Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and his team sent a subtle, yet strong, message to the rest of college football on Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Dallas.
Heupel and his team aren't the types to put much stock into preseason predictions. They understand that those predictions have zero impact on how the 2024 season will play out.
But at the same time, you could sense on Tuesday that Tennessee views themselves as being part of the College Football Playoff/National Championship conversation.
"Obviously, our team, we don't need validation from anyone," said Vols senior defensive lineman Omari Thomas on Tuesday . "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 ."
Heupel, who won a national championship as a player at Oklahoma in 2000, echoed Thomas' championship comments while speaking with local reporters on Tuesday in Dallas.
" The standard at Tennessee is to win championships ," said Heupel. "We’re in a race to get there as fast as we can. We’ve done a lot of great things in the last three years, last season included. Proud of the steps that we’ve taken. But we got to continue to climb."
"Everybody inside of our building understands the expectation, standards, and goals that we have," added Heupel. "The expectations are never going to be greater outside of the building than they are inside of it."
Heupel also pointed out that this is the best team that he's had since he arrived at Tennessee in early 2021.
"We've got, without a doubt, the best, the deepest roster that we've had," said Heupel during an appearance on Josh and Swain . "We've had to navigate some really unique circumstances -- we've never given ourselves an out. But we're at the best point that we've been and it's not even close."
Heupel and the Vols aren't necessarily "calling their shot" in 2024 with those comments. Nor do they seem annoyed at the lack of hype surrounding the program. But there's an obvious confidence about this team.
Redshirt senior linebacker Keenan Pili, in fact, said on Tuesday that this Tennessee team is "different".
"We're different, man," explained Pili . "The way we work in the offseason -- we've got a lot of competitive dudes in the locker room. Dudes who are willing to sacrifice for their brothers. I feel like that's the big difference this year is that camaraderie we have, willing to sacrifice for one common goal."
Heupel and the Vols essentially sent the message that Tennessee, whether the national media acknowledges it or not, is competing for a national championship this fall.
That doesn't mean they're the team to beat. It doesn't even mean that they're a lock to make the playoff. But their expectation is to be the last team standing at the end of the season. And they're not backing away from those internal expectations regardless of where they're predicted to finish by the media.
Heupel and the Vols basically told the rest of the conference that it's game on in the SEC this fall.
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