Watch: Josh Heupel talks after Monday morning's Tennessee football practice

What Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference after Monday morning’s closed practice, as the Vols continue to prepare for the September 2 season-opener against Virginia:

Opening Statement

“This is really pretty much the end of our true training camp. We’ll push forward and still get a lot of good-on-good work, but start moving slowly towards more preparation for Virginia. Love what these guys have done through the practices that we’ve had. Good teams continue to get better throughout the season. We gotta continue to push here, 12 days until we kick off. Excited about that opportunity. At the same time, we got a lot, a lot of ground still to cover before we kick off here in a couple weeks.” 

Importance of Tennessee’s final week of practice before game week

“So good teams get better throughout the course of the season. We’re still in the very beginning stages of the season. Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of things that we gotta continue to clean up. A lot of situational work so that we’re gonna implement and get into. Our guys gotta be ready for those moments throughout the course of the season. And there’s still a lot of sharpening before we get to kickoff. So it’s critical that we handle it the right way and continue to grow.” 

If there is an established pecking order at for Tennessee’s right tackles

“That that will continue to unfold here until we get up until kickoff. And I anticipate still seeing multiple guys play. That’s true at the right tackle position, but the other four too.”

If it starts to feel like game week right now for Tennessee

“Yeah, we finish up tonight with some things that we’re intentional about getting some situational work tonight in our walkthrough. But after that we’ll start feeling a lot more like game week. Like I said, there’s still a lot of good-on-good that we’re gonna do, continue to sharpen and grow before we get to kickoff, but absolutely our players can sense that you’re on the end of training camp and kickoff is right around the corner.”

What has encouraged him the most about this Tennessee team during camp

“I think their energy, their consistency of their work habits and competitive nature out on the practice field. I think the camaraderie and connection that they have too. And the leadership has been really good, really strong throughout the course of training camp. I’ve said it before, but getting into the season, it’s not gonna be perfect for everybody, right? All the goals individually that you set, at the end of the day, everybody’s gotta sacrifice a little bit for the success of the team. We continue to have that inside of our locker room and inside our program.”

Having to sell the culture to players during his first season at Tennessee and how success in the first two years changed that

“I think every situation, everything that you encounter continues to help build trust and understanding of who you are, what you’re about, and what you wanna be. There’s always moments of growth in everything that you do, a the same. The players have great trust in culture that we want to have and what we’ve built. They understand the expectations on and off the field, develop stronger leadership. So I think all of those things playing into being where you are in Year 3, especially where you were in Year 1 and Year 2 in a lot of ways, too.”

The health of this Tennessee team as camp comes to a close

“Yeah, the guys that were nicked up early in camp, we’ve gotten most of those guys back. So a couple of guys that, I think we finish up today and tomorrow, we’re back in practice mode the following day, we’ll have back on the grass. We should be pretty close to being healthy by the time we get to kickoff.”

How he feels about Tennessee’s options at defensive back at this point

“Guys that we’ve gotten back that were out early in training camp, the last three, four days, those guys have continued to increase their load. We’ve gotten a lot of work with those guys, feel like we have a pretty clear understanding of who those guys are and how they play and compete. We will play a lot of guys on the back end, so I feel like we’re in a good spot. The next 12 days will be critical.”

What he’s seen from Tennessee QB Joe Milton when it comes to mechanics and footwork

“Yeah, you put quarterbacks in tough situations and some situations during practice. You put them in the hardest spots that they can be in. He’s continued to grow his understanding of football 101, understanding when can I hang in the pocket, when’s it time to get rid of football and make sure that in a certain situation, whether we’re backed up or in field goal (range), where you’ve got three (points), trying to get seven, understanding the timing and how to play smart football in those situations. He’s continued to grow and love what he’s done. The other quarterbacks in the room have continued to grow. We put them into a lot of situations. I think that’s one of the things that I’ve done as a head coach is try to create more situational awareness and actually getting more reps in those situations. That’s been a part of helping those guys, but all 125 (players) in the locker room.”

How Bru McCoy has been a leader and a player that other Tennessee players look up to

“He’s somebody that this off season, a year ago when he got here, coming off of the injury that he had come off of, he was just trying to figure out how to play and operate and practice inside of what we do offensively. Since January he’s been on our leadership council. He’s been very intentional in how he’s grown. It’s been fun to see him take those steps. He owns it. He likes being in that role. He’s got a really positive effect on everybody around him.”

How close the competition between Tennessee players have to be for those players to be in the rotation

“If we don’t feel like you’re gonna play at a championship level, you’re not gonna be on the field really. Coaches got to  be able to trust you.”

How he feels about Tennessee receivers, with the mix of veterans and younger guys at the position

“The three guys that have a bunch of time in our offense played really well, done a great job being in sync with the quarterback. Dont’e Thornton has continued to really grow, love what he’s done. The two younger guys inside of our building, Chas (Nimrod) and Kaleb (Wilson), man taking great strides all offseason. But this training camp, they were a different player than they were in spring ball too, in a positive way. So, love what those guys are doing. That’s on the offensive side of the ball, that’s also on special teams.”

How ready they feel Tennessee freshman QB Nico Iamaleava is, should he be forced into early playing time

“I think he’s ready to play at a really high level. All young quarterbacks, it’s different when you get out there and it’s lot of bullets and you don’t have a right jersey on. But (I) feel really good about where he’s at (with) command of our offense, being a really sound decision-maker, fundamentally being able to get himself in a good position to be consistently accurate with the ball. I like what he’s done.”

Nico Iamaleava’s preparation behind Joe Milton III since he got here

“As a young man coming into a program, understanding the standards that we have here, but the demands of playing quarterback at this level, Being able to start to grasp and understand, what’s going on from up front, protections, defensive structure, being able to see and recognize, anticipate and see both. Snap, rotations from the back end. At the end of the day, controlling his job and having his eyes in the right spot. He’s a dramatically different player than he was during spring ball. Love the steps that he took in the spring, too. His football team’s got a lot of trust in him.”

What do you like about the dynamic between Nico and Joe, as the former tries to be everything the latter was to Hendon Hooker a season ago?

“I think it’s a little bit different in the amount of time that needed was spent here. At the end of the day for him, being very supportive, helping him on the sidelines and being able to talk about what happened on the previous play or previous series. I think that’s important. Joe was such a great leader for us a year ago, long before anybody saw him step on the field. His growth – intentionally what’s in his work – was a big part of why everybody believed he played at a really high level.

“He got his next chance. For Nico this year, back in training camp getting prepared for week one and throughout the course of the season – it’s true for every guy that’s not the first guy out there,  offense, defensive, special teams. Continued growth and put yourself in a position to play at your highest level when you get your opportunities. So, Nico’s operated that way. He’s been intentional in the way that he’s worked. Joe being able to see things and communicate to Nico. Never it being personal, you know what I mean? It’s a really positive relationship. They exist between those two, but all the guys inside that quarterback room, it’s a really unique dynamic”

Do coaches enjoy the week before game week or is it more anxious?

“I think coaches have great urgency in correcting the things that aren’t where they need to be yet. And there’s a lot of those things that’s just the nature of this game and trying to be perfect in what you’re doing. Understanding that perfection in this game is not either. So constant growth. There’s great urgency. We’ve got 12 days to get ready to go play our best football.”

How is Jacob Warren taking that next step?

“I just think fundamentally, he’s continued to grow. That that room has continued to grow. Coach Abe (Alec Abeln) has done a phenomenal job in the core pass protection, run game and out on the perimeter of being involved in the pass game. Understanding leverage and being more disciplined in playing with player technique and some of their route running. Those guys have all functioned and Jacob has functioned at a really high level in the pass game.”