It doesn’t take long to flip the page in the world of college football.

Despite the 2024-25 college football season closing down last night with Ohio State’s national championship win over Notre Dame, folks around the industry are already flipping the page to the 2025-2026 season.

Tennessee enters the offseason with a fair number of departures but has also added a handful of nice pieces including Duke running back Star Thomas, Arizona offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr., and Alabama wide receiver Amari Jefferson. The Vols return some key players such as quarterback Nico Iamaleava and cornerback Jermod McCoy but, like any team, have questions to answer this offseason.

Josh Heupel’s group accomplished a program-first feat by reaching the college football playoffs last season but even with a road loss to the eventual national champions, there’s still work to be done for Tennessee to take that next step – both on and off the field.

ESPN’s Chris Low looks at Tennessee’s road woes as an opportunity for improvement as the Vols head into the 2025 season.

“The schedule gets a little more difficult with road games at Florida and Alabama, while Georgia comes to Knoxville. The next step for this program is playing better and more consistently on the road against quality teams,” Low wrote for ESPN. “The Vols have lost 22 in a row against top-10 teams on the road. So winning one of two in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa would go a long way toward opening up a pathway to the playoff. But at least nine wins seems realistic, which would be the fourth straight season hitting that mark under Heupel.”

More on RTI: Tennessee Football Falls In Final AP Poll Of 2024-25 Season

As mentioned, Tennessee’s got some big road challenges coming up next fall. That includes at Alabama, at Kentucky, and at Florida as the big three road rivals from the SEC. Alabama and Florida initially present a bigger challenge than Kentucky but the Vols will still need to handle business in Lexington to keep the train moving.

As far as on-the-field conversations go, Low believes that “maintaining that same depth will be key” on the defensive line for Tennessee.

“The Vols’ strength this season was their defensive line,” Low writes. “With some of the top performers and leaders from the unit departing, developing some of the younger ones and keeping that same mindset up front defensively will be vital if the Vols are going to make another playoff run.”

While some of the wind may have been taken out of the sails after the blowout loss to Ohio State, Tennessee still projects to have a Top 20 to Top 15 team in the nation heading into the 2025 season. Excitement from the fanbase will inevitably continue to ramp up throughout the spring and summer, too.

There are a lot of conversations to be had this offseason but Low presents two solid improvement opportunities for Tennessee to look at in the coming months as the Vols aim to take that next step next fall.

We’ll be having those conversations every week from now until the start of the football season on Aug. 30 in Atlanta against Syracuse. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee news, notes, and coverage throughout the offseason.