WATCH: Josh Heupel tells hilarious story on first Vol Walk
There are plenty of special traditions in college football, with the Vol Walk at Tennesee being one of the best. Especially when you’re a first-year head coach, entering Neyland Stadium can be a bone chilling moment. Nothing was different for Josh Heupel, who was in his first year in Knoxville after previously being at UCF.
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 began. “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.”
Josh Heupel began his tenure at Tennessee against Bowling Green, with his first major game being against Pitt one week later. For the 2022 season, the Volunteers will open up against Ball State, while Florida will be the first SEC home game of the year.
The Vol Walk will only continue to get more special for the second-year head coach.