What a season it was for the Tennessee Volunteers football program.

The Vols beat Florida, LSU and Alabama, won a New Year’s 6 bowl game for the 1st time since January 2005 and finished the season with 11 wins for the 1st time in 21 years.

The 2022 season will be remembered by Vols fans for decades to come. But it won’t be long before all attention will turn toward the 2023 campaign.

Here are 10 burning questions facing the Vols as we head into the offseason.

1. Will Joe Milton III be Tennessee’s starting QB on Week 1?

This seems like an easy “well, duh.” Milton is coming off an Orange Bowl MVP performance, with 251 yards passing and 3 TDs against Clemson. He will be a 6th-year QB with 2 1/2 years learning this offense.

He will get pushed by rising sophomore Tayven Jackson and true freshman Nico Iamaleava, but it would be a stunner if anyone but Milton takes the opening snap against Virginia.

2. Who will be Tennessee’s WR1?

The 2022 season started with Cedric Tillman as Tennessee’s top pass-catching option. After he was injured, Jalin Hyatt was the go-to guy.

Tillman and Hyatt won’t be around come fall, but the Vols have some candidates.

Bru McCoy is probably the leader in the clubhouse. McCoy finished this past season 2nd on the team in catches with 52 and yards with 667. Ramel Keyton is another experienced candidate and finished with 31 catches for 562 yards and 5 scores.

Squirrel White’s speed will continue to give opposing defenses fits, but the guess here is McCoy.

3. Who will be Tennessee’s OC?

When you have success, other schools will try to take your assistant coaches. It was no surprise when Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh took the head coaching job at South Florida in December.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel hasn’t made any moves since the regular season ended. But you’d expect he won’t go outside the family to find Golesh’s replacement.

QB coach Joey Halzle is the obvious choice. Halzle has been with Heupel in his coaching stops at Utah State, Missouri and Central Florida, and he knows Heupel’s offense better than just about anyone.

4. Will there be changes on the defensive coaching staff?

Tennessee’s defense gave up 484 yards and 34 1st downs to Clemson and was on the field for more than 36 minutes.

But it was in a bend-don’t-break mode, stopped a fake field goal and came away with 2 turnovers. It was one of its best “big-game” performances of the season.

That said, this is a unit that will finish the season ranked no better than 90th in the nation. No matter how good the Tennessee offense is (and it was the best in the nation this year), the Vols won’t win the division with a defense that poor.

Heupel has had a lot of stability on his coaching staff in his 1st 2 seasons in Knoxville. But it’ll be interesting to see if he makes some changes to the staff on that side of the ball.

5. Will the transfer portal help or hurt the Vols?

The transfer portal took its toll on Tennessee’s program, especially leading into Heupel’s 1st 2 seasons in Knoxville. But the Vols have also gotten a lot of help from the portal, with players like Milton, McCoy and JaVonta Payton using the portal to get to Tennessee under Heupel.

In this cycle, Tennessee wide receivers Jimmy Holiday and Jimmy Calloway have entered the portal, as has RB Len’Neth Whitehead. The Vols have already welcomed BYU LB Keenan Pili, as well as Indiana PK Charles Campbell to replace Chase McGrath.

Those won’t be the last guys to leave or arrive.

6. Will Tyler Baron return this fall?

Tennessee is already losing some key players on defense, including LB Jeremy Banks and DE Byron Young.

Knoxville Catholic product Tyler Baron has yet to decide about his future. Baron has played in 36 games for Tennessee the past 3 years. This season, he had 22 tackles, 6.5 of them for a loss.

His return would be a big boost for this defense, which needs playmakers.

7. Will the secondary improve?

It’s no secret that the Tennessee secondary has been the weak spot on this team under Heupel. This season, it was one of the worst units in the nation, allowing 289.5 passing yards per game.

Secondary coach Willie Martinez gets the brunt of criticism for their failures.

8. Will any freshman make an immediate impact?

Tennessee’s Class of 2023 is ranked 9th nationally according to 247Sports. Big things will be expected from several guys in that group in the years to come.

But what about this fall? Considering the Vols’ problems in the defensive backfield, you might see 4-star cornerbacks Jordan Matthews and/or Rickey Gibson on the field sooner than later.

9. Will spring/summer bring key Class of 2024 commitments?

Tennessee’s Class of 2023 got a huge boost when Iamaleava committed to the Vols last March. That commitment gave Heupel and his assistants a big name to point to when trying to recruit other players.

Another 5-star could do the same for the next class.

10. Will Tennessee win at least 10 games again?

You’d have been hard-pressed to find anyone back in August who expected Tennessee to crack double digits in victories. It hadn’t done so in 15 years.

The really good programs are the ones that consistently reach that level of wins. Can the Vols keep this momentum going?