HOOVER, Ala. - Tennessee's contingent of coach Butch Jones, three players and multiple support staffers had yet to leave Knoxville on Tuesday morning when the Volunteers were mentioned at SEC Media Days.
If that seems odd given the Volunteers' recent struggles, it's because it is.
It's fair to say Tennessee has been more or less an afterthought among the other SEC heavyweights at the annual July event of scripted answers and strange questions.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs speaks to reporters at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Hoover, Ala. 
Tennessee's Curt Maggitt speaks to reportrers at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days, Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Hoover, Ala.
Tennessee defensive back Cameron Sutton speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Hoover, Ala. On Tuesday morning, though, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier - up to tricks he employed at Florida in the 1990s - gigged the Vols for "celebrating" a 7-6 record in 2014, backing up a barb he fired earlier this offseason when he said the Vols "were doing cartwheels" after the program's first winning season since 2009.
Once he stood in the same place as Spurrier did a few hours earlier in the day, Jones, who is 2-0 against the Gamecocks at Tennessee, wasted little time in jabbing back.
"Now I want to make one thing clear: Contrary to reports, there were no backflips, and there were no somersaults," he said. "I think in the world of college football, you're judged by wins and losses, but you're also judged by does your team overachieve or underachieve. And I thought last year's team overachieved."
Another 7-6 season won't qualify as an overachievement in 2015, however, and Jones and the Vols know it.
It's been an offseason of mounting hype and elevated expectations. Tennessee likely will land in the top two or three of the SEC East Division when the league announces its preseason poll Thursday. The Vols will get votes to win it.
With an experienced team and an upgraded talent level, it appears Tennessee will have a chance to return to national relevancy in 2015.
"We're not blind to it," defensive end/linebacker Curt Maggitt said.
"Maturity and leadership are going to be our two biggest things," he said later Tuesday. "We've got talent. That's not a secret. A lot of people know we have talent. The biggest thing is focusing on that first game and putting all our energy and all our effort into one game at a time."
The question, of course, is if the Vols can handle the pressure and weight of what's expected of them and deliver the kind of season the program hasn't had in a long time.
"We always have high standards internally, and nobody will have as high expectations as we have for ourselves," Jones said.
"But we have to go out and we have to prove it."
The Vols continue to welcome all of it. All three of the player representatives - Maggitt, quarterback Josh Dobbs and cornerback Cam Sutton - all said it's why they came to Tennessee. The expectations on themselves haven't changed even if the outside perception has.
"I wouldn't say there's finally expectations around this program," Dobbs said. "There's always expectations around this program. When you come to Tennessee, you come to Tennessee to win championships. That's what we're here for. That's why we all signed our letters of intent to Tennessee. We have those expectations and dreams and goals set for ourselves."
Tennessee's goal the past two seasons was obvious - scrape its way to six wins and bowl eligibility - and the Vols were not afraid to talk about it.
Regarding 2015's goals, the Vols aren't tipping their hand, publicly at least.
They're talking about what could be this season, though.
"All we can control is what we do as a team," Sutton said. "We talk as a team. We have our team meetings with players only and we talk about the expectations for the year and what we want to accomplish and our goals for the year.
"We're all on the same page. That's a great thing about our team. We don't worry about the outside or what we can't control. We know if we come together, we can make something special here."
Tennessee's record since 2007 is just 40-47, but the Vols believe they are on the verge of reversing the losing trend that's overtaken a program that suffered from coaching instability and poor recruiting.
The public perception about the Vols has changed, too, and Jones noted it as the biggest difference in his third trip to SEC Media Days.
"We still have a long ways to go," he said. "We're nowhere where we need to be, and again, we have too many unproven areas on our football team right now where true freshmen have to play impactful roles.
"But they understand what's going on in Knoxville. They can see it at Tennessee, and they can feel it. It's maybe a little bit different in terms of the expectations walking in here this year as opposed to last year, but that's what you want. Our players have worked hard to be in this situation."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.