DALLAS – Football season has arrived for Tennessee as the Volunteers take their turn at 2024 SEC Football Media Day on Tuesday at the Omni in downtown Dallas. Tennessee will be represented by fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel, senior center Cooper Mays, senior linebacker Keenan Pili and senior defensive tackle Omari Thomas.
The experienced trio of players has served as game captains, are members of the team’s leadership council and have combined to play 125 games with 87 starts in their collegiate careers.
SEC Network will have full coverage throughout the day. Heupel will be on the main stage at 11:35 a.m. ET and then the network set with guests at approximately 12:45 p.m. ET. Players will be in the main media room at 12:15 p.m. ET. SEC Now on SEC Network sets the stage for the day at 7 a.m. ET.
Heupel and players will visit with more than 1,000 media throughout the day, as well as ESPN and SEC Network programming content that will be used for the season. Tennessee is paired with Georgia in the morning session, and Oklahoma and Missouri are set for the afternoon portion. The expanded 16-team conference event is being held in Dallas for the first time.
Thomas is making his second straight media day appearance. The SEC’s student-athlete representative on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee enters his fourth straight season as a starter at defensive tackle, accumulating 88 tackles and 11 tackles for loss during his tenure.
Pili is entering his second season with the Vols as a starter at linebacker. The seventh-year senior suffered a season-ending injury in last year’s opener but is fully healthy entering the 2024 campaign. Pili was a two-time team captain at BYU, playing in 36 games before transferring to Knoxville.
Mays is the catalyst of Tennessee’s offensive line, which was named Joe Moore Award semifinalists in back-to-back years. A 2024 Walter Camp preseason first-team All-American, Mays will be the starter at center for the fourth consecutive season. He’s logged over 2,000 career offensive snaps during his career and carries a 14-game streak of not allowing sack into the Chattanooga opener on Aug. 31.
The Vols are coming off a nine-win season and a No. 17 final ranking after shutting out Big Ten West champion Iowa, 35-0, in the Capital One Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. Tennessee welcomed 18 early enrollees who participated in bowl practice and spring practice, including seven FBS transfers.
Heupel has guided the Vols to their winningest two-year stretch in school history and owns a 55-20 record in six seasons as a head coach. Heupel’s .692 winning percentage (27-12) at Tennessee is the second-highest by a Vol coach in the last five decades. His 27 wins are the third-most by a UT coach through his first three seasons, trailing only Bill Battle (31 from 1970-72) and Phillip Fulmer (29 from 1993-95).
Tennessee officially reports for camp on July 30 before going through its first practice on July 31.
