Lance Heard healthy, motivated heading into second season at Tennessee

The first-year Tennessee offensive lineman tried to block out as much criticism as he could last season. Sometimes people would let him know what was being said about him online. Other times, he'd come across it himself.

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Heard, a former heralded five-star prospect that spent his freshman year at LSU, was one of the Vols' biggest transfer portal hauls before the 2024 season and was expected to anchor the left side of Tennessee's offensive front at right tackle.

But Heard underwent a minor knee procedure in the summer that hindered him in fall camp. When he returned to the field in late September, an ankle sprain limited him again, slowing his progress and leaving him at "probably 75%" healthy at any given time last year.

Then the critics outside of the program chimed in, questioning Heard's ability and his fit with the team. He saw a lot of it, though he tried not to.

"It's challenging sometimes," Heard said. "Sometimes you have no other choice by to see it. There's no way around it. You avoid it as much as you can."

After the Vols' season ended in a loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff in December, the struggles of adjusting to the offense were discussed in Heard's end-of-season exit interview with offensive line coach Glen Elarbee.

Heard listened.

"I was brutally honest," Elarbee said. "Like man, it hurt you missing fall camp. You had the ankle (injury) and did a phenomenal job battling through it, but that didn't help you. We have to get better in the areas I listed in spring, with the protection, staying in a good base and run-game footwork, learning the game. He was not only agreeing but wanting help in how to do it and wanting to do extra work.

"He wants to be elite, and he's done everything in his power to be a leader and be elite. You just have to keep pushing. Just telling the truth."

Now near the end of his second spring camp at Tennessee, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Heard is in a different position than he was a year ago. He has a better grasp of the system and, for the first time since arriving in Knoxville, is healthier.

"The biggest difference is my health," Heard said. "Last year, it was kind of a battle for me with having two separate injuries...That was a challenge. That was a challenge, mentally. I said to myself, 'I can't continue to sit out. I can't miss this many games.'

"I was playing injured the entire year, fighting through it. Being in this offense, it's getting more comfortable for me."

Heard had no choice but to get comfortable.

He started asking more questions, not just about up front but routes and reads to try and understand every detail of the offense. He wanted to know about coverages on the other side of the ball, too.

"Probably knowledge of the game," Elarbee said. "He's really bought in to try to understand everything around him, not just himself...The thing I have challenged him on, he still has to continue to work just running game footwork, what he's doing, his protections, keeping a base and staying in a good body position and fight everyday like there is something breathing down his neck. He's been awesome. Phenomenal."

Heard appeared in 12 games and played 195 total snaps in his one season at LSU in 2023, mostly in a reserve role. He started in the 10 games he played in for the Vols last season on a veteran-leaden offensive front that featured fifth-year seniors Cooper Mays at center and Javontez Spraggins at guard.

John Campbell Jr., who played opposite of Heard at right tackle, was a redshirt-senior that had played seven years, including two at Tennessee.

All three are gone, leaving the Vols with voids to fill at right tackle and center and giving Heard a role he hasn't yet had to take on during his college career: leader.

"(My role) changes a lot," Heard said. "I have to lead by example. I have to stand on everything that I say and bring other guys along."

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