Tennessee Football: 2021 season preview with predictions for Volunteers

Tennessee football has a new head coach in Josh Heupel and the Volunteers also need to find a quarterback if they are going to win games in 2021. 

The Tennessee football program has a proud history. But in recent years, the Volunteers have fallen on hard times and the end of the Jeremy Pruitt era was about as rough as it gets.

The Volunteers went just 3-7 a year ago and Pruitt was fired after the university found a bunch of improper behavior. That led to a mass exodus of transfers including a pair of elite linebackers.

However, it also led to some much-needed change at head coach, and Josh Heupel, who comes over from UCF, should prove to be a really good hire. He’s already doing a pretty solid job on the recruiting trail and his reputation is strong when it comes to developing quarterbacks and putting productive offenses on the field.

A functional offense would be welcome news for Tennessee football fans because the Vols haven’t had that, especially last season as the team ranked 11th in total offense and 12th in scoring offense last season in the SEC.

Tennessee scored more than 19 points just once in its final seven games and that will have to change if Heupel and the Vols are going to go bowling in his first season.

Jarrett Guarantano was the leading passer last season but transferred to Washington State. That means returner Harrison Bailey will battle it out with transfers Joe Milton (Michigan) and Hendon Hooker (Virginia Tech).

The quarterback battle is going to be fascinating and we’ll cover that more in-depth on the next slide as we look at the Vols offense, as well as the defense, in addition to a breakdown of the schedule and final predictions for 2021.