Josh Heupel breaks down difference between Year One and Year Two

Josh Heupel surprised many with how well he adjusted to the SEC in his first season as the leader of the Tennessee Volunteers.

However, Heupel had the advantage of being a new commodity during Year One in the conference. Now, the Volunteers coach will have the weight of expectations on his back entering Year Two, and he explained all the differences he’s seeing during SEC Media Days.

“It’s so different with your players. A complete understanding of what it’s going to look like for 80% of your roster. I mean, what game days are going to look like, what training camp is going to look like. Our staff, the continuity that we were able to keep with our staff, really everybody coming back, old and young coaches. Support staff. That’s really changed the way that we’ve worked from the time that we got back in January,” stated Heupel. “Sure, we redefined everything, but it was really about our daily work habits and how we grow, from the time that we got back in campus. Instead of building relationships with new people. For us, really excited about what we’ve done, and the first three quarters of our off-season. Excited about training camp.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“I think we have a great understanding of who we are, what we’re about and how we want to play in all three phases of the game. Now it’s about competing and growing as we get into training camp.”

Continuing, the Volunteers head coach revealed how he’s measuring progress entering Year Two in Knoxville.

“You measure it in the growth — the standards that you have inside of your building. You measure that daily. Weekly with your players. You put that in-front of them. Physically, they can see the strides that they’ve made, and how they’ve grown. But each phase, it’s about each day, and winning the day, winning the set, winning the rep. But that’s true in everything that you’re doing,” explained Heupel. “It’s your meals. It’s your training room. It’s class. I’m really proud. The last three semesters, our team GPA has gone up every semester. Their best three semesters in the history of Tennessee Football. How we’re doing off the field, those things show up in what we’re doing on the field too. Our players are bought into that. Wins, losses — I don’t know.

“We’ve got high expectations for this season. We want to have the best brotherhood in college football, continuing to build that culture and go out and compete each and every week.”

Last season, Josh Heupel lended credence to the idea that Tennessee hired the right guy, and he’ll be looking to prove that point even further in Year Two.