Expectations for Vols Football in 2025

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica discusses the type of expectations Tennessee fans should have with the upcoming 2025 college football season with question marks at quarterback like Joey Aguilar and five star recruit Faizon Brandon in the pipeline

Transcript

00:00There is one way that I would describe the upcoming 2025 season for Tennessee football,

00:04and Vols fans may not love it. We'll tell you in just a moment.

00:11Hey, Lucas Panzeke here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports. So we don't need to relitigate the

00:16offseason that it was for Tennessee football. All the drama of the Nico Iamaliava exit from

00:22Tennessee's quarterback room. What we do know is what Tennessee has at its disposal for the 2025

00:27season. Joey Aguilar comes over, the former App State and UCLA quarterback, joins a QB room filled

00:33with Jake Merklinger and George McIntyre. So when I look at this 2025 season, when I look at a talented

00:39but unproven Tennessee roster, two words come to mind for me. Gap year. I think back to that 2023

00:47campaign for Tennessee football, where Joe Milton was the quarterback, where you knew the ceiling

00:52was high, but he hadn't quite shown it on a consistent basis. So none of us expected big

00:57things from Tennessee's 2023 campaign, which followed that incredible and electric 2022.

01:04But you knew what you had coming down the pipe. And at that time, it was five-star Nico Iamaliava,

01:09who was on campus backing up Joe Milton in that 2023 season. So Tennessee went eight and four. They won

01:16their bowl game for a ninth win, and Vols fans were happy because of what was ahead. Doesn't it feel

01:21eerily similar coming into 2025? The only thing is Joey Aguilar is so much more of an unknown at

01:27quarterback than Joe Milton was going into 2023. Aguilar is a total mystery box for Tennessee fans,

01:34and we don't even know for sure if he's going to be the starting quarterback. All we know is he'll

01:38have every chance to compete, and he's the most experienced quarterback in the room. But elsewhere,

01:43Tennessee has talent surrounding him. Mike Matthews, the former five-star, leads a receiver room

01:49with Chris Brazel, players like Braylon Staley that are just looking to break out and will have

01:54the skills to do so. Defensively, Joshua Josephs, players like that that are just looking to take

02:00the reins and replace outgoing players to keep that standard of defense that Tennessee had at an

02:05elite level at the top of the SEC in 2024. That's a lot of ifs for Tennessee football. It doesn't feel

02:13like the expectation is college football playoff again, nor should it be with the question marks,

02:18especially at the quarterback position. But what's coming down the pipe for Tennessee football?

02:23A five-star quarterback in Faison Brandon, a guy who has turned heads at every step in the

02:28recruiting process, potentially more recruiting momentum to come with the class of 2026.

02:35Josh Heupel has this program on pretty stable ground at the moment. If Tennessee is able to

02:40eke out an eight and four type of season in 2025, then all eyes will be on that next window of

02:472026 and beyond. And the upcoming season will be a gap year of sorts for Tennessee football.

02:53And that's not the worst thing in the world. And by the way, eight and four means you're just one or

02:58two games away from being in the college football playoff. Who knows? Tennessee might catch everybody

03:04by surprise in 2025, but I wouldn't say expectations should be terribly high with what Tennessee loses

03:10in Nico Iamaliava. The Vols did not get better at the quarterback position with the exit of the

03:16former five-star. So we'll see what happens, but there's a very good chance that gap year will be

03:22the two words to describe Tennessee football this year. And it will require some patience from Vols fans

03:27for 2026 and beyond. And I know Tennessee fans are pretty sick of the word patience by now, but patience

03:33used to mean five and seven, six and six. It'll get better from here. If patience means waiting out

03:40an eight and four campaign to potentially elevate with the talent profile at the quarterback position

03:45that's higher down the road, then that's a much better spot to be in. So gap year is what comes to

03:50mind for me in 2025. What do you think? How would you describe the expectation for Tennessee football

03:56this coming season? Let us know in the comments.

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