Josh Heupel (SEC Photo)
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel had his turn at the Southeastern Conference Media Days podium in Atlanta on Tuesday and shared a variety of interesting perspectives.
“Embarking into year five, as I was getting ready for today, I really rewound back to year one and how myself and our staff came to Tennessee and the adversity in which we took the program over,” Heupel said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done, from roster management to some of the recruiting things we’ve had to deal with. It’s how I know our best is in front of us. What has crippled other programs in the past, University of Tennessee and our football program has been able to flourish.
“You look over the last three years, 30 wins, the most wins in Tennessee in the stretch of three years of Tennessee football since the late ’90s, if you look at the College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six bowl wins, you look at what we’ve done in the NFL draft. The best stretch of NFL draft picks in Tennessee in over two decades.
“While we’ve been able to have that success on the field, players have done an unbelievable job inside our community. Each year we’ve set a team GPA record in the history of Tennessee football. I’m extremely proud of what our staff and our players have done here in a short amount of time.”
Heupel also discussed NIL, possible nine-game SEC schedule and the power of UT:
Q. NIL has become such a unique factor in college football, whether good or bad, however everybody looks at it, but for you all, balancing that some of the adjustments you all have had to make obviously with the new profit share, how do you do that while also keeping some of the things that made college football so unique for all participants, coaches and players alike?
JOSH HEUPEL: Certainly what’s happening around the game has changed quite a bit and certainly recently has changed dramatically, but what it takes to be successful once the ball is teed up has not changed. So you’ve got to have tough, smart, relentless competitors that love football and care about the people around them.
Throughout the recruiting process, we’re trying to not just identify the physical traits you’re looking for, but also those personal characteristics and traits and competitive makeup as you try to build a locker room of the culture that you want to have. You’ve got to constantly help that grow and foster that, but you’ve got to recruit to it as well. That’s something that our staff, our personnel departments are all intentional on.
Q. We heard a lot, we had Commissioner Sankey, we heard Coach Lane Kiffin, Shane Beamer, all weighing in on should the SEC play eight or nine games. What are your thoughts there? How important is it when you look at rivalries, especially third Saturday in October being preserved, how much does that weigh in on your decision?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think the rivalries, the special games, different for each fan base, are a huge part of what fan bases look forward to and those experiences that they know they’re going to have, whether it be a home game, road game, or neutral site game. I think those are special things that make college football a part of what college football is.
Certainly you’ve got to balance the ability to play our conference and be able to travel and experience different sites. I’m going to leave that to the commissioner to find the right balance on that side of it.
Eight or nine games, ultimately I’m not making that decision either, but I think the commissioner did a really good job of kind of showcasing what an eight-game schedule looks like inside of this league and the historical data of how different that is from maybe playing a nine-game conference schedule in another league.
Q. The power of T, how big a deal is it for you? And you made a statement which I have the utmost respect for, nobody’s bigger than the power of T. We know what that was about. But how fired up are you about playing football and getting all of this other crap out of the way and Saturdays on the banks of the Tennessee River?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, anybody that knows me knows that I’m ready for talking season to be over; ready to go tee it up and go play. There’s not a better fan base in all of college football.
You look at Vol-Navy, 150 boats tied up on the river. They start showing up on Wednesday, some of those things. Those boats are sitting there all year long that travel from all over the country in preparation for September, October, and November inside of Neyland Stadium.
Our walk to the stadium is the most unique thing in sports that I’ve ever seen or experienced. 30,000 to 35,000 every Saturday. It’s college football as good as it gets. Inside the atmosphere, there’s not a more passionate fan base. To be a part of this iconic brand, to be leading this program with the type of leadership that we have on campus, with who we have in our staff room and the players we have inside of our locker room, it’s why I don’t consider it a job. I get a chance to go compete every single day with people that I absolutely love.
One Response
He should feel very proud of what he has and is accomplishing at UT. He has kicked our arses in recruiting, playing, and coaching. The big question remains….will we ever beat UT again? UT bolstered their total athletic department with the hiring of Danny White.