Josh Heupel addresses NFL talk surrounding Tennessee offense, scheme

Josh Heupel‘s offensive scheme at Tennessee has become the talk of the town not only at the college level, but even in NFL circles, particularly surrounding this year’s NFL Draft. The Vols led the nation in yards and points per game last season, putting a nice spotlight on some of their best offensive players ahead of the draft.

Wideouts Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman were two big beneficiaries from Tennessee’s offense and were selected with back-to-back picks in the third round of this year’s draft. And on an interview with 99.1 THE Sports Animal, Heupel spoke about his former players taking their game to the next level through his offense.

“Well that’s the way you want it for sure,” Heupel said. “The productivity that we’ve had in the last three years, have five wide receivers more than anybody in the country as far as a head coach, number of guys that have been drafted.”

Five Tennessee players were selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, all of which were within the first three rounds. Quarterback Hendon Hooker and offensive lineman Darnell Wright joined Hyatt and Tillman as the team’s other offensive selections, and were more than deserving following their impressive 2022 seasons.

“And we certainly had a ton of success at the quarterback position. You look at Darnell Wright being the first offensive lineman from the SEC, having his name called,” Heupel said. “I think there’s a lot that speaks to what we’ve done but also what we’re doing and allowing us to recruit at an elite level and putting guys in a position to be successful.”

Heupel has done a great job of keeping the details and schematics of his offense on the down low, keeping his cards close in order to ensure his offense can continue to be a well-oiled machine moving forward. But according to Heupel, some of the elements of his offense seen on Saturdays can also be seen on Sundays.

“Certainly what we do is slightly different than other people. Out strategy, how we attack people, that’s why we’ve been able to light up the scoreboard the way we have. And our guys have had a ton of productivity, and looking forward to continued success of those guys,” Heupel said. “A lot of what we’re doing has trickled in to what’s going on in the NFL as far as our structure and just talking to different NFL teams and our guys having the opportunity to showcase those skills in that.”