Vegas Loves Josh Heupel And The Tennessee Vols In 2022

WynnBet set the over/under for the 2022 Tennessee Volunteers at 8.5. What does that mean for Coach Heupel in Year 2?

Welcome to the “Tennessee Thomas” newsletter written by “The Sports Renaissance Man” Chase Thomas. This is a section of the newsletter where I write about the Tennessee Volunteers. Who would have guessed? In my game recaps I follow a “cut to the chase” style with those words highlighted in bold throughout the piece. I do hope that you enjoy it and add your email below so you never miss an issue. This newsletter is delivered to your inbox, not your doorstep, daily. Happy reading.

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The Honeymoon Phase is meant to be just that. A phase. You cannot have one without the other. Just how many sitcoms over the years have run the with the storyline of a couple of newlyweds on their honeymoon talking themselves into making their honeymoon a permanent deal. Like Tobias Funke from “Arrested Development” once said of deluded couples trying something that has never worked for any another couple, “No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but... but it might work for us.” As much as we wish time would simply stop during times like our honeymoons, that is, of course, not how it all works.

The Honeymoon Phase must end. The Real World awaits and the Real World is a scary place. A scary place, but a place that you must re-enter at some point or another. Honeymoon or not. There is a lot of anxiety about leaving the tranquility of the Honeymoon Phase to the uncertainty of the Real World. (Unless you’re a newlywed couple on “White Lotus”, that is.) It’s easy to understand why, of course. Uncertainty makes us anxious. It certainly makes me anxious. The gap in-between your final grades being posted after taking your finals is perhaps the most recent example I can give on the matter. It’s aganozing. And yet, there is nothing you can do about it. You’re going to have to live with a lot of uncertainty in your life.

The same is true for the Tennessee Volunteers football team. Part of what made the 2021 season so electric on Rocky Top was the Honeymoon Phase feel of it all. With how things ended with the last football administration, fans were not even betting on a bowl game in 2021. Instead, the offense exploded, the Vols found themselves a quarterback in Hendon Hooker, and they won seven games in the regular season. Most years, a 7-5 record at Tennessee is a disappointment. The expectations year-over-year in Knoxville are sky high. Not in 2021, though. Being in the crowd for nearly every home game in 2021, I saw it. I felt it. There was no anxiety involved with the 2021 Tennessee Volunteers. The offensive explosion alone was more than most Tennessee fans expected.

Now, though, Tennessee fans and analysts are nervous. The anxiety has crept back into the forfront on Rocky Top. Last year, head coach Josh Heupel and his staff caught the rest of the SEC by surprise. That will not be the case in 2022. Not to mention, the Vols sit in the top-10 in the 247sports’ 2023 Recruiting Rankings, that includes a five-star quarterback in Nico Iamaleava. The Vols added another former five-star wideout in Bru McCoy. Hooker returned for his final collegiate season. Cedric Tillman is back. There are all sorts of reasons for optimism if you’re a Tennessee fan right now. Then, though, you see that WynnBet over/under for the Vols.

Folks like the Vols again. Folks are betting on the Vols again. ESPN’s Bill Connely’s SP+ loves the Vols again. Get on the Heup Train while you can, that sort of thing. However, it makes longtime Tennessee fans uneasy. The expectations are back. It’s back to the deep end of the pool for Tennessee. This comes with the territory, though. You want this sort of excitement around your program. However, folks are not going to view Year 2 of Heupel’s tenure the same as Year 1. An over/under of 8.5 wins in 2022 aises the bar on Rocky Top. There is no going back to 2021 and the feelings surrounding it.

Tennessee Football @Vol_Football

just a @coachjoshheupel and #VolNation appreciation post #GBO 🍊

It reminds me of Crissa Jackson on the latest season of Netflix’s “The Circle”. (Beware, readers and loyal fans of “The Circle”, spoilers ahead.) Crissa played the game well and played the game authentically. She never felt like the favorite on the newest season, but she was upfront about who she was, she was not a catfish, and she was taken down by anothe authority figure when it became clear she was a threat to maybe win it all.

That’s how I view Josh Heupel heading into Year 2. He tore up opposing SEC defenses all year long in 2021, even being up on Georgia after the first quarter and hanging with Alabama late in the third quarter. The tempo at Tennessee was a major talking point all season long. Heupel let his offense do the talking and it caught the attention of folks all around the country. It helped land a five-star quarterback in his first full recruiting cycle. Now, the Kentuckys and the Floridas and the South Carolinas of the world do not look at Tennessee the same heading into 2022. The Gamecocks do not want to be embarrassed like that again. The Wildcats do not want to give up a first-play touchdown off a routine screen again. The Gators do not want to allow Tennessee to expel their demons of past Florida games.