If you're a Tennessee Vols fan who suffered through the end of the Phillip Fulmer era and then had to feign excitement for the Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt eras, this current stretch of UT football is what you've been waiting for.
After years of being a non-factor in the SEC, over the last few seasons, the Volunteers have become a force in college football.
And it's all thanks to Josh Heupel and his staff.
In early 2021, the Tennessee program was on life support. The feeling in the national media was that it would be years before the Vols would even appear in another bowl game after Pruitt was fired due to a massive recruiting scandal.
Heupel, however, managed to get Tennessee to a bowl game in his first year. The next season, the Vols had their best year (11-2 with wins against Florida, LSU, and Alabama) since the early 2000s.
Now, with Nico Iamaleava set to take over as the Vols' starting quarterback this fall, Tennessee is a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
Not only are the Vols a playoff contender, but the program appears to be on the verge of becoming a legit championship contender. Tennessee continues to build momentum on the recruiting trail, winning its fair share of tough recruiting battles against some of the top programs in the nation.
On Saturday night, for example, the Vols secured a commitment from 2025 four-star wide receiver Travis Smith Jr, the No. 14 player in the state of Georgia.
Smith is a player from the Georgia Bulldogs' backyard that Kirby Smart and his staff badly wanted to land.
That wasn't the first time that Heupel and his staff beat out Smart and the Bulldogs for a key recruit from the state of Georgia. During the 2024 recruiting cycle, the Vols landed five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews (the No. 4 player in the the state of Georgia in 2024) over the Bulldogs despite UGA reportedly making a "competitive NIL" offer to the talented wide receiver.
Tennessee also landed 2024 five-star edge rusher Jordan Ross over Alabama and Texas (Ross is from Alabama and he committed to the Vols before Nick Saban announced his retirement).
There's clearly something special brewing on Rocky Top. Whether or not the Vols are in store for a special season in 2024 is anyone's guess. But based on the culture that Heupel has created and the way the Tennessee is recruiting, it seems inevitable that the Vols are going to make a playoff run (or two, or three, or maybe more) over the next several years.
I mean, what Heupel has accomplished over the last few years is one of the most incredible feats in college football. The Tennessee program was at a rock bottom when Heupel took over. The roster was in shambles and the program was facing a major NCAA investigation (which made recruiting even tougher). But Heupel stuck to his plan, didn't try to take shortcuts, and quickly built Tennessee into a respectable program again despite all of the obstacles in the way.
Entering the 2024 season, the Vols are a program that's being overlooked by the national media in favor of teams like Ole Miss and Missouri.
Nothing against Ole Miss and Missouri -- both teams have proven in recent years that they're capable of having a playoff-caliber season. It's certainly possible that they could reach the playoff in 2024 instead of Tennessee. But why aren't the Vols even on the national media's radar? It seems like no one is giving Tennessee a chance to make a run in 2024. It's just assumed by the national media that the Vols will come up short in Heupel's fourth season.
The rebirth of the Vols under Heupel should be one of the biggest stories in college football -- especially with Iamaleava, who is Heupel's first hand-picked quarterback at UT, set to take over as the starter this fall.
Instead, Tennessee has been relegated to "dark horse" status while Ole Miss and Missouri get the benefit of the doubt.
College football goes through cycles. Different teams at different times emerge as the team to beat. Whether that's Florida during the Tim Tebow years, or the Saban era at Alabama, or Georgia under Smart currently, there's always a different team that pops up at some point and becomes the best team in the sport.
There are signs in Knoxville that Tennessee could be in the early stages of becoming that program (that's not a prediction that it will happen, but Heupel is pressing all of the right buttons so far). And it seems like those signs are being completely ignored by the national media.
If Tennessee catches fire this fall and goes on a run, Vols fans won't be surprised. They've seen it coming for the last few years. The national media, however, will be blindsided.
Maybe that's a good thing for the Vols. Heupel's teams seem to be at their best when they have a chip on their shoulder.
A little added motivation never hurts, though it's still inexplicable that Heupel's incredible rebuild at Tennessee isn't one of the biggest stories in the sport entering the 2024 season.
Related: Tennessee HC Josh Heupel and Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin provided an important reminder for college football fans this offseason
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