Derek Owings didn’t take long to make a statement after arriving at Tennessee, and it was the kind that turns heads in Knoxville.
Josh Heupel made Owings the highest-paid strength coach in the country this offseason when he brought him over from Indiana, and after the summer workouts, the new director of football sports performance is already putting his stamp on the program. When he met with the media ahead of fall camp, Owings gave a blunt assessment of where Tennessee stands physically - and he didn’t hold back.
“I thought we had a really good offseason,” Owings said. “To me, I’m very process-driven.
We’re trying to maximize and squeeze every ounce out of every single day and let the chips fall where they may. I think we have a lot of really talented kids.
We have a lot of really good frames, really good body types. Probably the most genetically gifted kids I’ve been able to work with in my career.
“So, I thought we had really, really good success overall. But to me, I didn’t really put it, ‘Hey, this is where I want to be come camp or year two, year three.’
It’s that we’re trying to maximize every single day. Get everything we can out of these kids every single day.”
That kind of praise matters for a couple of reasons. For one, Owings isn’t coming from just anywhere. He helped a team at Indiana run the table all the way to a national championship, so for him to say Tennessee may have more “genetically gifted kids” says plenty about what he’s seeing on Rocky Top.
It also feeds right into the idea that Heupel’s recruiting is paying off. Tennessee’s classes have consistently drawn strong rankings, with last year’s 2026 group and the incoming freshmen drawing plenty of attention, and the transfer portal additions have been strong as well. Hearing the strength coach validate the raw athleticism in the building only adds to that picture.
And even if the Vols don’t make a deep run this season, the long view still looks promising. Tennessee should theoretically have a young quarterback back for 2027, along with other talented players on both sides of the ball who will have grown into bigger roles by then. With Owings getting a full year to settle in before fully installing his system, there’s plenty for Tennessee fans to feel good about moving forward.
In Other News...
Tennessees Biggest Fall Camp Battle Could Shape This Offense
Fall camp is underway in Knoxville, and Josh Heupel is entering his sixth season with a roster that still has some familiar offensive pieces to work with. Tennessee brings back DeSean Bishop, Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley and Ethan Davis, plus four returning offensive linemen, giving the staff a base to build around as the unit starts sorting out roles and timing before the season gets moving.
The biggest question, though, sits in the quarterback room, where Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre are competing for the job that will steer this offense. The receiver group is also in flux after losing Chris Brazzell, opening the door for players such as Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. while five-star recruit Tristan Keys gets his first real chance to push for a spot in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees New Look Roster Just Reached A Key Preseason Stage
Tennessee basketball has wrapped up its summer workouts, marking one of the clearest checkpoints yet for a roster that has been retooled and rebuilt for the 2026-2027 season. With new transfers mixed in alongside returning players, the Vols have spent the offseason learning how to function as a group, and Garrett Medenwald, Tennessees director of sports performance, has been part of shaping that process behind the scenes.
The next phase now shifts from training to live competition, with an exhibition against Duke on Oct. 20 offering the first real look at how the pieces fit together. After that, the Vols will turn quickly to the opener at home against Wofford on Nov. 3, a game that will begin answering the bigger question surrounding this new-look roster: how fast can it turn offseason work into something ready for the season that follows? [Read more 🡒]
Kim Caldwells New Lady Vols Core Has One Big Summer Question
Kim Caldwell is spending the summer building out a fresh Lady Vols roster, and the early work is already centered on chemistry, conditioning and figuring out what this new 15-player group can become. Caldwell met with reporters alongside Kaylene Smikle, Fatmata Janneh and Jada Eads, giving a first real look at how Tennessee is approaching practices and how the staff is trying to blend newcomers with returning pieces in the months before the season.
The biggest storyline around that group is less about talent than availability, because several of the players helping form the new core are working back from injury interruptions that shaped their recent pasts. Smikle, Janneh and Eads all bring different kinds of promise, but the question around Tennessee this summer is how quickly that promise can translate into a functioning rotation once everyone is back on the floor and the roster starts to take on a clearer identity. [Read more 🡒]