Did Josh Heupel change Tennessee football too much or just enough?

Entering his sixth season as Tennessee football coach, Josh Heupel has become an agent of change.

The question is whether he’s made the right modifications to get the Vols back into the College Football Playoff hunt in 2026.

Heupel changed his offense and his coaching staff more over the past year than at any period in his six-year Vols tenure. And those changes have become the core talking point of his preseason.

“Grow, change, evolve,” Heupel said at UT media day on Aug. 4, repeating his favorite buzzwords of this offseason.

Heupel overhauled his defensive coaching staff. He fired assistant coaches for the first time in his head coaching career and hired renowned defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and three new position coaches.

Heupel overhauled his offseason program. He hired strength coach Derek Owings from national champion Indiana and added an expansive nutrition staff.

And Heupel promises more modifications to his ever-changing offense despite turning to an inexperienced quarterback, either five-star freshman Faizon Brandon or redshirt freshman George MacIntyre.

It’s a lot of change. Now Heupel faces a Goldilocks challenge: Not too much, not too little, but just right.

Tennessee’s changes on both sides of the football carry high risks and rewards. Time will tell whether Heupel's decisions were worth it. The 18th-ranked Vols play Furman on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+/ESPN+).

How Tennessee offense will change with new quarteback

Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said UT’s offense will be tweaked to fit the winner of the quarterback competition but not “wholesale changes.”

Some adjustments were already in the works regardless of who’s behind center.

Heupel’s offense has evolved at every stop of his 22-year coaching career, from Oklahoma to Missouri, UCF and finally Tennessee. But many changes aren’t perceivable to the untrained eye.

Heupel’s up-tempo offense appeared to undergo only minor tweaks from 2021-23. There was no reason to change much after the offense broke scoring records in Heupel’s first two seasons.

But beginning in 2024, the changes became more noticeable. There were suddenly two tight ends on the field and only two wide receivers. That simplified reads for quarterback Nico Iamaleava, then a redshirt freshman, and helped the Vols reach the College Football Playoff.

But that 2024 season also demonstrated that defenses had adjusted to Heupel’s offense with effective countermeasures. A 42-17 loss in the playoff to eventual national champion Ohio State in which UT gained only 256 yards hammered home that reality. Notably, Knowles was Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in that decisive game.

Offense changed quite a bit in 2025. What's next?

In 2025, UT’s offensive changes accelerated with Heupel, Halzle and other assistants adding layers to the system.

No longer did UT only line up with extreme wide splits for its receivers. Formations were sometimes condensed. Receivers lined up in both wide splits and standard splits. Slot receivers and wide receivers often swapped places in the formation.

The route tree was expanded for receivers. Pro-style concepts were added. The depth of routes became more diverse. And eclectic pass protections disguised the intent of plays more effectively.

In short, Heupel’s offense became less predictable to opposing defensive coordinators who thought they had finally figured it out. The Vols averaged 39.8 points per game in 2025, ranked sixth nationally, despite breaking in a late-arriving quarterback in Joey Aguilar.

Now UT will turn to another quarterback, who will dictate the direction of the offense.

“We’re going be tailoring (the offense) to each individual guy, which is why you hope you can get to somebody as quickly as possible and start really rallying the offense that direction,” Halzle said.

How Tennessee players feel about Jim Knowles' defense

Knowles brought dramatic changes to the defense. He replaces Tim Banks, the only defensive coordinator through Heupel’s first five seasons at UT.

In 2024, UT had a dominant defense. Scrapping it comes with a risk, which Heupel was willing to take. So far, he hasn’t regretted his decision.

“Our players have absolutely loved the change,” Heupel said. “They feel great about understanding the scheme and latched on to it really quickly.”

UT players learned an entire new defense this offseason. It’s known as a complex scheme, but Knowles said 70% of it has already been installed.

Curiously, Knowles must deal with less change than the Vols. He brought Penn State assistant coaches Anthony Poindexter, Andrew Jackson and numerous analysts with him. And UT added Penn State transfers from Knowles’ 2025 defense, including defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, linebacker Amare Campbell and safety DeJuan Lane.

“It means a lot. It really affects how I approach coaching the defense on a day-to-day basis," Knowles said. "If I don’t have to spend a lot of time coaching the basics of the system, I can operate more in practice as if it’s a laboratory and try different things and see how it works out, see who really makes plays in different positions. So it’s a lot more fun."

Knowles' sense of stability encourages Heupel that the change on defense is a good one for the Vols.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Did Josh Heupel change Tennessee football too much or just enough?