What Josh Heupel said about Kentucky on the SEC Coaches Teleconference

Everything head coach Josh Heupel said during his appearance Wednesday on the SEC Coaches Teleconference, previewing No. 7 Tennessee’s game against Kentucky Saturday night (7:45 Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement

“Excited to get back into Neyland Stadium here with our football team on a Saturday night. Going against a good Kentucky team, an opponent that we’ve played for a long time here, historically. Dark Mode for us. Need a great effort by our fans. They got to be a part of the football game. 

“You look at Kentucky, a team that does play all three phases of the football game together. Defensively, statistically, one of the best in the league and in the country. That’s their run defense and their pass defense as well; some guys over there that we’ve played for a long time. Offensively, got to do a great job against the run. They’re big and physical up front. Quarterback can be a part of their run game, and they got dynamic playmakers out on the perimeter and in the backfield. Same thing on special teams. So big test for us. Looking forward to it and should be a great environment.”

Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner’s ability to get several players to sacrifice playing time for the good of the unit

“It’s not easy. From when we got here to now, what our staff has done, but Coach Garner with the defensive line group, just building accountability and connection inside of that room. As guys prove that they’re going to play at a high level, it’s our job to put them in a position to go play. That group is extremely tight. They work extremely hard. They compete hard every day in practice. Because of the growth of some of the young guys, some of our vets see the value in those guys playing a lot of football for us. And you know, as a group, I think they can see the difference of what it does week to week. How they’re feeling, their ability to fight and strain, and in particular, how we’re able to play late in football games with guys still being fresh, in particular on our front four.”

If there has been a more concerted effort to develop Tennessee’s depth given the goal to make the College Football Playoff and play more game

“Absolutely. As we’ve grown inside of our program, it’s been important that we develop more depth. It’s one of the things that we struggled with early in my tenure here, and a lot of reasons for that. But it’s not just postseason. We’re a long ways away from figuring out whether we play ourselves into anything like that. The conference schedule inside of this league, what you go up against every single week, what the collisions look like on the field; you have to (have depth) within this conference schedule. That’s something that we talked about as a staff heading into our offseason all the way back in January, to what we do all times of the year trying to develop those guys. Your young guys that are new to the program got to grow up extremely quickly and be ready to learn it, earn it, and take a role within every unit that you have.

If there is a Tennessee player or two this year that’s been a success story when it comes to a young player developing quickly

“I don’t think there’s just one, but a young player like Boo Carter, his transition into college football, I think is a great example of it. We challenge our young guys as I meet with them. That’s when they first get here, preseason, even (during) our bye weeks; understanding that it’s a long journey during the course of the season, and you got to keep investing and be ready for when your time comes. It’s going to come. You just want to make sure that you’re ready for it.”

Running back Dylan Sampson’s development within Tennessee’s program

“Man, dynamic personality, smart football player, really good feel in the backfield. You could see that right away, but has continued to grow. Just his ability to play without the football, really high football IQ protections, continued growth and understanding our schemes, his ability to understand what we’re seeing up front, press double teams and hit the right holes. Obviously a dynamic playmaker.

“What he’s done with his body from when he first got here. Young guy, track kid; extremely explosive. Developing his frame to be able to handle everything that happens from week to week inside of this league. He’s just a guy that’s continued to grow every day that he’s here. His personality (was) magnetic right from the jump, but his ability to grow as a leader (has) been really important inside of our program, too.”

Playing four straight home games with an open week in the middle of it, how that helps the team improve

“Well, good teams always continue to get better, and we’ve been pressing that, and our guys have had great urgency here. Last week during the bye week, but this week as well. The schedule, when it came out a year ago, it was really unique because we were on the road early for all of our big power-four conference games, and ended up being at home for a longer stretch than is usual, too. So it’s been a unique schedule on both sides of it early and right here in the middle part of it. But for us, just taking it one day at a time, one week at a time, it’s been really important.”