Wednesday, August 30, 2023 - Football Preview

‘THE BEST IS YET TO COME’ ‘THE BEST IS YET TO COME’

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ABOUT THE COVER: “The best is yet to come,” Josh Heupel said after the 2023 Orange Bowl.

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Letter from the Sports Editor: A farewell to college football as we know it

Certain teams got more respect just because of their names. We saw that before the CFP, though.

CALEB JARREAU Sports Editor

College football as we know will be gone after this season.

I remember waking up at 9 a.m. every Saturday morning to tune into ESPN’s College Gameday. I loved watching the stories being told of the players and the passion around the game. Fans would go crazy and still do go crazy every Saturday for college football.

Noon would come around, and Lee Corso would don a mascot’s headgear. After a couple of seconds of his signature wave, a day filled with college football had begun.

It was perfect. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about college football. Then, the College Football Playoff came around. OK, I can get behind this.

We’re giving another team a chance to win a championship and getting an extra game of football each year? I thought it was a great system. Were there flaws? Of course.

It truly does, at times, feel like the people in charge of college football do not care about the game. The clock no longer stops on first downs. It is the first time since 1967 that this rule has been changed in college football.

Now, I do not think this rule change is the end of the world. It’s just an example. Was anyone in an outcry about the clock stopping on first downs before this season? I sure didn’t hear anyone.

College football, like most things in the world, revolves around money. Like my aforementioned example, no fan wanted the clock to stop after first downs, but it does. Do you think fans of Washington State or Stanford wanted the Pac-12 to collapse in the middle of the night? As USC joins the Big Ten Conference, they will begin playing teams like Maryland.

A university located in Los Angeles will travel almost 3,000 miles to face off with a team on the opposite coast. It’s the first time the two schools will face off for obvious reasons.

Conferences exist to join like-minded schools in closer proximity to avoid con-

sistent, strenuous travel. When university presidents made this decision, did they take into consideration the student-athlete who has class the next morning but is now jet lagged?

What about smaller, non-revenue sports? How will those sports survive the travel costs? How will parents watch their child play if they’re on the other side of the country?

At some point, football has to act independently of the rest of the university. It is unfair to ask teams to travel across the country in the middle of the week. It is also a disadvantage for the schools isolated the most.

The costs of what is happening are clear. Money makes the decisions, not the fans anymore.

College football how we knew it is gone, at least after 2023. We have one more season before Texas and Oklahoma become SEC members and the Pac-12 becomes something that can only be found on YouTube. Let’s enjoy this last season of the sport we grew up loving. I, for one, will be tuning into a lot more Pac-12 after dark.

Letter from the Assistant Sports Editor: Experiencing the revival of Tennessee football

somehow led the team to a winning record in 2021. There was once again excitement, but there was also skepticism as a result of years of disappointing results.

ERIC WOODS Assistant Sports Editor

Growing up in the Knoxville area always meant that I would be surrounded by Tennessee football. It’s a region with no major professional sports, so all we had was UT.

Historically, the Vols had been a powerhouse, but I moved here in the waning days of Phillip Fulmer. As a result, I grew up seeing Tennessee teams underperform year after year along with the head coaching carousel brought on by lack of results.

That trend continued as I stepped foot on campus during Jeremy Pruitt’s time here. I thought the aftermath of the recruiting violations would be the final blow to a program that has been trying to get out of the mud for years.

Will Tennessee football ever be back?

However, Josh Heupel took the job and

That was the same year when I began writing for The Daily Beacon. I started with covering tennis and worked my way up to soccer by fall of 2022. I jumped at the opportunity to apply for assistant sports editor. The week after the Vols dismantled LSU in Baton Rouge, I found out that I got the position.

The game that week happened to fall on the third Saturday in October which meant Alabama was coming to town, and I was going to cover it.

Little did I know that I was about to experience the true revival of Tennessee football. Sure, there was excitement that Tennessee was on the rise, but a win over Alabama would solidify the comeback.

I stepped into the press box of about 100 people that day after never being in a box with more than three people. I spent that evening in awe that I was able to be where I was. I looked down at the 102,000 people in the stadium as the game started and began

to take it all in, not knowing that I was about to watch one of the greatest college football games of my lifetime.

You know what happened. The rivalry went back and forth for the rest of the night, and with five minutes left, I made my way down to the field. I was instantly met with the roars of Neyland Stadium and the tune of Rocky Top. Hendon Hooker used just two passes and 13 seconds to drive the ball 46 yards to set up Chase McGrath’s gamewinning field goal as I watched from about 10 yards away on the sideline.

The green grass around me was suddenly replaced with orange as fans flooded the field and Dixieland Delight played on repeat.

That night, I stood speechless as I was witnessing the revival of a fan base and a program right before my eyes.

I don’t know what 2023 has in store for Tennessee, but what I do know is that I am ready for football to be back. I am lucky to be where I am, covering Tennessee football during its rise as a college student. So for now, I’ll just enjoy the ride.

How the Vols are using the 2022 season as a building block

ERIC WOODS Assistant Sports Editor

One of the hardest things to produce in college football is a consistent winner. With so much roster turnover year in and year out, each year is either a rebuild or a reload.

Tennessee football is tasked with matching the success that guys like quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt produced in a program-reviving season capped off with an Orange Bowl win. The Vols went 11-2 while Hooker won SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Hyatt won the Biletnikoff award as part of what many believed to be the best offense in college football.

“Really a lot of special moments from a year ago,” head coach Josh Heupel said at SEC Media Days. “As we look back on the ‘22 season, a lot of special moments and things that our fan base will remember forever and players inside of our locker room will remember forever.”

However, what’s missing from the long list of accomplishments Tennessee reached was an SEC Title, College Football Playoff appearance and, ultimately, a national championship.

As special as last season was, the Vols were bound for a playoff appearance until a lateseason loss to South Carolina put them out of the race.

Heupel has been preaching throughout fall camp that last season’s success should have no effect on 2023 other than fueling the push toward new heights.

“We’re not being complacent,” defensive lineman Omari Thomas said. “We just know we have to continue to grow. We had a good year last year, but we have to turn that page. We can’t keep living in the past. We understand what happened last year, but we’re looking to do big things this year.”

The 2022 team achieved many things, but it is now simply a building block for where Heupel wants his program to go. He has made it a mission to fill the gaps that were missing last year.

The biggest jump that the Vols have made is on the defensive side of the ball, where a lack of depth played a large part in not reaching last year’s goals. As a result, defensive coordinator Tim Banks set out to get more bodies in the secondary and at linebacker.

“From a confidence perspective, what we’ve done so far is great,” Banks said. “But I’ve told our kids that experience is only good when you can go back and learn from it.”

is still within reach in Knoxville, but now, it’s up to the 2023 team to pursue that goal.

“At the end of the day, there were a lot of great moments last year,” Heupel said. “None of that stuff comes with us. At the end of the day, last year there were a lot of goals that

we didn’t reach. This group has been really intentional about pushing forward and putting ourselves in a position to go chase some of those things.”

“At the same time, we fell short of a lot of goals we set for our program,” Heupel said. “And I’m proud and excited for what our players have done since they have gotten back on campus in late January, their ability to reset and refocus and be ready to go accomplish a mission together. Individually grow but collectively get ready to go accomplish a mission. It’s a group that’s extremely hungry. They want more, expect more.”

It’s up to a new group to make their stamp on the program. Though Tennessee does have a lot of returning talent, it’s a different group of leaders that must step up to continue the success that those before them achieved.

Banks has since said that the depth of the defense will be a strength in 2023 after returning nearly all of its production while adding some intriguing transfers and incoming freshmen.

On the offensive side, Joe Milton steps in at starting quarterback in place of Hooker. In nine games and two starts, he threw for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns while showing steady improvement over his previous stint as a starter in 2022.

Milton will have to fill the big shoes left behind by Hooker. He will be expected to be the one to lead Tennessee to new heights.

National championships have always been the standard at Tennessee in its rich history. The 2022 team restored the hope that the goal

Tennessee’s (2) Jabari Small is dragged into the end zone by teammate (76) Javontez Spraggins for a touchdown against Clemson during the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. File / The Daily Beacon

“At the end of the day, there were a lot of great moments last year.”

Josh Heupel Head Football Coach

Omari Thomas looks back on his Tennessee football career, previews 2023 season

campaign since 2001. The result couldn’t be further from the beginning of Thomas’ career at Tennessee.

Navigating the “unknown”

attended Briarcrest Christian in Memphis. He also remembered the history around Tennessee football.

Fostering a family environment

Omari Thomas lined up for the field goal protection unit with two seconds on the clock. Neyland Stadium was overflowing, and Tennessee had a chance to defeat Alabama for the first time since 2006.

Thomas, at that moment, realized the magnitude of what was about to happen. The game was already won in his mind.

It was a kick they worked on all the time in practice. Thomas was confident. He didn’t even need to see the kick go through the uprights. The 6-foot-4, 320-pound defensive lineman took off toward the student section.

Some cigars and 45 minutes later, Thomas finally made it back to the locker room. It was a feeling that he won’t soon forget.

“It was crazy,” Thomas told The Daily Beacon. “It was a great feeling just to really see another moment for all of Tennessee to come together. We understand everybody is Rocky Top, is Vols, we always are together. But a moment like that — I feel like it made everybody even closer.”

The walk-off win versus Alabama was a highlight for Thomas and the Vols on their way to an 11-2 season. It was the first 11-win

Thomas arrived on campus in 2020. While navigating through a pandemic, the Vols went 3-7 before Jeremy Pruitt was fired with cause. Thomas doesn’t deny that the thought of leaving Tennessee crossed his mind.

The exodus into the transfer portal was massive when Pruitt was fired. Thirty-five players transferred out within a year after the firing. Several of the exits came on the defensive side, like with linebacker Henry To’o To’o, who transferred to Alabama.

“I didn’t rush to leave,” Thomas said. “Of course, you have those thoughts where it is a bunch of unknown, so you’re just in an unknown space honestly. You really just have to sit and wait. We just waited. A lot of the guys were just talking and me being a freshman at the time, I was just always talking to the older guys, like, ‘What do y’all think is going to happen? Because I don’t really know.’ It was my first year in college football. I didn’t know how coaches changed because that was my first time ever having a coach change.”

Being a Tennessee native played a role in the decision for Thomas as well. Thomas

“Tennessee is a winning program,” Thomas said. “It’s a winning culture. So you have that and being an in-state kid. I’m from Memphis, so getting a chance to play for my home state, it’s amazing. Those were things that really just wanted to keep me here.”

Pruitt’s firing and the ensuing NCAA investigation was one of the lowest points in the history of Tennessee football. But Thomas remembered the winning that the Vols were capable of, and the rich history that went along with that.

Josh Heupel’s hiring and the player-first culture he brought in sealed the deal for Thomas. Unlike many of his teammates, he would stay the course as a Vol.

“You get a chance where a coach like coach Heupel comes in — I honestly didn’t know who coach Heupel was,” Thomas said. “Then he comes in, he talks to you just person to person. It is not a football thing. We’re able to have true conversations about just other sports, other things in life, just things that we enjoy doing. So it’s good just to really be able to have a coach like that that allows you to be yourself and just really is a comforting place for you.”

Thomas described the environment around the athletics department when he first arrived as “clique-ish.” Even within the football team, position groups didn’t interact with others.

Thomas and his high school teammate Jabari Small arrived in Knoxville together. The duo, who are rarely seen without one another, forced their respective position groups to become friends. Making friends and being a part of a family is natural for Thomas.

Both sets of grandparents as well as his friends and family create a tight circle for Thomas. It is a group that keeps him motivated and moving forward every day.

“They all text me everything, call me checking up, making sure I’m practicing,” Thomas said. “They ask about my friends on the team that I’m always hanging out with. So it’s good just to really be able to have my circle just really continuing to push me every day. I have close friends I went to high school with who always text me every day, continuing to tell me to keep going.

“I text them every morning just really telling them to have a good day, everything like that. It’s good just to be able to have that circle knowing that they are going to be there for me regardless of the situation.

CALEB JARREAU

Sports Editor

Omari Thomas (21) breaks through the line against Alabama in Neyland Stadium. Oct. 15, 2023. File / The Daily Beacon

His idea of family and caring for others has transitioned over into the culture cultivated by athletics director Danny White. When Thomas first arrived at Tennessee, he didn’t know any athletes from other sports, or even what sport they played.

Now, Thomas has friends across every sport. You can often find the defensive lineman at volleyball or soccer games.

“I go to a lot of stuff,” Thomas said. “Whenever I’m free, I try to support the other athletes because I know if they’re free, they’re coming to the football game. So I try to just always support. I would say the athletes I’m close with are like Josiah (-Jordan James) and really Zakai (Zeigler). I mess with those boys a lot. We really hang out. We will get on the (video) game. We’ll play the game with each other, things like that.”

The environment around Tennessee athletics is a lot different than when Thomas first arrived, and he has been one of the ones leading the charge. He is part of a minority of athletes who were on campus during the previous athletic department’s staff.

A member of organizations like VOLeaders – a program designed to foster leadership through social change – and a veteran in the building, athletes look to Thomas to set the tone.

“It’s good now you see so many people that I am friends with and cool with that I hang out with outside the facility just from different sports,” Thomas said. “It’s good to

really have that, and we all have the same goals. We want to win in our sport. We want to be the best in our sport, and it’s good to get other perspectives from every other sport to know who you are and just to be able to grow with them.”

“We never want to get complacent.”

The Alabama victory isn’t even talked about inside the Tennessee locker room anymore. Thomas wants that feeling and winning to become routine.

“We come in every week just wanting to go 1-0, thinking about whoever we’re playing at that moment,” Thomas said. “I would say no, we don’t really use like how it feels after the game. I think everybody on the team understands what a win feels like, especially a big win for our program. But we just want to go 1-0 every week, and we celebrate out there.”

Building off of last season but not getting complacent with that success has been a theme around the program going into the 2023 season.

Going 11-2 with an Orange Bowl victory is not the end goal for Tennessee. There are more things the Vols want to achieve.

This thinking has led to the mantra of the offseason: Avoid complacency.

“I honestly think we expect to win the SEC East,” Thomas said. “I feel like doing that and expecting to do that is going to put us in a great position for what we have to accomplish after that. That’s the main goal.”

There’s a lot that goes into that goal. Practicing and playing at a “championship level” has been echoed by Heupel and his coaching staff throughout the offseason. There also comes a focus piece.

Tennessee can’t overlook opponents. Teams on the schedule like UConn and UTSA could pose threats if the Vols don’t take the games seriously.

Defensive line coach Rodney Garner gives the team a metaphor. He compares each week to a mule plowing grass. The mule has blinders on, with one goal.

Garner wants his team to have blinders on with one goal each week – going 1-0.

“Everyone’s preaching it, coaches preach it, players preach it, where we just need to really be focused on what’s right here, right now and be in our moment,” Thomas said. “The team we have really been a lot on right here, right now. Just focus on the moment, and really just focus on that one game.”

Thomas has grown in his leadership skills this season, helping echo the messages that Garner and others are preaching. A pretty quiet person normally, Thomas is focusing on growing into a vocal leader.

Garner has helped Thomas grow into that role. The veteran assistant coach is putting the defensive line in tough positions to make them grow. Thomas mentioned conditioning.

No matter how tired you get, Garner is going to make sure you get the running

piece in.

“He doesn’t want us to get comfortable and he always says it, ‘You want to be comfortable being uncomfortable,’” Thomas said. “He tries to put us in the worst situations possible that makes you step out front and lead. Whether that’s running or being in a hard drill that’s unrealistic for a game or anything like that. It’s just when you go through those tough times, then you’re able to step out, lead and you learn so much from it.

“He wants to make practice the hardest and make games easy for us. So it’s been a great thing for us to have coach G and he just continues to push us every day just to be better people on the field and off the field.”

Thomas has grown into a leader on the defensive line, and he is the anchor. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks said that everything starts with Thomas up front. It all starts with the small details.

Missed assignments, breakdowns, running hard no matter what, the little things that Thomas focuses on make him successful. The rest takes care of itself.

“I feel like everything with football, everything’s gonna fall into place if you’re doing the right thing outside of the field, off the field,” Thomas said. “So that’s why I really pride myself in just doing everything right outside the field and really just like focusing on like small details.”

Peyton Manning joins first class as CCI professor of practice

Manning visited professor John Haas’ capstone course on Monday as part of his new role. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beacon, he reflects on his CCI experience and looks forward to the future.

ABBY ANN RAMSEY Editor-in-Chief

Peyton Manning made his first appearance as a professor of practice in the College of Communication and Information this afternoon as he joined professor John Haas’ communication studies capstone course for a Q&A.

Earlier this month, CCI announced the addition of Manning as a featured industry expert with plans to teach a wide variety of topics in the college. His appearance Monday focused primarily on public speaking and leadership.

Manning noted that his decision to join the college is rooted in his appreciation for the university and for his professors. Specifically,

Manning cites Haas as a major influence. Haas was not only Manning’s professor but also his advisor when Manning was trying to decide whether or not to graduate a year early and declare for the NFL draft. Haas helped organize his classes in a way that gave him more time to make the decision, which ultimately led to him choosing to play another year at UT.

“The college has been important to me. Dr. Haas has been important to me,” Manning said in an interview with The Daily Beacon. “And so it’s another way to stay connected to the university, not just via the football program.”

Teaching class is something new to Manning, and he noted that dropping in on Haas’ class was helpful for his first day as a professor.

“This was a true first to me,” Manning

said. “Dr. Haas was sort of quarterbacking it today.”

Despite being new to the role of professor, Haas pointed out Manning’s wide range of knowledge and the value of having him join class.

“He knows a great deal about how it is that leaders can communicate and communicate effectively, and that’s the reason why we brought him in here today,” Haas said in the class.

Manning said being a CCI major has also had a major impact on his life. The renowned public speaker, media personality and sports commentator began his freshman year as a business major but switched into CCI not long after.

“I had no idea at the time that I was going to have the opportunities to do as much public speaking as I have and just the importance that communication has been and all the different things that I’ve been a part of,” Manning said. “So certainly experience teaches you a lot, but I felt like I had a good foundation coming out of college because of this major and the professors that I had.”

In addition to giving back to the college, Manning looks forward to being surrounded by fellow Vols whenever he is on campus whether they’re students, administrators or athletic staff. He cited Chancellor Donde Plowman, UT President Randy Boyd and football head coach Josh Heupel as people exemplifying leadership on campus.

Manning said that one of the main things that sticks out to him about campus leaders and athletic coaches is that love for the Vols.

“It seems like all of our coaches want to be here,” Manning said. “I mean they’re not here to try to go somewhere else. Josh Heupel

literally gave me a ride over here to my first teaching moment.”

The fusion of academics and athletics is, according to Manning, part of what is pushing a rise in application rates and a more passionate Rocky Top. He said that while many aspects of the university still feel familiar to him years later, he sees evidence of positive change happening both inside and outside the classroom.

“This school, everything about it is just at such a high level and is just gonna continue to get better,” Manning said. “It’s a good problem to have that so many people want to come here.”

Students also play a major role in Manning’s new position as a professor of practice, as they are yet another group of people who love the University of Tennessee. He said that last year’s football game against Alabama is just one example of people creating special moments and feeling connected to the Vols, no matter what their connection to the school is.

“For me, I didn’t see myself as a former football player,” Manning said. “I saw myself as a Tennessee alum, a CCI alum. I was with my son on the field — we actually stormed the field with the students — and that’s a moment there for everybody.”

While Manning is not relocating to Knoxville and won’t be teaching classes every day of the week, this new connection to the university gives him yet another reason to be excited for all that’s to come this year.

“I look forward to more of those moments happening on the football field, on campus, various things,” Manning said. “I think we’re set up for the potential to have a lot of really special moments.”

Peyton Manning visits John Haas’ capstone class in his first on-campus appearance as a professor of practice for the College of Communication and Information. Aug. 28, 2023. Courtesy of UT photographer Steven Bridges

Lady Vol soccer looks to repeat as SEC East champs in 2023

She has formed a strong center-back pairing with Lawson Renie, and the pair have developed solid chemistry over the first three games of the season.

Expectations are high for Tennessee soccer once again as head coach Joe Kirt enters his second season with a wealth of talent in all positions.

The Lady Vols have already started the season on the right foot, winning their first three games. With the bulk of the season still to go, including all of SEC play, Tennessee will need to continue its current form to find success.

The Lady Vols have plenty of attacking talent on their team. After scoring 13 goals a season ago, Jaida Thomas returns for her senior season. Thomas did not play in the first three games of the season due to injury, but she is expected to return and provide goalscoring ability as she did last year.

“There is no substitute for experience, and (Thomas) has done it,” Kirt said. “She has done it for three years. We have someone that has the confidence and belief and instills confidence in the players around her. If they can put her in good spots with entry balls, she will put them away. She is a big part of our team right down the middle.”

In her absence, freshman striker Kate Runyon has started each of the first three games

of the season. Her goal against Cal provided the initial spark that led Tennessee to a 4-1 win over the Golden Bears. She also provided a physical presence to the attacking play during her minutes.

The most high-profile player for the Lady Vols is Kameron Simmonds. Simmonds returned from playing for Jamaica in the Women’s World Cup and already has four goals to her name. Simmonds provides both creativity

and physicality to Tennessee.

“Playing with Jamaica over the last months, her physical game has been great,” Kirt said after Tennessee’s win over ETSU. “It’s a combination of her physical maturity and her decision-making.”

Defensively, the Lady Vols have added Oklahoma transfer Sheridan Michel to their roster. Michel has played over 80 minutes in each of the first three games for Tennessee.

In goal, Ally Zazzara and Abby Reisz have split time, both seeking to be the replacement for last year’s starting goalkeeper Lindsey Romig. Through three games, both have played three halves, with each player allowing one goal.

Kirt is still not ready to name a long-term starter between the posts.

“For all positions, it is a competitive battle for who is going to win a job,” Kirt said. “We have a lot of players right now that have earned playing time, and it is no different in the goalkeeper position. Everything has to be earned here, and our players have done a great job competing.”

A season ago, Tennessee split the SEC East division with South Carolina but lost to Georgia in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The Lady Vols lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament at home to Xavier in extra time.

This year, the Lady Vols look one step further, winning the division outright and progressing further in the SEC and NCAA tournaments. The team has the talent to do so but will need to live up to their expectation to find success.

JACK CHURCH Staff Writer

Sydney Hennesey (33) kicks the ball during a game against East Tennessee State University at Regal Soccer Stadium. Aug. 24, 2023. Cole Moore / Contributor

VFL turned country musician looks to Rocky Top for inspiration

Former Tennessee football player Thomas Edwards (’17) recently released his debut single “Runnin’ Through That T,” a ballad inspired by the “power of the T.”

ADAM DELAHOUSSAYE Staff Writer

If you want to be a successful country artist, then playing for the Tennessee Vols is a great place to start. The fan base has always shown incessant, almost fanatic devotion to the team regardless of record or recruit rankings. Former Vol Thomas Edwards recalls an early and personal favorite memory of joining the orange-clad fraternity.

“I was a freshman walk-on, first fall, and there’s three different people yelling my name as I’m walking down the Vol Walk,” Edwards said. “I don’t know how they know who I am, but there’s people that just love all 100 of us. The love I’ve gotten is unconditional, regardless of if you make a tackle or not. That’s where I really first got exposed to the ‘power of the T’ or whatever you want to call it.”

A former Tennessee offensive lineman and current country music singer/songwriter, Edwards has now taken a stab at two dreams in his one life. His first— playing college football — is the source of his first single and soon-to-be tailgate classic, “Runnin’ Through That T,” which came out on July 19. The song captures the essence of what it means to be a part of a revered program through visualizing one of the grandest entrances in the sport of college football. To get a glimpse of Edwards’ second dream, all you need to do is visit Spotify or head over to Nashville’s Broadway on Friday, Sept. 1, where Edwards will host a release party at the Acme Rooftop for “Runnin’ Through That T.”

As much as shoulder pads and Oklahoma drills probably influence Edwards’ artistry, he accredits his “eureka” moment to a path far easier for most Tennessee students to relate to: supply chain management.

After graduation, Edwards spent a few years in Franklin, Kentucky, where he worked in the supply chain division of Tractor Supply Company. Relegated to working nights in the receiving end of the company, Edwards recalls the evening a truckload of freight may have come with his destiny in one of its packages.

“I opened up a trailer door at 2:00 in the morning. It’s cold as hell outside in the middle of the winter, and it’s just a trailer full of hay,” Edwards said. “I just sat there and remember thinking, ‘Yeah, this isn’t what I want to do.’ So from that point, it was just figuring out, ‘Okay, how do I get out of this?’”

The answer, it seems, was right in front of Thomas from his earliest days. His father was a fiddler in a bluegrass band and his mother a minister. Together, the three would go from place to place in rural East Tennessee on Sundays helping spark revival with the power of song. They would use that same sentiment to foster community on Saturdays.

“I didn’t go into football mode until I was like a sophomore in high school,” Edwards said. “One day, I just suddenly realized I was 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds. As far as what I was exposed to, music was always first. So it’s funny that it took an existential crisis for me to realize I could make a living out of it.”

As drastic as Edwards’ jumps in career have been, he seems to be handling it better than most. Where collegiate athletics and musicianship can come with some hefty distractions, he’s been able to relate what he learned on the field to the stage with almost startling maturity. He may have seldom seen the field in college, but his work ethic would tell you he was ready to go in at a moment’s notice.

“I’ll say this, when you play anything at a high level, especially SEC football, you develop an unrivaled sense of discipline,” Edwards said. “Even for me, I knew that the larger purpose of me being there was more important than my small role. So that sense of being able to hoot with the owls and soar with the eagles was in me after being ingrained for four years. I mean, you gotta learn how to balance a lot. And discipline, work ethic, time management, all that translates so well from football to music. They’re very similar — I mean my body is still my product. Used to be my hands, now it’s my voice.”

Parallels in lifestyle aren’t Edwards’ only takeaways from his college days. He cites a fairly eclectic bunch of influences, including the bluegrass he was introduced to through family as well as artists he was turning his teammates on to in the locker room. If Edwards was on aux, you could expect to hear anything from Frank Sinatra to Future Hendrix, depending on the day.

“In college, we listened to everything. I was always the guy that had a speaker and music going, trying to introduce people to different music,” Edwards said. “I remember we had a Dean Martin kick, everyone just walking around feeling like they were in a noir movie ... Every person has a parent with a CD in their car, and when you grow up, that’s just the random band you like. For me, that was Prince. Not that he’s an influence, per se, but it’s just another person I’d throw

on all the time. And of course country music. There was always a day where everyone just knew that’s what we’d be playing. You’d see some head shakes, but they just had to deal with it.”

A wide spectrum of musical genres is just the beginning of Edwards’ locker room legacy. Known as a constant booster of morale, his infectious personality was something of a necessity to teammates through wins and losses, according to fellow former lineman Jack Jones.

“He’s the guy you wanna see when it’s week three of camp, and you’re like, ‘Dang, we gotta run in this heat today,’ cause he’ll always just brighten up your day,” Jones said. “He’s always been the guy.”

As for his knack for entertainment, it seems to be a facet of this sort of rabid positivity even in his football days.

“From music to honestly whenever they needed someone up front to do something, it was Thomas with the mic in his hand,” Jones said. “And the thing was, whenever he got the mic everyone got real excited cause we all know he’s a natural entertainer. Music, comedy, whatever he does, people are attracted to it.”

In a country music landscape that can sometimes feel scared of its roots, a musician as bright and unapologetic as Edwards is a breath of fresh air no matter what color you wear on Saturdays in the fall. Still, Vol fans may be glad to know there’s a cowboy on Broadway who played for the home team — something he’ll wear as a badge of honor no matter where the road takes him. And of course, a former Vol who takes pride in their alma mater is always considering the future of the team.

“We could be 12-0, easy,” Edwards said. “Call me biased, I am biased. I think we got what it takes.”

Former Tennessee offensive lineman Thomas Edwards credits Rocky Top with inspiring his new venture into country music. Courtesy of VFL Films

Thomas Edwards (’17) recently released his debut single, which was inspired by his time spent playing for the Tennessee football team. Courtesy of Thomas Edwards

Putting Tennessee football’s rise back to prominence in perspective

ANDREW SMITH

Contributor

Coming off the heels of the team’s first New Year’s Six bowl win in the College Football Playoff era, the expectations for Tennessee football in 2023 are the highest they have been in a long time. With the rapid rise to the highest ranks of college football, it can be easy to forget how far the program has come under head coach Josh Heupel.

When Heupel arrived to Knoxville in January 2021, the state of football was at one of the lowest levels it had seen in what seemed to be a series of low points. After the season, head coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired and athletics director Phillip Fulmer retired. Pruitt was fired with cause as the program went under NCAA investigation due to alleged recruiting violations that took place under his watch.

In both the lead-up to and the immediate fallout of the investigation’s launch, there was a mass exodus of players into the transfer portal, with 35 players transferring out of Knoxville between September 2020 and July 2021. On top of the roster attrition, Tennessee self-imposed a scholarship restriction after concluding its own investigation.

However, the 2021 Vols had a winning season, going 7-6 with one of the top offenses in the SEC. The Vols finished second in points per game (39.3) and third in yards per game (474.9) amongst their conference foes.

The following offseason, many Tennessee fans were excited to see what growth would come in the program in year two under Heupel. The potent offense was still going to be under the command of quarterback Hendon Hooker, Heupel was able to complete his full recruiting cycle at Tennessee and the vast majority of the coaching staff remained for 2022.

But even with the renewed sense of opti-

mism in Knoxville, very few could have predicted how the 2022 season would go for the Vols’. With a preseason over/under win total sitting at 7.5, the Vols surpassed all expectations by going 11-2 and finished second in the SEC East.

In the midst of Tennessee’s first ten-win season since 2007, the Vols took the college football world by storm. College Gameday came to Knoxville on Oct. 15, ahead of what some consider the best game of all of last season, a 52-49 win over then-No.3 Alabama. The win marked the first time that Tennessee got the better of the Crimson Tide since 2006.

Now many fans are looking to see if Tennessee can replicate its success for the 2023 season. If so, it will have to do so without Hooker. Taking over at quarterback will be former Michigan transfer Joe Milton, who started the regular season finale against Vanderbilt and the Orange Bowl against Clemson in Hooker’s absence to end 2022. In those starts, Milton went 30-for-49 in passing attempts with 398 yards and four touchdowns.

On top of the on-the-field momentum for the Vols, the dark cloud of the NCAA investigation has been cleared. On July 14, the NCAA released its findings into the recruiting allegations from the Pruitt era, citing there were “hundreds of violations” that occurred over the course of three seasons, including 18 Level I violations. However, the program did not face a postseason ban. Instead, Tennessee football was placed on five years of probation, with a reduction in scholarships and official visits during the probationary period, as well as having to vacate all wins from the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

With the off-the-field matter now settled, Heupel and his staff now can fully set their sights on the future of Tennessee football. Given the exponential growth of the program over the last two seasons, that future appears to be as bright as ever.

Coach Josh Heupel, Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton III smile during the trophy presentation at the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. File / The Daily Beacon

The

2023 schedule breakdown: Vols look to prove 2022 was not a fluke

Virginia

Austin Peay

@ Florida

Year three in the Josh Heupel era has arrived in Knoxville. Following 11 wins in 2022 — the highest count for Tennessee since 2001 — expectations have surged nationwide for the Vols this year. Despite having to replace multiple All-SEC performers like Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt, the mission for Tennessee is to win an SEC championship and potentially more. A new, yet familiar, starting quarterback named Joe Milton, coupled with several new and returning players at wide receiver, will significantly influence the degree of success Tennessee achieves against a challenging gauntlet of opponents.

The season opener marks the first time the Vols have begun a season in Nashville since 2015, as they will play a pseudohome game in Nissan Stadium against Virginia. Second-year Virginia coach Tony Elliott led the Cavs to a 3-7 record in 2022 in a season cut short by an on-campus shooting that claimed the lives of two Virginia players.

The Cavs would be thrilled to make a bowl game in 2023 and are picked to finish near the bottom in the ACC by many publications. Tennessee is a significant favorite in this game and is expected to win by multiple touchdowns.

Tennessee opens the 2023 home slate on Sept. 9 against Austin Peay. After a 7-4 campaign under the leadership of head coach Scotty Walden, the Governors will aim to achieve what would be considered a miraculous upset against their in-state neighbors from Knoxville.

Fans eager to catch a glimpse of star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava will likely see their wish fulfilled before this game ends. The Vols are expected to send the Governors back to Clarksville with a loss.

The Vols will kickoff SEC play under the lights in The Swamp against Florida. The Gators embark on this season with a second-year head coach Billy Napier, who still has a significant amount to prove to Gator fans following a 6-7 finish in 2022. Anthony Richardson, a top-five pick who troubled the Vols last year, has departed, and Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz has assumed his position at quarterback. Expectations for Florida are modest this year, and Tennessee is already a sevenpoint favorite on the road. However, Tennessee has not secured a win in Gainesville since 2003.

TANNER JOHNSON Staff Writer

Thousands of Tennessee fans rushed Shields-Watkins Field in an avalanche of celebration moments after Tennessee took down Alabama on Oct. 15, 2022. File / The Daily Beacon

UTSA

This is no typical cupcake home game for Tennessee. UTSA returns nine starters on offense from a team that went 11-3 a season ago. Among those returning is star quarterback Frank Harris, who is among the best players in the American Athletic Conference.

The Vols must do their best not to overlook the Roadrunners, who may be ranked in the top 25 when they travel to Knoxville on Sept. 23. If Tennessee’s defense does not come to play, this game could turn into a shootout. The longer UTSA is in the game, the more dangerous it becomes for Tennessee.

South Carolina

Before Nov. 19, 2022, not many people had this game circled as one of the most important of the 2023 season. But after Tennessee’s playoff hopes were destroyed by the Gamecocks last year, fans of both teams have had their eyes set on this rematch.

South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler will look to follow up his unbelievable performance from last year and try to lead his team to another upset. Tennessee will attempt to defend its home field in a stadium that South Carolina has not won in since 2017.

Texas A&M

After a bye week, Tennessee hosts Texas A&M in a fullcapacity Neyland Stadium for the first time ever. The Aggies played in a partially full stadium during the 2020 COVID-19 season. They are coming off a disappointing 5-7 season that they started ranked in the top 10.

The Vols will be well-rested heading into this matchup and will need a complete effort to contain this talented A&M roster. The progression of sophomore quarterback Connor Weigman up to this point in the season will go a long way in determining the outcome of this one.

@ Alabama

The 2022 edition of the third Saturday in October rivalry was one for the history books. Tennessee defeated Alabama in one of the most high-profile games of the year and changed the outlook of their season and football program. Alabama will be seeking revenge and will be led by a new quarterback and coordinators on the offensive and defensive side.

The ability of Nick Saban to integrate his new coordinators and players will go a long way in determining who wins this game. Alabama has only lost five home games since 2008 and has not lost in Bryant-Denny Stadium since Joe Burrow and LSU conquered the Crimson Tide in 2019. To win this game, Tennessee will need their best performance of the season.

@ Kentucky

Tennessee is 34-3 against Kentucky dating back to 1985. In 2022, Tennessee destroyed the Wildcats 44-6 in front of a sold-out Neyland Stadium. This year, the rivalry travels back to Lexington in what will be one of the biggest games of the year for both teams.

Transfer quarterback Devin Leary from NC State will be a large factor in the success Kentucky has this year. The pairing of Leary with Kentucky’s offensive coordinator Liam Coen has Wildcat fans dreaming of what could be this season in Lexington. The Vols will have to fight hard to win this one.

UConn

After the hiring of head coach Jim Mora, UConn has steadily improved from being one of the worst football programs in the FBS. Mora led the Huskies to a bowl game last season and finished with a record of 6-7. This remarkable turnaround for the Huskies has revived Mora’s career, and he is looking to continue to build on that success in 2023.

After four conference games in a row, the Vols will have a small break from the SEC grind when they host the Huskies in Neyland Stadium for homecoming. Whatever happens in the earlier part of UT’s schedule, the Vols will still be heavy favorites over UConn in this game.

@ Missouri

Tennessee has scored at least 60 points in two straight wins against the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers will have to keep the Vols well under that mark this time to have a chance to win this game. Led by quarterback Brady Cook, Mizzou’s offense has struggled at times in the past to move the ball and put points on the board.

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has garnered a reputation for being an offensive-minded coach. But with his offenses failing to produce up to an elite standard year after year, the pressure is on him to deliver in 2023. The Vols have also had no trouble winning in Columbia.

Georgia

In what may be the toughest game on Georgia’s schedule, the two-time defending national champions travel to Knoxville in the Vol’s penultimate game of the regular season. It will likely be the only game in Neyland Stadium this year that Tennessee is not favored in.

Georgia will have to replace reliable starting quarterback Stetson Bennett with unknown sophomore Carson Beck. Beck has played sparingly as a backup the last two years and now will be relied upon to lead the offense. Georgia’s defense will again be among the best in the country, as is the calling card for head coach Kirby Smart. Tennessee will need a near-perfect performance on both sides of the ball to pull off this shocker of an upset.

Vanderbilt

The Commodores of Vanderbilt saw significant improvement in head coach Clark Lea’s second season, going from 2-10 in 2021 to 5-7 in 2022. Those five wins included back-to-back victories over Kentucky and Florida. However, their bowl chances were dashed by a 56-0 drubbing at the hands of Tennessee in Nashville.

In what will be senior night for many important players on Tennessee’s roster, expect the Vols to come out inspired in this rivalry game. Vanderbilt has not won in Neyland Stadium since 2017 and has not been able to handle Heupel’s offense yet in the two previous matchups the Commodores have had with Tennessee.

Members of the football team, joined by Smokey, line up to UT’s Alma Mater. Saturday, April 15, 2023. Edward Cruz / The Daily Beacon

Lady Vols volleyball looks to make 3rd straight NCAA Tournament

MADELINE MCNEELY Contributor

With a versatile team of 21 Lady Vols and an experienced coaching staff, Tennessee volleyball’s 2023 season looks to be promising.

Head coach Eve Rackham Watt has a surplus of talent on the court this season. The starting lineup looks to be impressive. All-American Morgahn Fingall will lead the team in her final year with the Lady Vols.

Between Fingall, Erykah Lovett and Jenaisya Moore the team looks to have absolute weapons on the pins. Keondreya Granberry and Klaudia Pawlik have stepped up to be defensive walls in the middle. Redshirt freshman Caroline Kerr is setting for the Lady Vols and Yelianiz Torres is the team’s libero.

Moore, an outside hitter, was the highlight of this transfer class. She arrived in Knoxville after four seasons at Ohio State.

“They just brought such a maturity and a confidence, and the experience is great, but it allows the other people around them to just do their job even at a higher level,” Rackham Watt said. “Having somebody like Caroline (Kerr), who’s a first-year setter out there, setting a ball to Jenaisya (Moore) who’s been out there for five years. There’s just a level of comfort that it allows Caroline to set even at a higher level.“

The Lady Vols have started the season off strong with three wins in the Tennessee Classic, defeating Texas State (25-19, 25-18, 25-15), Marist (25-15, 25-13, 25-12) and UT Martin (25-15, 25-8, 25-9).

“All the work that this group did over the summer to prepare themselves physically, and it’s go time now, so we’re in season,” Rackham Watt said after the opening weekend. “The ability to kind of play backto-back, physically, it’s hard, but it’s also a challenge because you just don’t have a lot of information. You don’t have a lot of prep time to scout.”

The work the team has put in the summer has most definitely shown on the court in the early season. The Lady Vols’ chemistry on and off the court makes a positive difference in the team’s atmosphere. A key to building this chemistry is communication.

“One thing that we were preaching before in the locker room, really for this whole preseason, and then going into our season was communication,” Fingall said.

The talk on the court has allowed for trust and composure among the Lady Vols. The team maintains their competitive edge

through constant communication.

“We really honed in on making sure our frontline and backline are in cohesion,” Moore said. “So just making sure that we’re on the same page. When we move as a unit, we are very, very good.”

The rest of the season poses exciting challenges for Tennessee volleyball. The Lady Vols will take on five conference champions and 10 NCAA Tournament teams from last season, allowing Rackham Watt’s squad to prove their skill.

There will be major trials for the Lady Vols when they travel to San Diego to take on the Toreros and Boston College before heading to Madison to face Wisconsin. In the next weekend, the Lady Vols will battle against two more conference champions: Loyola Chicago and Marquette.

Further down the road in SEC play, Tennessee will play eight matches against third-round NCAA Tournament teams, including a home-and-home series against Kentucky, a former No. 3 national seed, and

will then travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators, reigning SEC Champs. Last year, the Lady Vols fell to Purdue in a five-set match in the NCAA tournament. This year, the Lady Vols have set high goals to move further in the tournament.

“If we want to be great and be playing our best volleyball in December and we want to make a run in the tournament, we’re going to have to challenge ourselves,” Rackham Watt said.

With a versatile team of 21 Lady Vols and an experienced coaching staff, Tennessee volleyball’s 2023 season looks to be promising. Edward Cruz / The Daily Beacon

How Danny White, Josh Heupel approached NCAA investigation

rumored to have come up during the search.

White kept circling back to one name no matter who he interviewed throughout the process: Josh Heupel.

souri from 124th to 13th in total offense. UCF was top-five in the country in total offense with Heupel as the head coach.

the lowest part of its history.

Athletics director Danny White and UT Chancellor Donde Plowman stood on the stage in Hard Rock Stadium smiling from ear to ear. Tennessee had just completed its first 11-win season since 2001, capped off by a dominant Orange Bowl victory over Clemson. Head coach Josh Heupel and Joe Milton stood center stage, throwing oranges out into the crowd. The Vols hadn’t seen success in a while. The program had one of its lowest moments in history just two years prior to the celebrations in Miami.

It was a whirlwind, nationwide coaching search that White conducted in January 2021. The aftermath of Jeremy Pruitt’s firing was not fully felt yet. Tony Elliott, James Franklin, P.J. Fleck and Sonny Dykes were all names

Heupel was the head football coach at UCF while White was leading the Knights’ athletics department. Every interview White and Deputy Athletics Director of Competitive Excellence Cameron Walker conducted was compared to Heupel.

Nobody during the national search could equal what Heupel offered.

“It was kind of painful for me to pull him out of UCF after I left, personally,” White said. “But I knew it was the right move for this university, and I knew it was the right move for him and his career. Just fun to see how well it’s all worked out.”

When Heupel was hired at Tennessee, his track record of developing quarterbacks and offenses spoke for itself. During his time as an offensive coordinator, he improved Mis-

After hearing from the team’s leadership group and evaluating all the candidates, White hadn’t met a coach he thought could do as good of a job as Heupel.

“He’s very genuine. He’s all substance,” White said. “I knew I didn’t really have to interview Josh (Heupel), obviously. I just worked with him for two years and got a chance to see the kind of culture he was able to build at UCF, how he connects with players and the experience they’re having and how competitive he is.

“Competitive but also doing it in a way where guys just really love playing for him, and he’s walked in their shoes, he’s got credibility with them.”

Heupel marketed himself as a “player’s coach” and won the locker room over fairly quickly. He took over a program that was in

White and Heupel were staring down the barrel of an NCAA investigation. No one knew what was going to happen or even what Pruitt had done in his short tenure in Knoxville.

Plowman told White everything she knew when he was hired on Jan. 21, 2021. They didn’t know a lot, but Plowman and White worked together to navigate the early stages of the investigation.

“Everything she knew she shared with me, and we both learned that it was worse than anybody realized,” White said. “And we’ve worked through it. I’m really proud of the way we’ve handled it as a university. I’ve said this in previous interviews, but I think we’ve shown that there’s a way you can hold yourself accountable as an institution under this NCAA model and operate with integrity and work through a system.

CALEB JARREAU Sports Editor

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, Joe Milton III, Chancellor Donde Plowman and athletics director Danny White celebrate the Vols’ win against Clemson at the Orange Bowl. File / The Daily Beacon

“You don’t have to fight and try to avoid accountability. She kind of made that decision before I ever came here. I wasn’t upset or anything as I learned more about the case. It’s my job to come in here and figure it out. We learned together that there’s more there than probably anybody realized.”

White hadn’t unpacked his bags in Knoxville when he hired Heupel six days later. He relayed everything he knew about the investigation to the new head coach.

Both White and Heupel left a stable UCF to take over a program in turmoil. Heupel didn’t approach the challenge any differently than he did his previous stops.

“We both knew we were taking a little bit of a leap of faith, but I think we’re equally confident in what we can do,” White said. “He didn’t flinch.”

The duo wanted to make sure that current student-athletes and coaches didn’t suffer for the decisions of Pruitt and other “bad actors.” That went into his decision to not self-impose a bowl ban.

White called that decision a “gamble,” but he did decide to self-impose scholarship limits and recruiting limits. Those two decisions would lessen the NCAA punishments down the line.

“We’ve been working on that since the day I got here, trying to be proactive,” White said. “If you just look at case precedent and what’s fair, we’re trying to operate out of fairness. Bad things happened here. Those people are gone, but we’re still accountable for them. So how did we punish other schools, and in what ways does that assimilate to what appropriate penalties for us?”

The NCAA hit Tennessee with an $8 million fine and the loss of 28 scholarships over five years. Tennessee also has to give up certain visits over the course of a five-

2023 Football PICK ‘EM

Virginia 13 vs. Tennessee 52

FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane

Clemson vs. Duke Colorado vs. TCU

year probation period. Pruitt and his past staff also got penalties from the NCAA for their involvement.

All in all, the NCAA punishments are something fans and current players won’t feel — the goal for White.

“I felt satisfied,” White said. “I think it’s obvious I’d rather have no penalties, but we didn’t ask for that. We messed up. We’re holding ourselves accountable.”

The “gamble” of not self-imposing a bowl ban paid off for White and Tennessee football. In two years, Heupel had revived Tennessee to a national stage and earned a New Year’s Six Bowl victory in the process.

Seeing the student-athletes succeed, and watching the rebuild of the football program, made everything worth it for White. Standing on the winning stage at the Orange Bowl let it all set in.

“That’s why I love what I do,” White said. “I love sitting back and watching a team that just invested so much of themselves and into each other celebrate on the field or on the court. It’s so much fun to watch those different kind of snapshots in time. Probably my favorite part of the job.”

Virginia 10 vs. Tennessee 45

FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane

Clemson vs. Duke

Colorado vs. TCU

Virginia 21 vs. Tennessee 42 FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane

Clemson vs. Duke Colorado vs. TCU

Virginia 10 vs. Tennessee 45 FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane

Clemson vs. Duke Colorado vs. TCU

Virginia 13 vs. Tennessee 38

FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane Clemson vs. Duke Colorado vs. TCU

Virginia 17 vs. Tennessee 38

FloridA vs. Utah

LSU vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

South Alabama vs. Tulane

Clemson vs. Duke Colorado vs. TCU

Caleb Jarreau Sports Editor

Tanner Johnson Staff Writer

Jack Church Staff Writer

Eric Woods AssT. Sports Editor

Bella Hughes Managing Editor

Madeline McNeely Contributor

Athletics director Danny White speaks at the Finance and Administration Committee on June 23, 2022. Sam Thomas / University of Tennessee