In 2021 and 2022, Josh Heupel’s Tennessee football team went at warp speed. The Vols used tempo on the offensive side of the ball to fly down the field and put up massive numbers on the scoreboard. The past two seasons, it hasn’t gone as fast, though.
So far in 2025, it may not be as quick and consistent as it was in those opening two years, but it seemed to heat up to a certain extent in the opening win over Syracuse. The result was 45 points produced and 70 plays run while holding possession of the ball for just shy of 25 and a half minutes. Tennessee used this to get out to a strong start, grabbing a 17-0 lead, before running away with a 45-26 win.
On Tuesday, Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle discussed the method behind the madness. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense to use tempo. Other times, it can be a tool that creates mismatches and exploits defenses. We saw a bit of both on Saturday in the season opener, with changes in formations, dead balls, loss of yardage and other factors occasionally causing a tap on the brakes.
The changing of formations Halzle noted as an obstacle adds a new wrinkle to the challenge of effectively using tempo for Tennessee, as well. In the opener, the Vols got into tighter splits than Heupel has typically employed within the offense. Halzle said they ‘feel really good’ about this new look, however, shifting receivers in and out does cause a delay in getting set and the ball snapped.
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“Our tempo is a part of our identity, but what we’ve always told the guys is our tempo is a weapon,” Halzle said. “It’s not something that we’re going to do if it doesn’t make sense. So there’s multiple times where you guys saw us change in formations, going from wide to tight, tight to wide, all of that type of stuff. And that’s something that we’ve added to our arsenal that we feel really good about. When the tempo is not there to be had, whether you take a negative, whether there’s a penalty, something that knocks you off that. And nowadays, with the new rules, anytime you go out on your own sideline it slows you down. So we’ve been working all offseason on how do we keep creating advantages even when we don’t have our tempo, so our tempo stays an advantage, it doesn’t just become a regular thing.”
It was first-year Vol Joey Aguilar who was at the helm of the offense against the Orange. Not only is it his first season with the team, but he only had the spring transfer portal window to digest the offense and get ready to go at full steam into the season.
The result was just about as good as you could ask for. He completed 16-of-28 pass attempts for 247 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran the ball six times for 34 yards. The only costly mistake was a fumble on the mesh with running back Star Thomas.
Now, the Vols will have a much lighter opponent to help integrate the new pieces and Aguilar into the system. Tennessee will host FCS, in-state foe ETSU on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+/SECN+.
