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USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Tennessee football is predicted to finish in 2025 SEC standings
2025 will mark the fifth football season for Tennessee under head coach Josh Heupel. He has compiled a 37-15 (20-12 SEC) record with the Vols from 2021-24. Heupel guided Tennessee to its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history last season. He is also 2-2 versus both Alabama and Florida. 'Embarking into year five, as I was getting ready for today, I really rewound back to year one and how myself and our staff came to Tennessee and the adversity in which we took the program over,' Heupel said at SEC media days. 'I'm really proud of what we've done, from roster management to some of the recruiting things we've had to deal with. It's how I know our best is in front of us. What has crippled other programs in the past, University of Tennessee and our football program has been able to flourish. You look over the last three years, 30 wins, the most wins in Tennessee in the stretch of three years of Tennessee football since the late '90s, if you look at the College Football Playoff, New Year's Six bowl wins, you look at what we've done in the NFL draft. The best stretch of NFL draft picks in Tennessee in over two decades. "While we've been able to have that success on the field, players have done an unbelievable job inside our community. Each year we've set a team GPA record in the history of Tennessee football. I'm extremely proud of what our staff and our players have done here in a short amount of time." Following SEC media days, media members voted on the order of finish for league teams in 2025. Tennessee is predicted to finish in ninth place. Texas is projected to win the SEC and Georgia is second. Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel addresses 8 game losing streak vs. Georgia football
The Georgia Bulldogs have won eight straight games over the Tennessee Volunteers dating back to 2016. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is 8-1 in his UGA career against the Volunteers including eight consecutive double-digit victories. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is 0-4 in his career against Kirby Smart and Georgia, but he has helped lead the Volunteers' program back to respectability. Heupel is 37-15 in four seasons with Tennessee. The Volunteers have some momentum after they made their first ever College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. Now, Heupel and company are looking to reverse their fate against the mighty Bulldogs. "Thanks for reminding me," said Heupel when a member of the media told him about Georgia's recent success against Tennessee. "We haven't been able to be on the right side of the scoreboard in that game. That's players and coaches together ultimately being a little bit better. A couple of those games last year, it's a tight ballgame in the fourth quarter. For us, it's tying all three phases of the game together." Tennessee will have to try to beat Georgia in 2025 with a new starting quarterback after Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA this spring. The Volunteers and Heupel are confident UCLA/Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar can get the job done this year. "Kirby (Smart) and their staff and their players have done a really good job and played really well in those games. It will be important for us, that's Week 3, that we're ready to go play at the level that we need to against a really good football team," added Heupel. There's no doubt that Georgia will be a challenge for Tennessee, but we'll also learn a lot about Georgia when the two SEC rivals meet in Knoxville. Georgia opens the season with a pair of non-Power Four opponents (Marshall and Austin Peay) at home before playing at Tennessee, which is projected to be quarterback Gunner Stockton's first career road start. Despite Stockton's lack of experience on the road, Georgia has opened as early road favorites for their Sept. 13 game at Tennessee.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 SEC football power rankings at media days
SEC media days is being held, Monday-Thursday, at Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park and the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel represented the Vols on Tuesday at media days. He previewed Tennessee entering its upcoming campaign after a 10-3 (6-2 SEC) season and a College Football Playoff berth in 2024. 'As we move forward here into the '25 season, I'm going to rewind to last December,' Heupel said. 'Everybody inside of our program didn't like the taste in their mouth as the season finished up in late December. That's been a part of spurring us on throughout each quarter of our offseason. It's been a part of how intentional and how focused that we've been throughout the course of the summer, and I'm excited to go compete with these guys when we get here to training camp. 'For us to take another step and to continue to grow as a program, it has come down, and this is something that we've been very diligent in inside of our program this offseason, the accountability to yourself and to your teammates every single day. Guys doing their job at an elite level, building the leadership that you need to have to control and command your unit and your position group, and ultimately the way that we're going to compete every single day together.' More: 2025 win-loss record projections for all 16 SEC football teams Following the start of media days, Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY released SEC football power rankings for the 2025 season. Tennessee is ranked No. 7. Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma are opponents for the Vols in 2025 and are ranked higher in SEC power rankings. 2025 SEC football power rankings at media days Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Tennessee looks forward, forgives QB lost to portal
In a transfer portal plot gone wrong, Nico Iamaleava was not with the Tennessee Volunteers at SEC Media Days on Tuesday in Atlanta and head coach Josh Heupel flushed the majority of his thoughts on the matter -- for the most part. Heupel and Tennessee reloaded since the apparent negotiating ploy by Iamaleava was flipped into a farewell letter by the Vols. And at the end of the day, as Heupel says, the Vols are just fine with the way it turned out. "Ultimately at the end of the day, it's never about who's not in your building but about who is in your building. For us, you can lose a quarterback at a lot of different times: December transfer portal, spring transfer portal. You can lose one week 1, first quarter of the ballgame in your opener, and now you're on to number two through injury, right? You've got to have the next-man-up mentality," Heupel said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, having guys that want to compete along with their brothers inside of that locker room, building that connection, but also having the right guys in there. At the end of the day, I'm really excited about who we have in there. The addition of Joey to who's already inside of that group, highly competitive guys that are smart, that have the physical traits to be successful. Teammates have grown to have great trust in those guys through the course of this off-season during the summer, and now it's about getting to training camp and going and competing. Somebody is going to earn the opportunity to be our starting quarterback through that process." Heupel said expectations are unchanged even if his quarterback will be different. He also admitted losing Iamaleava was difficult "in that moment" for players. Leadership, including from Heupel, opted for "immediate" and "transparent" communication with players about the decision to help them cope with the change and tried to answer any question for which he had answers. Now he said he's interested in finding answers in fall camp to questions with too many variables to answer six weeks before the season kicks off. Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre are the competitors fighting to replace Iamaleava. "We will have a competition at the quarterback position, three guys inside of that room, really proud of what they've done," he said. "Joey, since he got there in May, Merklinger and George MacIntyre." Iamaleava gets a chance to tell his side of the story July 24 at Big Ten media days, but only if he chooses to do so. He reportedly received a $2 million per year NIL deal to transfer to UCLA. The former five-star recruit played 18 games at Tennessee. When he landed with the Bruins, it left Aguilar, who had transferred to UCLA, to go shopping for another new home. When Tennessee starts the season in Atlanta against Syracuse on August 30, the Vols might have more than one quarterback in the mix. "We've found a way to win with a lot of different quarterbacks throughout my career on the offensive side of the ball," Heupel said. "We're going to find a way to win with the guy that earns a starting spot as we go through training camp here in August." Aguilar, a transfer from Appalachian State, endeared himself to team leaders quickly. He impressed junior linebacker Arion Carter in practices and workouts as decisive and willing to take risks to make plays, even if there are some tremors felt around the Tennessee program by players closest to their former quarterback. "Having a guy like that leave with such character and such poise was a hard thing to do. But nobody's bigger than the program. We wish him the best where he is at. And I hope he has a great career and goes on to do great things," Carter said Tuesday. "I feel it didn't waiver from the agenda we had to step forward and do, especially with the new guys we have set, with the three quarterbacks in our room, with George, Jake and Joey. "I feel we were able to crowd around those guys early and get those guys ready and prepare them over this course of these last few weeks. And these next few weeks going into fall and training camp for this 2026 season I feel very well where we're standing, but we have a lot to do and a lot to prove still." Defensive tackle Nico Eason said he remains good friends with Iamaleava and wishes him "nothing but the best." "His decision was his decision. I'm still rooting for him," Eason said. "I'm hoping everything goes his way. There's no hate at all toward Nico." --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
What Did Josh Heupel Say About Nico Iamaleava at SEC Media Days?
Josh Heupel didn't avoid the Tuesday, during a live appearance on the SEC Network at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, the Tennessee head coach was asked about Nico Iamaleava's transfer to UCLA. His response was measured but honest, marking some of his first public comments on the move that caught many Vols fans off guard this spring. "Our football team, they cared about Nico," Heupel said. "And Nico is going to be a great player. He's going to have a great career. And I love Nico. I think it's hard for your players in that moment (when Nico transferred). But I think in leadership of any kind, clear, consistent, transparent communication, and also timely [communication] that allows your people to handle it the best that they can [is important]." Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit and the face of Tennessee's 2023 signing class, transferred to UCLA after two seasons in Knoxville. His transfer to UCLA reshapes the quarterback room in Westwood and leaves Tennessee with an open competition under center heading into fall camp. "It's quarterback. It's unique in some ways," Heupel said. "But man, you got to have a next man up mentality. It's going to happen for every team across college football, throughout the landscape of the season." For Tennessee, the post-Iamaleava era begins with uncertainty. For Iamaleava, the move to the Big Ten opens the door for a fresh start-and likely a starting role-with the Bruins. Related: Tennessee 2025 Football Schedule: Best & Worst Scenarios, Season Prediction Related: 5 College Football Coaches Who Could Be Fired in 2025 Related: 5 Must-Watch College Football Games in August 2025 © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
