RECORD-BREAKING: Tennessee Football makes Derek Owings HIGHEST PAID Strength Coach in HOME RUN Hire

Locked On Vols - Daily Podcast On Tennessee Volunteers Football & Basketball

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4.8 • 797 Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tennessee Volunteers make a bold statement by hiring Derek Owings, fresh off Indiana’s national championship, as the highest-paid strength and conditioning coach in college football history. Can Josh Heupel’s aggressive offseason strategy elevate Tennessee football back into SEC contention? Eric Cain and Josh Ward break down the significance of Owings’ addition, discuss major staff overhauls, and analyze what these moves signal for the future on Rocky Top. Key topics include the Volunteers’ revamped defensive staff led by Jim Knowles, quarterback uncertainties with George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon battling for the starting job, and critical transfer portal upgrades across the roster. The hosts also dissect Tennessee basketball’s recent collapse against Kentucky and what it means for Rick Barnes’ squad heading into a pivotal SEC stretch. Will the Volunteers’ all-in approach on and off the field pay off this season?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Tennessee has hired a national championship winning strength and conditioning coach, and Josh Heifle has gone all in.
0:11.2	You are Locked on Balls, your daily podcast on the Tennessee Volunteers, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
0:21.1	Good Wednesday morning, everybody.
0:22.6	Welcome into it, Lockdown Falls, and I am your host, Eric Kane.
0:26.5	Appreciate you guys being here, making Lockdown Falls, your first listen, your first watch, each and every single morning.
0:30.4	We are a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every single day, the number one sports podcasting network available.
0:36.3	We've got a lot to get into here today.
0:38.2	Tennessee has hired Derek Owings as strength coach from Indiana, that Indiana team that just won a
0:43.2	national championship a couple of days ago. Why this means Josh Hopple is all in, all in for
0:49.1	his coaching tenure here on Rockie Top. That's coming up here in a matter of moments. Josh Ward
0:53.0	stops in to chat about that and so much more in second number two.
0:57.1	And a couple minutes to end the show, Vols in the way too early.
1:00.7	Top 25 polls for next year. It's never too early to look at those.
1:03.9	All that and more coming up here on a Wednesday lockdown.
1:07.0	Everydayers could not do the show without you.
1:08.8	Join the Everydayer Club today, just $5 a month,
1:12.3	and you get access to an audio free or an ad-free audio fee for Locked-on
1:16.0	Valls, compatible with pretty much every podcast platform,
1:20.0	an invite to the members-only Locked-on Balls Group chat,
1:22.4	been in there the last couple of days,
1:23.9	looking to chat with some new members in there,
1:25.7	and exclusive access to national shows like
	...

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