Tennessee’s regular season ended with a convincing 48-34 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday but arguably its most critical stretch is still ahead.

As the dust settles on an 8-4 campaign, the Vols' coaching staff begins to shift its focus to the looming early signing period next month, the transfer portal, discussions will players who may return for another season and preparation for a bowl game, which will be announced next Sunday.

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In the modern era of college football, preparing for a program's next stage has become a major multitask, requiring communication on several fronts.

"(The next few weeks are) massive," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. "Huge implications on what you're going to be as you move forward as a program. So, yes, there's a lot going on all at one time. High school, portal, your players. All of it. And you got to manage it all. You got to have a great staff that communicates at a really high level and do the right things, make the right decisions."

Tennessee won eight games with a chance to win nine in the postseason for the second-straight year and finished .500 in SEC play for a third consecutive season, which is the longest stretch by a Vols team since 1989-2004.

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But Tennessee fell short of expectations. A series of breakdowns prevented signature wins at Florida and Alabama while the Vols couldn't keep up with Missouri and Georgia late in the season.

Part of the reason that eight wins feels underwhelming is the standard that Heupel and his staff have set in their short time in Knoxville. Tennessee won 11 games in 2022, beating Florida, LSU and Alabama on its way to the Orange Bowl where it thumped Clemson.

Tennessee set a plethora of offensive records during that run, too but followed it up with significantly less averages, including points per game where the Vols went from 44.5 to 31.6.

Injuries played a factor. Tennessee was rarely at full health, shuffling on the offensive front beginning in fall camp and throughout the rest of the season. At wide receiver, the Vols lost Bru McCoy for the season in week 5, then his replacement in Dont'e Thornton Jr. against Missouri, forcing underclassmen Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb into bigger roles.

On defense, veteran transfer Keenan Pili, who was expected to be a key contributor at MIKE linebacker was injured in the season opener vs. Virginia and didn't return. Kamal Hadden, who was in the middle of his most productive season at Tennessee, also suffered a season-ending injury at Alabama, leaving a void in the secondary.

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"I'm proud of this group. They've worked extremely hard. They've prepared the right way," Heupel said. "On gameday, they've been resilient. They continue to fight and compete. Man, every Saturday is different. We've all had some disappointment. Everybody in that locker room—coaches, me, everybody—when we don't end up on the right side of that scoreboard, there's disappointment in that. This group has never walked out on the field not thinking they were going to win."

Recruiting—both at the high school level and out of the transfer portal—is a good remedy for adding depth when injuries piles up the way they did this season.

That will be at the forefront of Tennessee's focus over the next couple of weeks as the coaches look to build off of the last three seasons. The Vols' 2024 recruiting class currently ranks 11th nationally and fourth in the SEC.

"I'm really proud of where we started, where we're at, where we've got to continue to fight to get to go," Heupel said.

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