Watch: Tennessee coach Josh Heupel's Monday press conference

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with reporters for his weekly press conference on Monday, looking back at the 33-27 win at Kentucky Saturday night and previewing this week’s Homecoming game against UConn on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, SEC Network):

Opening Statement 

“Players were in this morning, got an opportunity to watch the tape. A lot of good, but a lot of things that we can learn from too. And looking forward to this week, continuing to get better. Looking forward to Homecoming week here. Know it’s a noon kickoff, but expect our fans to show up and show out in a great way and create a great environment. But it’s a great opportunity to to welcome back so many of our alumni here. So looking forward to that. 

November’s also Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and we have a unique opportunity to honor the legacy of Pat Summit. We’ll be doing that at the game with our uniform, but we’ll also be doing it with a commemorative cup that everybody can purchase, a $1 purchase, all that will go to the UT Medical research on Alzheimer’s.”

What he saw from Tennessee wide receiver Dont’e Thornton on tape against Kentucky, how he played as an outside receiver 

”Dont’e had had a really nice performance. I thought he did a really good job with the ball not in his hands. And when the ball came his way he made plays. He was comfortable and performed extremely well.”

His dealings with Tennessee fans and making time for kids

“I think for me, just as a young kid that grew up around the game, I know how influential any and all those moments were for me in my life. And I grew up a fan of a lot of major colleges, NFL and professional sports, I should say. And got an opportunity to meet a lot of those people. My uncle lived in the Twin Cities and took me to a lot of those events and those moments all mattered to me. I just remembered how I was treated in those moments from those players, good and bad, so you just try to make an impact and be present in that moment when you can.”

Kamal Hadden’s season-ending shoulder surgery and how the Tennessee secondary played without him

“Extremely disappointed for him. That’s a young guy that came into our program that’s continued to grow on the field, but off the field too. He was playing his best football. You just hate seeing that. The season ends up being taken away and that’s hard for those guys emotionally. They miss the opportunity just to be in the locker room and be with the guys, so your heart goes out to them. I thought the guys that had the opportunity to play stepped in and did some really good things. We’re gonna need to continue to grow there too, to perform the way that we want to down the stretch.”

Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright’s yards per carry and running through contact

“Playing exceptional football, big, strong physical. Has the next gear to take it, the distance when he gets into the open grass. But his efficiency in what we’ve done, just understanding the schemes against the defensive looks that he’s getting, being able to press it, hit the holes at the right time. Just been, been really special player. Really proud, just how he’s grown. I think I said it earlier in the year, but as a young guy with great physical traits that wanted to just run around everybody, learning how to actually play the position, and he’s done that. With the ball in his hands, everybody sees that. But he’s become a really good football player without the ball in his hands, too. Like you look at him in past protection, he’s done a good job.”

What he saw from Tennessee QB Joe Milton in the win at Kentucky 

“Just continued growth. There’s been a lot of moving parts in front of them. There’s been a lot of moving parts out on the perimeter, just continued growth throughout the season, getting comfortable being in sync with those guys. The fine details of it, Saturday night we created explosive plays on scramble drills. We hadn’t done that in a long time. And maybe since we’ve gotten here, at that level. And wide receivers breaking off the routes, doing the right thing thing when Joe breaks contain. Joe was uber efficient, great with his eyes, good fundamentally and extremely accurate with the football. It was a really good performance by him.”

Milton throwing on the run at Kentucky 

“Well, I just think, fundamentally, he’s gotten better over his time here. And everybody being in sync and breaking off gives him the ability to make some of those plays. But being a guy that is more comfortable when he breaks contain of not just being a run-first guy, but keeping his eyes down the football field allows those things to happen too. Being able to get in a good fundamental position when you’re on the run, there’s gonna be times where you’re not, too. And so those awkward throws, he’s continued to improve upon.”

The progress of injured Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili and what’s ahead for him

“Keenan’s not ready to go in in this one, so we’ll continue to monitor his progress and his ability to get back on the field here late in the year. And Keenan’s got a lot of good football ahead of him. He’ll have to make a decision on what’s best for him and his family.”

Dont’e Thornton getting more comfortable in the offense 

“Well, I think it’s a gradual process no matter what, in becoming as efficient and effective inside of any offense. But our offense, as young players typically from Year 1 to Year 2, the jump wide receivers make is pretty dramatic in what we do. Dont’e’s growth and journey is a little bit different. And I say that because he missed a majority of spring, missed a majority of training camp, and so he’s still really early in the process of playing within what we do. Thought the other night he was comfortable, was really good at the line of scrimmage, down the football field. And we need him to continue to excel and play really good football here down the stretch.”

The importance of staying confident in Thornton and showing it

“I think that’s true for all of these guys. You gotta point out the things that they need to get better at, right? You gotta give them a plan to do that on the field, off the field. They gotta understand the journey, but you also gotta be somebody that speaks life and belief into these young players too. I think that’s really important that you balance all of those sides of it.”

Tennessee tackle John Campbell being named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week

“First of all, he’s smart. He cares. He works at it. He came in, wanted to be a great teammate. He brings energy to his teammates every single day. That’s in the locker room. It’s in the meeting room, it’s in the weight room. He’s very consistent in his work habits. He demands a lot of the guys around him. He’s not afraid to speak up. And that’s in the offensive line room, that’s in the offensive unit room that’s inside of our team setting too. And all of that I think has parlayed itself into him being really integrated into the team really quickly. And as he’s grown through the season, he’s continued to improve. Named (SEC) Offensive Lineman of the week. Great recognition for him, how he played this week. But also how he’s played throughout the course of the season. He plays extremely physical. He finishes, he looks, plays the part of a Tennessee offensive lineman.”

What he’s seen on tape from UConn

“I think again, the line of scrimmage is gonna be important. We can’t let them have balance. Offensively, we gotta destruct the line of scrimmage and then we gotta get off the field on third downs. We gotta do a great job of applying pressure to the quarterback, having haven’t gotten home here much over the last couple of weeks. So that’ll be important. Special teams are gonna need to be solid. And I think last Saturday our specialist did a really good job. You look at Charles Campbell, the performance that he had, Josh Turbyville kickoff, Jackson Ross. We’re gonna need that from those guys this weekend. And throughout the course of the season, offensively we’re gonna need to have balance in this one. You gotta be able to run the football and we gotta go win on the outside. So the story doesn’t change a whole lot from week to week, but within that, the matchups are gonna be critical.”

The blocking on the perimeter since Tennessee lost Bru McCoy to injury

“It’s been pretty good. They played with great effort, haven’t won every one of the matchups, but they’ve been physical and played hard. And we didn’t have a lot of perimeter touches last week, some of that was by design. But those guys have done what has been asked of them out on the perimeter. Bru is a special physicality out on the perimeter, too.”

How much they judge younger players based on how they play on game day

“It’s how you base moving forward. Every Sunday you look at that, your personnel, how you think you want to play. Injuries play a part in how those reps are divvied up. When you finish the season, there’s a baseline of this is who he is, this is where he is at. Man, there’s a long journey before you get back on the field for a game. And I call it a journey a lot, you guys hear me say that, but it really is. Man, like, there’s such a difference from year to year with players. You have to let them, you have a real medium. This is who you’ve been, here’s how you have to change on and off the field in the weight room to become the player that you want to and the the player that we need you to be. But you gotta let them go through that process too. And you gotta evaluate young people for who they are today, not who they were yesterday.”

Tennessee sophomore RB Dylan Sampson continuing to come up big

“Consistency in who he is, the energy, the focus, the work habits, the practice habits. It’s who he is every single day. So you know exactly what you’re gonna get on game day. That model of consistency is what you need to become the player in every moment that you want to be. He’s been that, he’s been a great leader. You guys have heard me say that. He’s continued to grow. Dynamic in his playmaking ability. That can be outta the backfield, catching the football, that can be him running the football. You saw him run through tackles the other night. You saw him bounce off people and extend and make plays. And he was really good in pass protection too. So he’s becoming a complete football player and we got great trust in him. But we got great trust in all those facts too.”