'Things were shaky amongst the football team' - Vols team leader details why Tennessee made a key change ahead of the 2025 season

Entering the 2025 college football season, the Tennessee Vols are a different team than they were in 2024.

And that's not just because of roster changes.

Tennessee’s culture has always been strong under head coach Josh Heupel. But after getting blown out by Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff last December, UT’s players decided there was still room to improve.

As a result, Tennessee's players have made an effort this offseason to be more connected with each other -- across all position groups.

"We kind of put an emphasis on that (connectivity) this year, so we can come together more as a team," said Vols redshirt defensive lineman Dominic Bailey on Tuesday.

"Honestly, for us, it's because after what happened in the playoffs, we're just trying to find ways to come together closer as a team," added Bailey when asked why solidifying the culture has been an emphasis for Tennessee this offseason. "Because last year, sometimes, things were shaky amongst the football team. So we're just trying to make it more of a brotherhood this year."

Culture is a word that tends to get dismissed as cliché by some college football fans and media. But it's extremely important to a program's success. And a good culture doesn't happen just because the head coach says on day one of fall camp that it's important. A strong culture is built on how players and coaches handle themselves on a day to day basis. It's built on consistency and intentionality.

That's something that Heupel pointed out on Tuesday while speaking with reporters.

"I love the leadership and the accountability piece of what we have inside of our building," said Heupel. "The challenge is to continue to grow that through the course of the season. You get in the day to day inside of football, sometimes that can take a step back if you’re not intentional on it. And I think it’s really important as young guys are coming into your program, the older guys are essentially being a big brother to those guys and helping them grow and understand what it takes to be successful at this level, what it takes to be a Tennessee Volunteer."

Strong cultures are constantly evolving. The fact that Tennessee's team leaders recognized that the culture wasn't good enough a year ago and worked hard this offseason to improve it (while dealing with some tough situations, like the one this month with Boo Carter), is certainly a good sign for the Vols' chances of being successful in 2025.