Josh Heupel offers high praise for Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, Trevon Flowers

Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel is counting on Hendon Hooker to be a leader in 2022. The veteran quarterback brings three years of starting experience, including one this past season for the Volunteers.

But luckily for Hooker, he won’t have to shoulder that weight alone. Receiver Cedric Tillman and safety Trevon Flowers have also carved out leadership roles this offseason. All three players were in attendance at SEC Media Days this past week, where Heupel talked about the qualities that make each one special.

“I think if you just looked at the three of them all together, the first thing I would grab is their leadership,” the Volunteers coach said. “Truly feeling their energy, their presence, their focus, their intentionality. They’re not just great teammates, they’re great leaders. They’ve forced guys around them to raise the level of what they’re doing. That would be No. 1. No. 2 would just be their consistent work habits. How different they are — for Tre in particular — different than he was a year ago. For Cedric, he’s continued to heighten that journey. For Hendon, the purposefulness of how he’s worked. Very intentional in the morning being in their studying offensive football, defenses, schemes, structure and how we need to attack. Then fundamentally how much he’s grown.”

Thanks to Hendon Hooker and Tillman, Josh Heupel’s offense ranked third in the SEC in his inaugural season. Tillman led all Volunteers receivers with 64 catches for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Hooker threw for a total of 2,945 yards, rushed for 616 and scored 36 total touchdowns. With the pair both back, Tennessee once again figures to be one of the top units in the conference.

Defensively, it was a different story as the Volunteers ranked 12th in the SEC. Flowers finished third on the team with 82 tackles in addition to two interceptions and hopes to lead by example as the defense tries to turn things around. Tennessee also returns linebacker Jeremy Banks, who enters this season on the Butkus Award watch list.

Heupel’s first season in Knoxville saw the Volunteers finish with a 7-6 record, but he hopes better finishes are soon on the horizon. If he is to get there this season, he’ll certainly need each one of the three players that were by his side at SEC Media Days. Tennessee is set to open the 2022 season on Sept. 1 against Ball State.