SEC to kickoff football in Nashville

Tennessee and the rest of the SEC’s official kickoff to the 2023 football season will be in the music city as Nashville. 

The league announced on Thursday that SEC Media Days will be held in Nashville from July 17-July 20th. 

Vol head coach Josh Heupel will speak on the final day of the event along with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer. 

The event will be held as the Grand Hyatt in downtown Nashville. The Vols will return to Nashville on September to open the season against Virginia.

Tennessee is coming off an 11-2 season that saw them get their first win over Alabama since 2006 and saw them beat Florida at home. 

The Vols closed out the 2022 season with a 31-14 win in the Orange Bowl over Clemson. Returning quarterback Joe Milton was the MVP. Milton went 19 for 28 for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns. Returning linebacker Aaron Beasley led the way with 12 tackles which included 4 for loss and 2 sacks. 

Since the bowl win, Josh Heupel was given a 4 million dollar pay raise. He promoted offensive analyst Alec Abeln to tight ends coach and had 19 new players enroll for classes as they prepare for spring practice that starts on March 20th. For Halzle, the message to the offense is clear heading into spring practice, nothing is given.

“The main thing is that these guys understand that what we were able to accomplish last year doesn’t just happen because you are here and you are the number one offense in the country,” Halzle said. “You don’t just get to be that next year. Making sure everyone knows the amount of work that went into that and remember the guys who were here that did it. You have to remember what you put in to make that happen and the new guys have to understand that just because you come into this system with this group of guys around you, you don’t just get to do what a Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman or a Hendon Hooker did. They put in the work. We have to start back at square one that’s an emphasis this spring.”

The Vols have plenty to replace from last year’s team especially on the offensive side where the Vols led the country in scoring. Obviously, Hendon Hooker is gone. Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is off to the NFL along with right tackle Darnell Wright. Wright has made the most pre-draft buzz with his work at the senior bowl earlier this month in Mobile, Alabama. Wright and six other Vols will get the chance to further improve their stock at the NFL Combine. 

Defensively, it will be a different spring than the first two have been for Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks as his side of the ball will not enter spring depleted by injury and off-season surgeries. 

“It’s exciting. We had a bunch of guys, particularly in the back end, that were beat up going through spring last year. We just didn’t have them out there. They were beat up in the fall for the most part when camp started. Knowing that a lot of those guys are going to be able to participate this spring is obviously a good thing. We talk about compound interest a lot. The more reps they get the better it is for them and the program. We are excited about that,” Banks said knocking on wood. 

2023 SEC Media Days Schedule

MONDAY, July 17

LSU – Brian Kelly

Missouri – Eliah Drinkwitz

Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher

TUESDAY, July 18

Auburn – Hugh Freeze

Georgia – Kirby Smart

Mississippi State – Zach Arnett

Vanderbilt – Clark Lea

WEDNESDAY, July 19

Alabama – Nick Saban

Arkansas – Sam Pittman

Florida – Billy Napier

Kentucky – Mark Stoops

THURSDAY, July 20

Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin

South Carolina – Shane Beamer

Tennessee – Josh Heupel