Now past the midway point of the offseason’s third phase, Tennessee is speeding toward the start of the 2024 college football season. After a 9-4 campaign in their third season under football head coach Josh Heupel, the Vols enter a new era of the sport with an expanded SEC and the 12-team College Football Playoff heading in the right direction with 20 wins over the past two seasons, but while some position groups will be relying on a handful of veteran players, other units are turning the page to newcomers or the program’s crop of up-and-coming talent. With SEC Media Days and the start of preseason camp nearing, GoVols247 this month will be ranking Tennessee’s most important players for the upcoming season.
This will be our sixth edition of the countdown – and third under Heupel, because who knew what to expect going into his first season in 2021 – and again it will include most of Tennessee’s projected starters. It also leans heavily toward proven players over newcomers, though multiple transfers the Vols brought in from the portal will be featured, too. As happens every season, there will be unlikely players who emerge as key figures for Tennessee football in 2024, but this list considers factors such as the player’s overall value for the Vols, the drop-off to their replacements if the team had to go a stretch of the season or most of a key game without them and how important their performance is to Tennessee football’s success.
McCoy’s move to Tennessee changed the narrative of his career, and he’s now looking to write one final chapter with the Vols. The physical, tenacious wide receiver has become a favorite in the fan base and in the locker room during his time on Rocky Top. McCoy is part of the team’s leadership council and a team captain, and has been active in the community in Knoxville while co-creating the “Huddle for Hearts” initiative that provides AEDs to youth sports organizations – McCoy donated two of them to inner-city youth in Knoxville, will donate one for every touchdown he catches this season as part of an NIL deal and has hosted a CPR training and demo seminar and a benefit golf tournament.
