Heupel's approach creates euphoria, confidence
Holy hell, Tennessee won it — That was my reaction for everyone who has asked.
Tennessee BEAT Alabama. That’s the key word — BEAT.
There was no gift. It wasn’t a fluke.
The Vols were the more physical team which is a must on the Third Saturday in October.
Tennessee won the kicking game — a must. They made the fewest mistakes.
And most importantly when things didn’t go their way, they put on more steam.
That maxim is the story of Tennessee under Josh Heupel for the last 17 months.
On the Vol Network pregame show, I asked Tennessee athletics director Danny White why Josh Heupel was the right guy for the job.
In a nutshell, White said, Heupel never flinches.
Saturday, Heupel and his Vols never flinched.
The bigger the game, the happier the head coach, who’s never tight and is always letting it rip. He doesn’t flinch at the hype. Heupel and offensive coordinator Alex Golesh attacked on the first possession. They attacked on the last possession.
In between, it was far from perfect. There were moments where the fan base felt like ‘oh no here we go again’. If you say you didn’t. I’ll struggle to believe you.
Why? Because of the history. Tennessee hadn’t been in a competitive football game in Neyland Stadium against Alabama since their last win over the Tide in 2006. That’s right, competitive. The Vols’ average margin of defeat in Alabama’s last seven trips to Neyland Stadium — 29 points.
So the ‘oh no’ feeling was certainly natural.
But it’s not natural to Heupel and he’s making it not natural to his team.
“That’s something that is preached upon day in and day out. Wipe the play, move on to the next play and take it one play at a time. That’s something we hear 100 times at practice,” Hendon Hooker said.
The refusal to flinch and the aggressive mentality led to a post-game scene unlike anyone has seen in a long time. It led fans to tears. It led to waves of cigar smoke and euphoria Vol fans under the age of 30 never knew existed.
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(By the way shout out to the administration on the playing of Dixieland Delight post game and the Peyton Manning jinx talk can now stop)
It’s hard to imagine where this program was 18 months ago. Chancellor Donde Plowman noted on the Big Orange Countdown that she knew she wasn’t the most popular person when she cleaned house, especially with some former players. Eighteen months ago, she called a meeting with 25 or so letterman to clear the air.
I saw several of them in the celebration after the game, beaming with pride and making their way to the locker room to be a part of the win.
Pride with the win obviously and pride in the way this team plays.
No moment seems too big. Adversity doesn’t paralyze them.
There’s plenty ahead for this team and it won’t be easy, which is the beauty of college football.
But for Tennessee fans the last 15 years haven’t been easy. For Josh Heupel and this team the last 18 months haven’t been easy.
In the jubilation on the field, getting the goal posts down and out of the stadium wasn’t easy.
However, as the sun comes up its never been easier to be a Vol fan.
