Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop looks like the Hulk after just one college football offseason working with Derek Owings and his staff. The Volunteers’ most important players added a ridiculous amount of muscle to their frames since the end of January.
That is true for both sides of the ball.
Every college football player in Knoxville hit it hard during the offseason. It paid off in a big way with their collective weight gain.
The Derek Owings effect is real!
Tennessee hired Derek Owings as its Director of Football Sports Performance on Jan. 20, 2026. Although his official title is just a fancy way of saying Strength and Conditioning Coach, that should not diminish his role with the program.
Owings graduated from Mercer in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He graduated from Utah State with a master’s in physical and sport education two years later. The Aggies also gave him his start as a graduate assistant. From there it was off to UCF as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach in 2018. And then he spent two years at Texas Tech as the Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning.
The last six years really put him on the map in the greater world of college football.
Curt Cignetti hired Owing as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at James Madison in 2020. Most importantly, he played a crucial role in helping the Dukes make the physical transition from FCS to FBS. That is not an easy jump!
A lot of first-year FBS teams might get out-powered by bigger and stronger competition on the next level. JMU went 8-3 in Year 1 and 11-2 in Year 2. They looked the part. They played the part.
Cignetti eventually brought Owings with him to Indiana as the Director of Athletic Performance. The Hoosiers completed one of the most remarkable transformations in college football history over the last two seasons. Their work in the weight room played a big role in that turnaround. Xs and Os are one thing but you can’t execute the game plan if you don’t have the dudes.
Tennessee hired Owings right after the national championship. He and his staff got right to work.
Tennessee’s college football program added a lot of muscle during an impressive offseason body transformation. Especially DeSean Bishop.
Today is July 29. Derek Owings took over on January 20. It has been 187 days.
Tennessee added 867.3 pounds of muscle mass as a team in that time. That includes 33 players who added 11 pounds or more. The Volunteers lost 218.1 pounds of fat in total. These are the most impressive transformations on offense:
- RB DeSean Bishop — 13 pounds
- WR Travis Smith Jr. — 14 pounds
- RB Justin Baker — 8 pounds
- RB Javin Gordon — 11.5 pounds
- WR TK Keys — 14 pounds
- QB Faizon Brandon — 19.5 pounds (He makes linebackers look small with his new weight!)
- WR Deon Hardin — 14 pounds
- OT Jermias Heard — 9 pounds
- TE DaSaahn Brame — 14 pounds
- OL Kamari Blair — 19.5 pounds
Bishop does not look like someone you want to meet in the B-gap. He (pictured first below) is freakishly jacked.
These are the most impressive transformations on defense:
- LB Arion Carter —14.5 pounds
- DL Tyree Weathersby — 11.5 pounds
- DB Dejuan Lane — 13 pounds
- DB Qua Moss — 15 pounds
- DL Mike Bethea II — 17 pounds
- DB TJ Metcalf — 12 pounds
- DL Hezekiah Harris — 23 pounds
- DB Tevis Metcalf — 10.5 pounds
- DL Darryl Rivers — 13 pounds
- LB Jordan Burns — 13.5 pounds
If history is any indication, Tennessee is going to be a lot better in 2026 than in 2025 because of Derek Owings. The Vols went hard to get their bodies in peak physical shape during the offseason. Will it pay off on the gridiron? Look at JMU and Indiana…