience (Pili isn't on social security quite yet, but at 26, he's eight years older than most of his true freshman teammates). Either way, it's an intriguing decision by Heupel.

Tennessee will take the stage at SEC Media Days on Tuesday, July 16.

Related: Former Sooners HC Bob Stoops gets real on Josh Heupel's success at Tennessee and his return to Oklahoma in 2024