🏈 Josh Heupel goes on the offensive

Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the week’s top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Josh Heupel AGAIN responds to questions about his offense

• Oh… let’s talk about Tennessee’s defense

• An honor for a Tennessee and SEC legend

• A VFL and coach breaks down Tennessee’s players in the NFL Draft

DON’T QUESTION HEUPEL’S OFFENSE PT. 2

Josh Heupel has heard enough.

Tennessee’s football coach led the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense in 2022.

Hendon Hooker finished in the top five of Heisman Trophy voting as the Vols’ quarterback.

Jalin Hyatt won the Biletnikoff Award — the first in school history — as the nation’s best wide receiver.

Despite those accomplishments, Heupel has heard plenty of questions about his offense.

Those questions came up again during the NFL Draft process.

“Are Hooker and Hyatt legit pro prospects or products of a system?” people wondered.

Critics suggested Tennessee’s system doesn’t prepare players for the next level.

Some of those critics are in the media. Some are fans. And some are opposing college coaches or NFL evaluators.

When asked about Tennessee’s ability to develop players this week at the Big Orange Caravan, Heupel responded.

Heupel’s job is to score points and give Tennessee the best chance to win.

He’s done that (and then some) in his first two seasons in Knoxville.

Yet, he’s left to answer questions about his ability to develop players.

These are questions that come up during the recruiting process.

Recruits want to go to the NFL. Opposing coaches will try to convince those recruits that Tennessee’s system will hinder their chances.

Heupel and his staff will tell them otherwise.

The real test will come when Tennessee’s former players perform in the NFL.

And we’ll see mixed results. Because some players will succeed and some won’t.

That’s how it goes.

There’s a fair and unfair way to have this conversation.

✅ Fair: Tennessee’s offense is one of the best in college football but creates challenges for NFL teams trying to evaluate individual players.

❌ Unfair: Tennessee’s offense is too simple and players can’t develop for the pro level.

Players can – and will – succeed in the NFL after playing in Heupel’s offense.

The conversation hasn’t seemed too harmful for the Vols to this point.

Five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava enrolled at Tennessee in January and four-star QB Jake Merklinger committed for 2024.

Tennessee’s offense has also attracted highly-touted running back Cameron Seldon and transfer receiver Dont’e Thornton from Oregon.

So the “system” talk hasn’t affected everyone.

Josh Heupel is just ready to talk about something else.

We led Tuesday’s Josh and Swain discussing the subject of Tennessee’s offense and the idea it’s a “gimmick” after hearing Heupel’s comments.

Podcast below. ⬇️⬇️

HOW ABOUT TENNESSEE’S DEFENSE?

That “something else” that Heupel wants to discuss might be defense.

With Heupel, the Vols’ offense most often leads as the subject.

For many of the reasons stated above.

But don’t ignore Tennessee’s defense, Heupel says.

Speaking at a separate Big Orange Caravan stop, Heupel offered a strong endorsement for the Vols’ defense.

Alright now.

Those are strong words from Tennessee’s head coach.

Will they prove true?

Predicting “elite” defensive play feels like a stretch – and we can argue about the definition.

Still, there are several reasons to be optimistic about improved defensive play.

Tennessee has to replace leading edge rusher Byron Young, who was drafted in the third round by the LA Rams.

But the Vols will have more pass rushers they can count on this season thanks to development.

Transfers Gabe Jeudy-Lally (cornerback), Omarr Norman-Lott (defensive line), and linebacker Keenan Pili (linebacker) add experience and depth.

And the Vols should be more athletic in the secondary thanks to recruiting.

Tennessee has also kept its entire defensive staff intact since Heupel arrived.

Will the Vols be elite on defense this fall?

Be careful with that prediction. BUT we’ve already established today: Heupel won’t say it if he doesn’t mean it.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 Friday guest Barrett Sallee released his SEC Spring overreactions and he dropped a doozy for Tennessee.

🏈 ESPN announced a 30 for 30 documentary: “The Minister of Defense” on the late Reggie White.

🏈 Excellent ESPN analyst Louis Riddick shared his list of favorite non-first round selections in the NFL Draft. A few Vols made the list.

🏀 ESPN updated its way-too-early top 25 teams for college basketball and Tennessee made a big jump thanks to several roster additions.

⚾ Tennessee will take its eight-game winning streak to Athens to play Georgia this weekend. Here’s weekend info ahead of the series.

⚾ Alabama fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon after being linked to suspicious bets made last week.

ANOTHER HONOR FOR AN SEC LEGEND

Condredge Holloway is more than a Tennessee legend.

Holloway became the first black starting quarterback in the SEC in 1972 after starring at Lee High School in Huntsville, Ala.

He was a terrific multi-sport athlete. Holloway was selected fourth overall by the Montreal Expos in the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft.

Holloway passed on the draft to attend Tennessee, where he excelled in football and baseball.

Holloway made a name for himself as a player and helped more athletes that came after him than we can name.

Lee High School honored Holloway recently by introducing the “Condredge Holloway Athletic Complex.”

Check out the video below.

ONE LAST BYTE OUT THE DOOR

This was a great week for Kevin Simon to drop some knowledge.

The former Tennessee linebacker, who worked on staff at Tennessee from 2018-21 after serving as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons, made two appearances on Josh and Swain this week.

He joined us Monday to recap the draft and the landing spots of five Vols drafted into the NFL. ⬇️⬇️

And then Simon stopped by the studio to co-host Wednesday’s show with Swain.

Check out the full show below.

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Thank you for reading.