Josh Heupel reflects on daughter's interest in football, how it shapes relationship

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has plenty of help around the facility, be it assistant coaches, players or staffers. And when he gets home, there’s a good chance his daughter, Hannah, is ready to help, too.

On the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, Heupel briefly discussed how football has played a central role in his relationship with his daughter and family — plus she might offer up a play call or two.

And while reflecting on his daughter and family having his back, Heupel was almost wistful.

“She’s a little like my wife in that she’ll draw up a trick play pretty much every single weekend for me,” Heupel said. “She’s dialed in to football so I try to teach her. That’s one of the great things, having her along my side, usually, at Vol walk. She’s there pretty much every single week. And certainly getting a chance to see her on the field after a ball game. Time goes quick and coaches that have sons or daughters that understand that. It always does.”

And while Heupel might be ready to remember the good old days as his kids grow up and make their own lives, he’s not going to miss whatever moments he does get now.

“But it’s been fun just watching her continue to grow and become really competitive at some of the things she cares about but also she’s care deeply about this program and love having her around,” Heupel said.

Heupel reflected over the summer on his first-ever Vol walk

Heupel told the story of his first Vol Walk, describing the different emotions he went through. The first was a funny part, saying his daughter was late due to a personal extracurricular activity. Next, Heupel discussed his first impressions walking into the stadium and then onto the field.

“I didn’t understand a lot of things about the game,” Heupel said. “Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve done a walk. People talk about Vol walk and I’ve seen a couple pictures. There’s nothing that I have experienced that’s like that. We walked down the hill. My sons are with me, my daughter was at ballet and late to kickoff. So she wasn’t there for Week 1. My son, we’re walking down and his eyes are this big and then you turn left and you see the people down, on the bottom of the hill, underneath the bridge.

“It’s 25 deep down there. There’s 15,000 people. I can’t tell you what he said while we’re walking but unbelievable. Pomp and circumstance, the build up, the energy inside of it. There’s nothing like the ‘T’ splitting and running out. It’s college football as good as it gets.”

There’s nothing like running through the T in Neyland Stadium.@coachjoshheupel | @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/TZPeNwGUUi

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 16, 2022