One insider shares how one team in the SEC could thwart Alabama, Florida, and Georgia’s championship goals this coming season.
Tennessee Seen As SEC Team That Could Surprise Fans by Winning the Conference
In the May 30th episode of the “McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning” show, the hosts discussed the state of the Southeastern Conference’s football programs as the 2025 season approaches. In that conversation, one team that emerged as a championship contender might’ve made listeners do a double-take.
“What about Tennessee? What if Tennessee and Joey Aguilar has some type of resurgence like Joe Burrow?,” asked McElroy. “What if Tennessee and (quarterback) Joey Aguilar has some type of resurgence like Joe Burrow?
“[Maybe it’s a situation where], hey, he just wasn’t in the right system, and now he’s in the right system and it’s very quarterback friendly and he’s all of a sudden great? He’s played a ton of football.
“He’s started college football games for four years. Maybe they have a couple of breakout stars at wide receiver. Maybe on the offensive line, the young players step right in and they’re amazing from day one. Is it possible? Sure it’s possible. I don’t think it’s necessarily likely, but I think it’s possible.”
Aguilar’s arrival at Tennessee came after the turbulent departure of Nico Iamaleava as spring practices began. Iamaleava would enter the transfer portal and choose UCLA, while Aguilar would leave the Bruins for Knoxville.
His role as the starter isn’t quite secure, as he is set to compete for the job against redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre.
“Of the teams that I listed that I think could do it, Tennessee would be near the bottom for me this year,” McElroy continued. “Just a lot of turnover from last year, and that’s okay — sometimes that can be good.”
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“But they were pretty dang good last year. I think they’re going to be okay on defense. I like their personnel, assuming their secondary, and their corners in particular, can get healthy.
“If Jermod McCoy is back (from a torn ACL) to being who he was at corner, I think they have a real chance. But I think defensively, they’re going to have to be a lot more complementary.”
Tennessee faces a stacked schedule in the conference, but it should be heartening for the Vols to hear a former standout at Alabama give their program some hope.
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