Tennessee Football: What Josh Heupel said at Wednesday's Orange Bowl press conference

Everything Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said during Wednesday at the Orange Bowl opening press conference in Miami:

Opening Statement

“Thank you to everyone here and the Orange Bowl committee, to everybody in this community that puts this game on. As a representative of the University of Tennessee, couldn’t be more excited about being here in South Florida and the opportunity to represent our program and our university. Our staff, our players, have had a tremendous year, put in a ton of work to have an opportunity to play in this football game. I know everyone is extremely excited. Vol Nation will show up in droves. It will be an exciting opportunity. It will be a great football team. Coach (Dabo) Swinney and his program have done a great job for a long time. Certainly looking forward to that contest. Have a great appreciation for everything they’ve done. It’s been 25 years since Tennessee has been here. It’s a unique opportunity, it’s a unique group of young men that have changed the trajectory of Tennessee football here. Really proud of what they’ve accomplished this season. Having been in this state, lived in this state, having been down here in South Florida before, to the committee and the Orange Bowl, it’s mission, you can see it and you can feel it. And the impact that it makes throughout the community down here. Have a great appreciation for what you guys do on a consistent basis. This will be my fourth game having been here once as a player (in 2000) that you talked about. That’s my favorite Orange Bowl moment, in case you were wondering. Been here twice as a coach as well. This game is as big as it gets and as good as it gets. Community does such a fantastic job of being involved. It’s a great experience for our student-athletes. We are so happy to be here.”

Why this kind of game is important to the Tennessee program

“Just simply put, having played and coached in this game, this is a memory. The game itself and the entire week, the experience. It’s something that you’re going to remember the rest of your life. I had the opportunity to just run into a bunch of my teammates as one was getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. You remember these moments. And these experiences create bonds that last forever. For us, what this program has done, the steps that it has taken in less than 24 months since I took the job, what these kids are made of, they get one more opportunity to go do it together, against a great opponent. It’s a culmination of all the work that is put in. It’s a culmination of this season. And it is a great opportunity for your young kids to be exposed to one of the biggest and best games in all of college football.”

Orange Bowl could have ‘a huge impact in recruiting’ for Vols

The building block that a New Years Six Bow Game can be for Tennessee

“(I) believe and know that we will be in a bunch of these big games as our program continues to only grow, the steps that we’ve taken in essentially about 22 months. For us, this is an opportunity to, again, be on a national stage as we are all year long in the conference that we play in. We’ve played a lot of really great opponents and we get a chance to play another one. For us, it’s an opportunity to take another step as a program. The practices that you get are important in the development of your roster. We get an opportunity to finish this season the right way. And in some ways, you’re kicking off the following season, too. For us, it’s a national stage, it has an opportunity to have a huge impact in recruiting. And we get a chance to take another step as a program.”

The value in playing a bowl game in an area and state where Tennessee recruits heavily

“Obviously we have a brand that has an opportunity to attract kids from all over the country. Having an opportunity to be in this footprint, the players on our roster that are from here, the exposure that we’re going to get all week long, then culminate with the game, it absolutely is something that can help you in future years in your recruiting endeavors.”

If a shootout should be expected in this game

“Every game takes on its own identity. Clemson is one of the top defenses in the country. You get to bowl season, the amount of preparation you have, every game unfolds a little bit differently. This game will take on an identity during the course of play. You better play smart, you better play physical to win these types of big football games.”

The possible uniform matchup in this game

“You want to get together and see how much orange we can get on the field at one time? … I don’t know what (the players) have picked. Our guys pick the uniforms every week. I’m sure there will be a ton of orange in it.”

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

If he’s reached out to other coaches trying to find out how they’ve handled the five weeks leading up to a bowl game

“The preparation and getting guys ready to play their best by the time you get to kickoff is the most important thing. We were just talking about it on the way up. The calendar is unique just as far as when signing day is, how late the staffs are on the road. I think it’s really hard to balance this year. You try to put your kids in the best situation. Guys that have been playing a lot of football, that have been banged up, you want to give them a chance to get healthy. You want to get some young guys some work in, too. You’ve got to continue to develop your roster. You’re going to try to balance all those things. And recruiting is a big part of it up until we actually get to signing day. Having played and coached in a bunch of these games, you rely on all those things that you’ve learned throughout your career, to try and put your kids in the best situation.”

What Tennessee learned from its two losses in the regular season

“A couple great lessons just from the season in general for our roster, our program. If you have a group of guys that are committed and connected, and don’t care who gets the credit, and work as hard as they possibly can in a really positive way, they compete every day on and off the field, you set the barrier of what you can and can’t accomplish. I think that’s really powerful in sports, but I think it’s really powerful as you get into the real world. The second lesson for us that I think we’ve learned inside of our program and that we will carry forward is as a competitor, you’re only as good as your next performance. Everyone around you, the media, your family, your friends, they’re going to pay attention to what happened the previous Saturday. As a competitor, you’ve got to reset, refocus and be ready to go compete. Everybody is going to want to win and play well when they get to kickoff. But you’ve got to do the things that it takes during the course of the week and be able to reset really quickly.”

Tennessee adjusting to the loss of Hendon Hooker

“I think Hendon’s ability, you look at Hendon’s career, the ups and downs that he went through, it’s a great lesson for everybody in sport and in life. The ability to handle that and come out on the other side. He’s so confident and comfortable in who he is. That’s why his college football journey took the path that it did, and ultimately became one of the best players in college football and helped change a program. Because of those things, after the setback of being injured, which is devastating, all the work you put into it, the things that we had an opportunity to accomplish as a football team, it’s devastating. That next day was really hard for him. A lot of tears. I know you ask the question why when you’re in that situation. But because of his faith, he was able to come out on the other side of it. He was out on the practice field with us that week. You could still feel his energy. Just because he wasn’t playing didn’t mean he wasn’t still the same leader inside of our program. He’s got an unbelievable future ahead of him. This is a small bump in his journey. I know he’s going to be tremendously successful when he gets to the next chapter in the NFL. He has to go through a rehab process but he’s going to handle it the right way. I know that because of what he has done his entire life. His impact has been felt inside of our program while he was healthy, when he was injured. And he’ll be a part of our program forever.”