Josh Heupel: Tennessee's standard is to 'win championships'

Tennessee has entered a new chapter in its history under third-year head coach Josh Heupel. After a breakout 11-win season in 2022, the Vols are expected to return to their ways of winning, something they’re historically known for.

“The standard at Tennessee is to win championships. It’s pretty clear,” Heupel said on Thursday at SEC Media Days. “You know, I think we are Top-10 in the history of college football in wins, first-round draft picks, Bowls, Bowl wins. The standard is to compete at the highest level and win championships.

“You know, for us, that starts in the Eastern Division, which everybody knows that there’s a lot of good football that’s played in that division.”

Historically, Tennessee has claimed six national championships in program history. The most recent coming under the arm of Peyton Manning in 1998 (UT was the runner-up in ’97). Before that, the Vols haven’t had much luck past the 1960s.

Still, the Vols are a historically winning program, winning 67 percent of their games (867-410-53). They’re 30-25 in bowl games and have garnered six division titles (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007) in the past 30 years. Overall, they’ve won 13 SEC championships — the third most in conference history behind Georgia (14) and Alabama (29).

Regardless of Heupel’s immense success in a short period of time in Knoxville, there’s nothing for the Vols to write home about in terms of championships, SEC or national. Tennessee hasn’t won their division for nearly 14 years, and thanks to Georgia’s recent string of dominance in recent years — which coincides with the Vols’ resurgence to national relevancy — the Vols have been in the Bulldogs’ shadow since Heupel arrived in 2021.

With the hype surrounding quarterback Joe Milton, who led the Vols to a marquee victory in the Orange Bowl over Clemson, the Vols are everyone’s favorite pick to be the SEC East team capable of dethroning the two-time reigning national champions. Though, betting odds already favor Georgia in their 2023 meeting despite the fact that the game is in Neyland Stadium. The Bulldogs are 8-point favorites on way-too-early lines from Caesars Sportsbooks.

100,000+ fans will surely be packed into the stadium for the Nov. 18 matchup — giving Georgia its most hostile environment in the season. But it’ll take Tennessee’s best shot to pull off an upset over the Dawgs — which would be a bigger victory for the Vols than their 2022 win over the Crimson Tide.

Divisions will soon be dissolved upon the entry of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC, however, and rotating conference schedule could see the Vols avoid teams like Georgia and Alabama altogether.