Kahlil McKenzie (1) poses for a photo during The University of Tennessee Football Media Day at Neyland Stadium on Friday, August 14, 2015. ROUTE ’15
Tennessee looked stuck in neutral midway through 2014 but won four of its final five games, clinched its first bowl trip since 2010, won its first bowl game in seven seasons and recorded the program’s first winning season since 2009.
With most of that team back, the expectations are higher. The Volunteers will start the season ranked in the Top 25, and it’ll take an eight- or nine-win campaign in head coach Butch Jones’s third season to finish there. There are some question marks on the roster, but Tennessee has enough talent and experience to be a serious factor for the top spot in the SEC East.
CAUTION AHEAD
If the Vols can find some answers at the heart of their defense, that unit could be special. Freshman defensive tackles Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle have the talent to be immediate-impact players, but that’s a tall task for first-year defensive linemen in this league. There’s also the chore of replacing linebacker A.J. Johnson and his 425 career tackles.
While the receiving corps has to bounce back from a myriad of injuries in 2014 and live up to its talent level, the success of Tennessee’s offense hinges on the offensive line. Inexperience led to a season of struggles last year, and the group has had its struggles and injuries this preseason. Can Tennessee get enough consistent and quality play up front to take the next step?
WINDING ROAD
Out of coaching entirely since 2012, Mike DeBord took over the reins as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator in February. Although he last called college plays in 2007 at Michigan, the choice made sense for Jones, who spent the past eight seasons with Mike Bajakian. DeBord’s task now is to take an offense he helped create more than a decade ago and improve it.
One of the pieces DeBord will have at his disposal is running back Alvin Kamara. The junior college transfer headlines a 2015 recruiting class that includes four other players rated as five-star prospects by at least one major recruiting service. The Vols might not have to be as reliant on this freshman class as they were last season, but many will play key roles this season.
ON THE HORIZON
The first six games will make or break the season for the Vols, nuy trips to Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri and a visit from South Carolina await on the back half. By their mid-October open date, Tennessee will have played four toss-up games that could have the Vols out of the SEC East race or right in the thick of it.
The visit from Oklahoma in the season’s second week looms large in the Vols’ first visit to the national stage. Then there’s a maddening decade-long losing streak to Florida on the line two weeks later when Tennessee visits the rebuilding Gators. Visits from fellow up-and-comer Arkansas and SEC East favorite Georgia follow the next two weeks.
ROAD TO SUCCESS
Is Tennessee finally ready to break out of a seven-year slump of mediocrity? It’s been that long since the Vols received the same kind of national and regional attention they’ve gotten this offseason. It’ll be up to Jones and his players to prove all of the hype since the rout of Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl was warranted and deliver bigger and better things for the program.
Concerns persist about Tennessee’s depth and its offensive line, but there’s enough talent at the skill positions on offense and on defense for the Vols to make the leap. Tennessee would need some things to fall its way to wind up reaching the SEC title game, but it’s not Atlanta-or-bust yet. However, the Vols should continue their upward trajectory under Jones.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com