Last season, Tennessee football's defense created 18 turnovers. This was tied for the 56th most in the country and third in the SEC alongside Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss.

This came in the form of 12 interceptions and six fumble recoveries which both also ranked 56th in the nation.

The Vols aren't satisfied with these results, though. They rank in the top half but a ceiling of 28 turnovers created by Bowling Green, Cal and Clemson to lead the country gives Tennessee's defense room for growth.

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At SEC Media Days on Tuesday, defensive lineman Omari Thomas revealed that this was a goal for the team heading into the 2024 season.

"For us, I feel like as a defense, in order for us to grow, we have to continue to create turnovers," Thomas said. "We need to create way more turnovers than we have been, and I feel like that's really the main step forward is that we need to create turnovers."

Fellow returning veteran on the defensive side of the ball, Keenan Pili, agreed with the sentiment. As a linebacker, he is likely in position to create fumbles like Thomas but there are still chances for him to come up with interceptions in coverage.

Pili said that the group is consistently working on this area during practice because they know it could be the difference in a game. It's something that's a constant point of discussion with defensive coordinator Tim Banks.

"Every opportunity we get a chance in practice, whether it's punching at a ball, trying to make a chance into an interception, reading an offense, whatever it may be, we've got to practice it," Pili said. "We talk about it all the time with Coach Banks. We go over it after every practice. 'Hey, how many takeaways did we try to take away? How many punches at the ball did we have? How many missed takeaways did we have?' So it's constantly on our mind. I feel like the more we talk about it, the more we can speak it into our game, as well, and then fine tune it."

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Behind the experienced defensive line and line backer unit is a young but talented secondary. The typical five starters in Josh Heupel's nickel scheme are gone and a crop of highly-touted young players are set to take their spot.

Heupel isn't concerned about a drop-off, though. The main priority is to cover receivers to the point is never made and then to break up any resulting passes but if an opportunity for a turnover is present, an attempt to take advantage of it will be made.

"Expecting those guys to play at a championship level," Heupel said. "I love the group as far as their length, athleticism, play-making ability, their willingness to be physical, take on destruct blocks, tackle in open space, their care factor, their knowledge and understanding of what we're doing, how they approach their practice every single day. I'm really excited about it."

Turnovers were a big factor in wins over Texas A&M, South Carolina and Iowa last season and could be the difference between a successful 10-2 year that features a spot in the College Football Playoffs or an 8-4 year that leaves room to be desired.

All three stages of the Vols' defense are bought in on continuing to take a step in the right direction in this category, though.

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