Josh Heupel: Music City was the bowl Tennessee wanted from the start

The Tennessee Volunteers may have only gone 7-5 in the 2021 season, but by all indications, the Josh Heupel era has gotten off to a great start in Knoxville.

Tennessee managed to amass seven wins just once since 2017, and under Jeremy Pruitt, the Volunteers managed to go just 16-19 overall, leading to disappointment among the fanbase. However, Heupel has rebooted Tennessee’s football program with a high-powered offense; in the process, he clinched bowl eligibility in his first season at the helm. Luckily, for Tennessee fans, they won’t have to travel very far to see the game, either — Tennessee was selected to face Purdue in the Music City Bowl, which will take place in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, making for an easy trip from Knoxville.

“I think everybody is excited about what the gameday environment will be with our fanbase,” Heupel said, smiling at the prospect of Tennessee fans flocking en masse to Nashville. “Just leading up to it, even before the announcement — when the announcement happened, I was on the road and our staff was on the road recruiting, but our guys inside this program, they’re extremely excited about it. We’re looking forward to it and in some ways, we were hoping that was the destination we were going to be in. For guys that are around this region, easy trip for the fans to come up and share the experience — not just on gameday but the entire week.”

Tennessee’s season has had its ups and downs, featuring a narrow loss at home to No. 13 Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin’s return to Knoxville and a 52-24 beatdown by Alabama, but on the other hand, it also saw Tennessee rout Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Missouri, all while pulling off a close win over a ranked Kentucky team. Overall, Heupel is pleased with the program’s development in year one, and so too is the Tennessee fanbase.

“For our kids whose families are further away, they’ll get to come in (to the Music City Bowl) too. Great city and a huge part of our base, just inside of this state. Our rceruiting base, you guys know that for myself and our staff, we’ve tried to place a huge importance on doing in-state recruiting the right way,” Heupel said. “I think it would be a great opportunity for me and our staff to get familiar with some VFLs in the area, be able to meet with some donors and it’ll be a great week.”

Tennessee opened up as a three-point favorite over Purdue in the Music City Bowl, with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 30.