What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told local media during SEC Media Days in Dallas

Everything Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel told local reporters Tuesday during SEC Media Day in Dallas:

What Tennessee’s offseason has been like to this point

“Offseason has been been really good. (It’s) the third quarter of our offseason. Summer has gone extremely well. This group is really mature, competitive, consistent in how they show up and compete every single day. Excited to get to, to training camp here in a couple weeks with this group.”

What kind of growth he’s seen from Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava from Year 1 to Year 2

“Just the bowl experience for him I think was a great experience, where you feel the pressure, the ownership of having to know that you’re going to be the guy. I thought throughout the course of last season he continued to grow in his consistency and how he prepared. He’s been urgent in everything that he’s done since he got back after the bowl game. He’s had a great summer continuing to build timing and rhythm with our wide receivers, getting on the same page before we get into training camp. And obviously excited to see him grow throughout the course of training camp.”

What he has learned about this Tennessee team over the summer months

“I think they’re extremely focused, and that’s individually on where they want to get to it as a player, but collectively as a football team. They understand the importance of every single day you got to go win. Every rep, every set, every single day. Their feet are where they’re at, they’re in the moment and we got to continue to do that as we go into our next phase of preparation for the season when we get to training camp.”

Updating the health of Tennessee running backs Cam Seldon and Peyton Lewis

“Both of those guys are doing extremely well. Peyton is fully integrated into everything that we’re doing. Cam’s really close to that. He’ll have a growth progression as we get into training camp, but excited to have both of those guys continue along that line and be ready for kickoff when we get to the season.”

What Nico Iamaleava has shown that makes him believe he’s ready to be Tennessee’s starting quarterback

“Smart. Competitive. Skillset. Accurate with the football. Good decision maker. His work habit for a guy throughout the recruiting process. To come into our building, earn the trust and respect of the teammates around him, to grow as a player, to continue to grow in his ability to lead. I love what he’s done as a young player. He is a young player, there is going to be a growth and an evolution and progress throughout the course of the season with him as a player. Excited to see him compete and go do that during the course of the season.”

Nico Iamaleava having a business-like approach and how much that fits into Tennessee’s offense at quarterback

“Well, I think it is important for your quarterback, just like your players, just like the rest of your roster, your coaches, to never get too high, never get too low. To continue to focus on what’s coming next, be in the moment. He’s extremely confident. He’s that way because he puts in the work. He’s a great teammate, he’s becoming a great leader. I’m excited to have him inside of our building, leading the offense. And go kickoff 2024.”

The next evolution he wants to see from Tennessee’s defense this season

“Yeah, you go back to 2021, our first year here, you look at what we were dealing with, Coach (Tim) Banks, our defensive staff have done an unbelievable job from ’21 up until where we are now of continually growing. And a lot of that’s been the development of our roster. Some of the limitations that we had when we first got here, to where we are currently understanding of our scheme, the fundamentals within it. You look statistically at us, yards per play, tackles for loss, turnovers, we’re top 1, 2, 3 in the league. And there’s another step for us. This group that we have on the defensive side of the ball, length, athleticism, speed, the most athletic we’ve been on all three levels of the defense. So excited to see their growth as we get into training camp.”

The unique challenges that come with a redshirt freshman quarterback leading a veteran Tennessee team

“Yeah, our roster is unique. You look at our line of scrimmage, we have a lot of experience on both sides of the football. We have some youth. From the time that we got back in January, I’ve challenged our entire team, but our veterans in particular, as we go into this year, we don’t have time for any of our young guys to be young. And so that urgency has to come from everybody. Starts with me, but it’s also got to be inside of our locker room. And for us this year with Nico, as a young player, I’ve gotten a lot of questions like, you know him as a leader, right? Well, he does. He’s phenomenal in communication. In one-on-one situations, small groups. He’s taking more and more ownership within our entire offense and within our football team. But the first thing you got to do is master your position. And he’s continued to grow in that and his understanding of what we do, defensive structures, being able to control the game. For him, the most important thing is to be himself. Be consistent in his work habits and his preparation every day and be in the moment and not get too high, not get too low, just be present.”

How much leadership can be accelerated in an offseason

“Every young quarterback that I’ve had — and I’ve started a lot of freshman quarterbacks in my career — the mastering of the position, the ownership of it, getting the game day playing and the growth in the leadership, when those things happen, it’s all part of the evolution of it. He’s been phenomenal inside of our room, inside of our building in this habits. His growth as a player, but also his communication and leading his teammates. So I’m excited about where he is at and where we see him going.”

Bringing three Tennessee veterans to Dallas for SEC Media Days with Cooper Mays, Omari Thomas and Keenan Pili

“We do have a bunch of guys that would’ve done done a great job. We have a lot of guys that are deserving of being here. And I think that speaks to the culture that we have inside of our building. What we’ve built over the last three years, these three guys are great representatives of our football program, our athletic department and our university. They do it the right way. They’re three guys that had an opportunity to leave and go into the (NFL) Draft, elected to come back for all the right reasons. They care about the power of ’T’, they care about their teammates. They’re great leaders inside of our building. They’re part of our leadership council and that’s why these three guys are here.”

How much of a stepping stone last season can be for this Tennessee football program and what he’s trying to build

“End of the day, the standard at Tennessee is to win championships. We’re in a race to get there as fast as we can. We’ve done a lot of great things in the last three years, last season included. Proud of the steps that we’ve taken. But we got to continue to climb. And at the end of the day, you got to win every single day. And this group has been really intentional in the way that they competed. They’ve got to finish out our summer the right way. And when we get to to training camp, we got to continue to grow.”

How to balance Tennessee’s focus on daily improvement versus seeing the big picture and competing in the SEC

“Everybody inside of our building understands the expectation, standards and goals that we have. The expectations are never going to be greater outside of the building than they are inside of it. But to go accomplish those things, it’s a minute by minute, step by step process that you have to embark on. And this group has been really consistent in what they’ve done.”

The hardest part that comes with trying to get Tennessee Football to a championship level

“Sometimes feet are easier to gain than inches are. At the end of the day, we got to continue to grow individually, collectively as as a program. I’m really proud of what we’ve done. And I think we’re third in the league in wins over the last couple of seasons, but there’s more meat on the bone for us to go take. And that’s what we’ve done all offseason. We got to continue that process here as we get into training camp.”

The continuity of his Tennessee Football coaching staff since 2021, how important that is

“The culture that you build with your staff and your players. The connection that you build with your staff. And to be honest, their families, the experience that they have is really important. And keeping the right people inside of the building, we’ve been able to do that. It’s never just one guy that helps change the trajectory of program. Our staff — veteran coaches, young coaches — have done an unbelievable job. The connection, the trust that they’ve earned with our players. And when you’re able to retain your staff when you start back in January — for us it’s late January when they come back for class — instead of having to build relationships and earn trust from the jump inside of your meeting room, you’re able to embark on the areas that you need to improve upon and you’re continuing to take steps forward.”

The additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC and people referring to the league as a mini NFL

“This is the best league in college football. And what you face from coaches’ schemes to the personnel side every single week, this is as good as it gets in college football. That’s why you want coach in it. It’s why you want play.”

What he wants to see from Tennessee’s wide receivers this season, mixing returners with new talent

“Yeah, it’s the deepest that we’ve been at the wide receiver position, in all the things that we’ve had to navigate through since we got there. We’re in the best position that we’ve been able to be in at the wide receiver position, a great competition. You can see that they have great work habits, that they care about and cheer on the guys that they’re sitting in the room with while competing to get opportunities out on the field. (They have) athleticism length, ability to attack the football. Really excited about the group.”

How they’ll go about creating separation during fall camp

“You earn trust in everything that you do every single day. That’s on the field, it’s in the meeting room, it’s when you’re not in the building. But it all begins with trust. And you see guys that you know are going to be in the right spot. Your quarterback has trust in them. You can depend on them to go make plays. You are in the opportunity to go play. I take that to every position, man, trust level. I say it to our team all the time. Once you prove that you’re going to play at a championship level consistently, it’s our job as coaches to find a role and put you in a position to go be successful.”