Josh Heupel explains the next step that Tennessee needs to take as a football program as the Vols pursue championships

While Heupel clearly has Tennessee inching closer to a championship season, there's still another big step the program needs to take to get to where it wants to be. 

Heupel spoke to reporters on Tuesday in Nashville at Tennessee's Big Orange Caravan stop and he explained that building depth at every position is the next phase of the Vols' development as a championship football program. 

"I think our first spring, I think we were at like 54, 55 guys," explained Heupel. "We ended up [with] like 64 that were with us in the fall. Had to add pieces, just no depth on our roster. Now you’re in the phases, three recruiting classes. You’re starting to add the body types, the skill sets, and adding continued depth to our roster. For us, that’s still the next phase for our program is being deep enough as things happen during the course of the season, make sure that you got championship players ready to go complete compete every Saturday."

"This is the deepest that our roster has been at any point," added Heupel. "And that’s the front lines, O-line, D-line, it’s our skill position. You look at our wide receiver numbers, just pure numbers, we’re deeper than we’ve been. We gotta continue to grow, but certainly at this point it’s the deepest that we’ve been within our roster."

Championship level depth is one of the biggest things that separates a program like Georgia from Tennessee. 

And it's one of the hardest things for a college football program to build. 

Plenty of programs can land some elite first-team talent that can compete with Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, and other annual championship contenders. But it's building the depth to be able to withstand the normal injuries that happen throughout the season that takes a program from being a fringe contender to a legit contender. 

Tennessee is getting close, but they're not there quite yet. 

The Vols have some impressive depth at several critical positions. The defensive line depth is obviously elite. And the wide receiver depth, as Heupel mentioned, is as impressive as it's been since Phillip Fulmer was still roaming the sidelines in Knoxville. Linebacker depth is improved. And the tight end room has several talented players. 

Other position groups for the Vols -- the secondary, offensive line, running backs -- are still building championship level depth. 

It's important for Tennessee fans to remember that it's a marathon not a sprint. Building depth takes time -- a long time (especially in the transfer portal era). But the Vols are getting closer. And as long as Heupel and his staff continue their measured and urgent-yet-also-patient approach, Tennessee's depth will eventually get to where it needs to be for the Vols to be an annual championship contender.