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Josh Heupel reveals cause of Tennessee’s dramatic jump in Year 2

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax03/30/23

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Credit: (Donald Page / Stringer PhotoG/Getty)

Tennessee went from being a middle-of-the-pack SEC East team to a College Football Playoff contender in a single offseason. They have head coach Josh Heupel to thank for that.

He proved to be the nation’s top second-year head coach after his Vols knocked off Alabama 52-49 on a walk-off field goal, earned his team a No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll and defeated Clemson in the Orange Bowl all throughout the 2022 season.

Tennessee finished the season 11-2, but is this success sustainable with Georgia seemingly taking over as the kings of college football in the same division, and with the ensuing conference expansion? Or was this just the beginning of what Heupel has in store for a Vols program that took the nation by storm this past season.

Hepuel joined On3’s JD PicKell on a recent episode of The Hard Count to reassure everyone that those inside the Tennessee program trusts the process and is bought in on the bigger picture.

“From the time that we’ve gotten here, our staff has handled it in a really great way and not flinching at anything that’s come at us and that happened in Year 1, we gained a lot of trust from our players because of it,” Heupel told PicKell. “Our work in Year 2 was different. Our guys — and I’m just talking about the extra effort and energy that they put in every single day. How intentional in the way that they work, growing in our understanding of our schemes in all three phases helped as well.

“But our connection continued to grow as well. We became a really mature football team that handled the different situations that inevitably are gonna come up in a really positive way. We were connected, we loved each other and we fought and strained for one another as well. It took a huge jump.”

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Tennessee’s success can traced back to its explosive, up-tempo offense that Heupel has patented since arriving in Knoxville. QB Hendon Hooker was the perfect player to lead his offense off the ground floor, but his departure to the NFL has Heupel looking between Joe Milton and Nico Iamaleava to keep that same type of swagger in his backfield.

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With Hooker at the helm, Tennessee has the SEC’s third-most victories (18) since Heupel took over the football program in 2021. In that time, no offense has been more potant than the Vols’. They boast the nation’s No. 1 offense, averaging 42.7 points and 499.96 yards per game over the past two seasons. 

Despite losing Hooker and other top talent to graduation and the NFL Draft, the maturity has still carried over into this year’s group, according to Heupel.

“For us as a program, we talk a lot about our work habits, building an expectation that we’re going to find to win the games, as long as we prepare the right way,” Heupel said. “We’ve continued to grow this offseason, too. This is becoming a really mature group. You know, we’re essentially a third of the way into spring ball. I love how intentional we’ve been out on the practice field. Obviously, there’s a lot of room for growth yet as we go every single day but excited about this group.”

The first chance fans will get to see this year’s Vols squad will be on April 15 for the annual Orange & White scrimmage live from Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.