Tennessee football players remove their shirts, step in front of a gray backdrop and flex for the camera.
They know this image will show the extent of their work since the arrival of Derek Owings, college
football’s most highly sought-after strength coach. And it may appear on social media for thousands of fans to see.
The players pose for the second half of a before-and-after photo. It will reveal how often they opted for lean proteins over fried foods and how seriously they took every rep in the weight room over the offseason.
Most players don’t smile. But for some, it’s hard to hide their excitement.
“The kids know what the picture is going to be based on the work ethic and their commitment,” Owings said. “The ones that do everything right and do everything they can to strain and maximize every single day, those guys know what the picture is going to look like.”
Most people recognize before-and-after photos from American diet culture. But they’ve been used by college football strength and conditioning programs for years to privately put into sharp focus the offseason progress of players.
Owings, who helped Indiana win a national title last season, usually only shows the photos to coaches and players.
Recently, he shared some on social media that featured All-SEC players DeSean Bishop and Arion Carter, five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon, five-star receiver TK Keys and others. He said he released the images to continue recruiting momentum and fan excitement.
Mission accomplished.
UT recently landed five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, whose eye-opening physique already looks ready for the college game. He credited Owings as a factor in picking the Vols over Ohio State.
And UT fans are increasingly going to Owings’ social media accounts to get excited about this newly-toned version of the Vols who start preseason practice on Aug. 5.
Why Tennessee fans follow Derek Owings on social media
Owings has about 23,000 followers combined on his Instagram and X accounts.
He’s used those platforms to show UT’s progress since coach Josh Heupel hired him in January as one of college football’s premier offseason moves.
Owings was Indiana’s standout strength coach. He flew to Knoxville the day after the Hoosiers won the national championship and started work immediately under a contract that pays him $1.2 million annually as the highest compensated strength coach in college football.
His addition made a bold statement about Heupel’s desire for the Vols to reach a higher level of performance. And Owings has kept fans informed of the players’ progress in easily digestible ways.
Modern strength and conditioning is complex. It involves cutting-edge science that most football fans don’t grasp. That’s where Owings has helped simplify it.
In a recent Instagram post, Owings shared a chart that displayed the max velocity of several UT players without identifying them by name. It showed that 12 players reached a running speed of 21 mph when tested in 2025, but that number jumped to 47 players this summer after six months in his offseason program.
In another post, Owings listed how much lean mass in pounds that select players gained in the weight room. That post garnered almost 20,000 likes, aided greatly by the proud players that shared it.
And a post from UT football’s X account that Owings shared credited the team with gaining 867.3 pounds of muscle mass and losing 218.1 pounds of fat in Owings’ first 14 weeks on the job.
How Owings is building Vols for a postseason run
Don’t misunderstand Owings’ role or his motives. He’s not a social media expert. He’s just amped to turn the Vols into a well-oiled machine built for a deep run in the 2026 season.
“A lot of these old guys have come to me and said, ‘Coach, we trust you. But, man, why are we straining so much in the summer? We’ve got to get to the season. But (I replied) ‘No, we’ve got to get to the end of January,'” Owings said, referring to the national title game.
“It’s about building them up to be robust enough to handle the demands of what they’re going to be asked to do for the next five months.”
Players have praised the team's transformation under Owings and his staff, but he knows there’s plenty of work ahead.
Owings said UT has the “most genetically gifted kids" he's worked with in his career. But it’s a young roster – 78 of 113 players are underclassmen – and they’ve only been in his program since late January.
Owings said Year 2 will be more intense. But he’s pleased with the physiques that’ll be on field this season.
“(I am proud of) the training intent, the toughness, the sacrifices and commitment these guys have made,” Owings said. “We had a really good offseason. I am very process driven, and so we are trying to maximize and squeeze every ounce out of every single day and let the chips fall where they may.”
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee football fans are amped by strength coach Derek Owings’ Instagram
