Tennessee DL Omari Thomas reacts to lack of hype around Vols while making it clear what UT's goal is in 2024

Tennessee Vols defensive lineman Omari Thomas isn't worried about the lack of hype surrounding UT football ahead of the 2024 season.

The Vols aren't one the of the media favorites entering the 2024 season when it comes to the programs that are being predicted to reach the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Tennessee, however, believes it can win a championship this fall. And they aren't looking to the media to validate that belief.

"I feel like, me personally, we're a great team, we're gonna compete with those guys (Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss)," said Thomas. "We're going to be in those tough games. We're going to win those tough games. And it's just something at Tennessee, that's our culture. That's what we expect to do. Obviously, our team, we don't need validation from anyone. We don't look for validation from anyone. It's just good to know that we come here together, we got each other's back, we're going to be the ones to push ourselves to get to where we want to go and that's to win a national championship."

Thomas stopped short of saying that the lack of hype will be used by motivation in Tennessee's locker room this season, but it's only natural for players to have a chip on their shoulder when there seems to be a lack of belief from the media.

Of course, the Vols prefer it this way. Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili said earlier on Tuesday at SEC Media Days that he hopes there continues to be a lack of hype around the Vols because he wants the team to "earn it" on Saturdays in the fall.

This Tennessee team is clearly focused on the right things -- taking care of business on the field. This is obviously a group of competitors that's more worried about getting better each day than telling people how good they're going to be.

The Vols ready to let their work on the field do the talking in 2024.

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