Tennessee Football: 5 Reasons Why the Volunteers Should Be Optimistic About 2016

It was a strong conclusion to the season for the Tennessee football program, and 2016 started with a sizzle as well.

After the Volunteers won five consecutive games to end the regular season, they pummeled Northwestern 45-6 in the Outback Bowl.

Then when he lost tight ends coach Mark Elder to Eastern Kentucky and parted ways with defensive coordinator John Jancek, head coach Butch Jones upgraded his staff by hiring Larry Scott from Miami to replace Elder and securing Penn State's Bob Shoop to lead the defense.

Tennessee is finally beginning to flex its muscles as a college football alpha dog again, and with tons of talent returning in 2016, there's no reason to believe the Vols won't be in contention for the SEC championship. If that's the case, playing for the national title can't be that far behind.

Ever since Jones signed his first full, loaded recruiting class in 2014, the '16 season has been circled on Tennessee's calendar as "The Year of the Vols." They were oh so close this season, finishing 9-4 and coming just a 4th-and-14 failure away from playing in Atlanta for the league championship.

Instead, inexperience on the field and on the sideline led to losses. But as the season progressed, so did the Vols' capacity to make plays at important moments. By the time the Outback Bowl rolled around, they handled business.

Now the expectations and exposure will be rampant leading up to next season. Jones made some coaching tweaks in attempts to take UT to the next level, and all those great players are going to be a year older.

There's plenty about which to be excited for Vols fans as the calendar flips to '16. Let's take a look at the reasons.

So Many Weapons and so Much Experience Return

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An argument can be made that Tennessee finished this year as one of the five or six top teams in the country. The Vols are at least in the conversation as one of the most talented too.

All that was missing from UT was experience, and that won't be the case in 2016. Tennessee is poised to return 17 combined starters if outside linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cameron Sutton come back for their final seasons.

It was impossible to read a recap of the win over Northwestern without stumbling upon a writer gushing about everything UT boasts moving ahead.

"Fans are hoping for the same result next year in a New Year’s Six bowl or even the College Football Playoff," ESPN.com's Greg Ostendorf wrote of Tennessee's bowl blitz. "There will be a lot of buzz around this Tennessee team heading into 2016 and rightfully so."

Added SBNation's Christian D'Andrea: "For Tennessee and head coach Butch Jones, Friday's win could signal a return to the glory days of the past."

Rather than stay complacent, the Vols are shaking things up. Shoop is a defensive mastermind that will inject new ideas into a defense that, quite frankly, struggled in the fourth quarter and on fourth downs against good competition in 2015.

While the return of Sutton and JRM would be huge, the Vols will have plenty of talent on that side. Defensive ends Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen could be formidable forces in what is likely to be their final seasons on Rocky Top. DE Kyle Phillips has a ton of potential too.

At middle linebacker, Darrin Kirkland Jr. showed glimpses of stardom in his true freshman year, and he will only be better. Freshman hybrid linebacker Austin Smith earned some starts when Curt Maggitt got hurt.

On the back end, while the loss of senior safeties Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil will be big, the Vols have Todd Kelly Jr., Evan Berry, Stephen Griffin and others to insert. The return of nickelback Rashaan Gaulden from a season-ending injury suffered in camp will fortify the secondary.

On offense, everything (of course) revolves around the three-headed monster of quarterback Joshua Dobbs and running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara. While Kamara is testing the NFL waters, his return would be a big boost to an offense rife with weaponry. If he leaves, John Kelly can slide in.

All except starting left tackle Kyler Kerbyson return on the offensive front, and an injury-riddled receiving corps must replace only the production of Von Pearson and Johnathon Johnson.

There are so many possible stars on both sides of the ball for the Vols. Because of that, it's hard not to be excited about just how big '16 can be.

New Defensive Coordinator Bob Shoop Is Legit

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When you have the opportunity to make a hire that can elevate your program to the next level, you simply can't let it pass.

Tennessee's basketball team recently experienced that when ousted Texas coach Rick Barnes fell into its lap, and the football program saw an opening with Shoop and seized it.

After reportedly vetting out Shoop's interest for several weeks, Jones snagged the Penn State defensive guru after parting ways with Jancek following a season in which Tennessee finished 36th nationally in total defense and 16th in scoring D.

While those numbers are far from poor, Shoop has the pedigree to take UT to bigger and better things. His history bears that out.

In his five seasons as the defensive coordinator for James Franklin at Vanderbilt and in Happy Valley, Shoop carried those teams with his defensive acumen. The mastermind didn't field a unit ranked lower than 23rd nationally during that time.

His former players think very highly of him, according to BlueWhiteIllustrated.com's Nate Bauer. Defensive tackle Austin Johnson had this to say about his now former DC:

"

Coach Shoop is a genius. He's a genius. A football genius. It feels good to be playing under a genius. It feels good, and that's why we're so good. It's also the players. We execute whatever he says, whatever he calls and stuff like that, but Coach Shoop is definitely the best defensive coordinator. Absolutely, 100 percent.

"

ESPN.com's Josh Moyer wrote that some of his players referred to Shoop as a "mad scientist."

But the formulas work. His sustained success is a big reason why Shoop has been a hot commodity in recent years. Despite turning down interest from LSU and Auburn, among others, the past two seasons, Shoop said "Yes" to Tennessee. That's a huge victory for the Vols.

Shoop recruited Middle Tennessee while at Vanderbilt, and that's an added bonus for the Vols as that area has been a recruiting hotbed. 

But his biggest impact will come on the field. Though Tennessee had the horses to pressure and attack opposing quarterbacks, the Vols weren't consistently aggressive.

Conservative play-calling—choosing to spy Florida quarterback Will Grier on the game's decisive fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway rather than dial up blitzes—was maddeningly frustrating. 

Shoop brings the heat consistently, and the Vols have the talent and speed on that side of the ball to be relentless in 2016. That philosophy change should be welcome and could pay major dividends to Tennessee as it begins its quest for a championship.

Diversifying the Playbook Is Possible

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There's no question that Tennessee's offensive play-calling was too conservative at vital times this past year, especially early in the season.

There's also no doubt that offensive coordinator Mike DeBord improved and even excelled as the season progressed. Yes, the competition got easier, but Tennessee was multiple and versatile against Georgia and Northwestern, among other opponents.

When the Vols had the players to overpower teams such as Kentucky and Vanderbilt, they did that too.

But DeBord must diversify in 2016. If he doesn't, the predictability won't bode well for the Vols.

It's great to want to be a running force—and Tennessee's 2,908 rushing yards were the most since the national championship year of 1951 and the second most in school history—but that can't be the extent of the offense.

One-dimensional teams don't win championships. They've got to be able to move the football downfield through the air too, and that's why Dobbs must improve and why DeBord must learn to trust the rising senior.

On one hand, the Vols can get excited about the fact that DeBord opened up his playbook against Northwestern by adding in the I-formation and the offset I packages. And UT turned those different looks into some big-time yards against the Wildcats.

When you feature a between-the-tackles force like Hurd, it's important to give him the football downhill so he gets to the second level quicker.

But the passing game is still lacking. DeBord must work to utilize the middle of the field more in the throw game, using slants and quick reads to lift Dobbs' confidence and loosen up opposing defenses keying on stopping the run. Even if Dobbs is never a great deep-ball passer, his arm can still be a weapon.

It isn't as if DeBord makes hissing noises at the notion of the downfield pass, but that wasn't where the Vols excelled this season. So it wasn't stressed as much as maybe it should have been.

With the game against Northwestern serving as an example, DeBord can shake things up a little when given time to prepare. Now he has an offseason to further tailor his offense to the weapons with which he's familiar. That should produce some big statistics and an uptick in points.

In large part, the jury is still out on the DeBord hire. How much he advances and expands the offense before 2016 will go a long way in determining just how good the Vols can be.

The Schedule Loosens Up a Little

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It's about time Tennessee got a break.

Coming off the gauntlet of home-and-homes with Oregon at its pinnacle and Oklahoma when the Sooners were one of the four participants in the College Football Playoff, the Vols' schedule loosens up at least a little bit in 2016.

Tennessee will play Virginia Tech in the "Battle at Bristol" early in the season. While the Hokies are no pushover, they're going to be breaking in a new coach in former Memphis head man Justin Fuente, and they'll have do piecemeal work on the players to run that scheme early in his tenure.

One positive for the Hokies is they are keeping revered defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who will be dialing up some crazy blitzes to give the Vols fits. But factor in how much the Hokies lose on both sides of the ball, and that game figures to be one Tennessee should win.

Also, while rival Alabama always will be a formidable foe on the schedule, the Vols will rotate on Texas A&M from the Western division. Yes, they must go to College Station, but with so much upheaval among head coach Kevin Sumlin's roster and staff, that too is a winnable game.

Something that won't help the Vols' prospects is Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight transferring to A&M to play for Sumlin following the exits of quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen.

Knight helped the Sooners trounce Tennessee in Norman, Oklahoma, in 2014, and there is still a ton of talent on both sides of the ball for A&M. So while that won't be a pushover, it won't be an easy trip either.

Tennessee also will play bowl teams Ohio and Appalachian State as part of its out-of-conference schedule. While those won't be sleepwalkers, they shouldn't give a team as talented as the Vols too many fits.

On paper, the '16 slate looks navigable. Toss in the fact that Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri all have new coaches and Florida loses more than half its team, and things are shaping up well for the Vols.

They must take advantage.

The Rebuild Is Complete

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Jones preached during much of his first three seasons about the massive "expectations" when playing for Tennessee, but there were also excuses sprinkled in, and rightfully so.

Freshmen and sophomores dotted the field in each of the past two seasons. Even so, the Vols have made noticeable and marked strides both of the past two years. Still, that inexperience was a hindrance in making key plays to get several significant wins.

Now it appears a mentality has been established.

The expectation isn't just to win games—now it's to win championships.

Dobbs told Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Patrick Brown following the Outback Bowl win:

"

You come to Tennessee to win championships. Our goal was to get Tennessee back to where it should be when we first got here. And now the goal is to take that next step moving forward. We're definitely excited for the journey ahead, and we'll be ready come next September.

"

By now you've heard the narrative of the season: The Vols lost three early games after blowing leads and had a players-only meeting to establish accountability following the setback against Arkansas. An upset of Georgia followed, and after blowing a fourth-quarter lead against Alabama, they won six straight.

The leadership that developed throughout the tough times can pay positive dividends in the offseason and into 2016, just as it did during the past season's homestretch.

Tennessee fans won't tolerate excuses anymore, and to their credit, the Vols players never spouted them following losses. Instead, they talked about knowing what they're capable of doing and how they just needed to follow through. In the final few games, they played like it.

That above everything should be a reason for optimism. The losing mentality permeated the program for so long, it took years of treatments to eradicate it. It took the meat behind Jones' sometimes-corny slogans to establish belief.

Those losing times are gone. Maybe the winning will be contagious now too.

The Vols appear to have the horses to begin winning big, and that could start right away.

All quotes and information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information gathered from 247Sports, unless otherwise noted. All statistics gathered from CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.