Pro Day Q&A: Josh Heupel talks Hendon Hooker, impact of Tennessee's NFL Draft class

Everything Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the Vols hosted Pro Day on Thursday, heaping praise on the performance of Hendon Hooker on and off the field, how his uptempo offense translates at the next level and the impact this NFL Draft class will have for the Tennessee football program:

Opening Statement

“First time I’ve had an opportunity to speak publicly, just recognizing what happened in Nashville. You know, from our program, myself, our prayers, thoughts are with the entire community in Nashville, certainly with the teachers, administrators, students, everybody that was there at Covenant School. Hard to put into words. As a parent, two of my own, how that happens and the tragedy, just our hearts are hurt and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire community.”

The pride he felt watching his Tennessee players go through Pro Day

“Yeah, when they finish their last game and the embark on this process, lot of nervous energy, a lot of decisions that have to be made. For them, there are so many situations that they thrust into for the first time. It can be the Combine, it can be interviews at the Combine. It can be the Pro Day here, which ends the physical part of the process for them. Really proud of this group of guys. How they’ve handled the entire process, just the feedback I’ve gotten today, the feedback I’ve gotten after the Combine and after some of the postseason bowl games. I thought physically our guys did a great job preparing themselves. Testing numbers between the Combine and today have been fantastic. I think that speaks to who these guys are, some of the development we have inside of our program, Coach (Kurt) Schmidt, our strength and conditioning leader. Proud of what they did. And then the individual drills, I thought they handled themselves in a really good way. Guys catching the football, our defensive guys and their movement patterns, breaking on the football. Offensive line guys did a great job too. Proud of what they showed today.”

How much responsibility Hendon Hooker had at the line of scrimmage for Tennessee and how quickly he could process information

“I’m not sure anybody in college football has more on their plate than Hendon does. Then you throw in the tempo that we play at. You’ve got to be a quick decision maker, you’ve got to recognize defensive structure extremely quickly. He controls some of our run game. He controls the RPO (run-pass option) game, making a decision out of that every snap. He’s got loaded-box checks, he’s got alerts, he’s got kills. He controlled the entire game on every single play. And I think that puts him in a great position to be able to transition to the next level, handle all that is coming at him and be able to handle it at a really high level.”

Hendon Hooker’s leadership, what stood out the most in that aspect

“Never been around anybody that has been a stronger or more impactful leader than Hendon Hooker is. Our program is not where it’s at today unless Hendon is a part of our locker room. He’s smart, he cares, he loves his teammates. You feel his energy every single day when he walks into the building, out on the practice field. And he’s a fierce competitor, somebody that our guys fed off of. And that’s when things were going great and maybe when things weren’t going great. Been dynamic for us. He’ll be the same guy (in the NFL). That’s true to his character, true to who he is. That’s the same guy that some NFL franchise is going to get.”

Josh Heupel: Tennessee’s uptempo spread offense will ‘transition just fine’ to the NFL

How impactful it can be for a program to have big NFL Draft classes

“We’ve got really good players that are here currently. They’re getting developed at an elite level in the offseason program. And structurally, what we do schematically — offense, defense, special teams — it’s putting those guys in a position to showcase their physical attributes. And also stretch them and grow them in their understanding of concepts. That will all transition to the next level. This group of guys, we’re going to have a lot of high draft picks that come out of it. The way that we’re recruiting, the guys that we’re brining in, the development we’re having here, we’ll continue to have that.”

Tennessee players having a football IQ and understanding of the game that matches their physical abilities

“I think it’s important. If you’re going to play at a high level, physical talent is one thing, but you’ve got to be developed fundamentally and then you’ve got to understand the game. What you’re doing, why you’re doing it, how that’s impacted by what you’re seeing on the other side of the football. Growing these guys and their football IQ is something we spend a ton of time on in our offseason and spring ball and during the course of training camp in the lead up to kickoff. The reason we’ve grown as a program, our players have great trust in who is in the building, the culture we’ve built and they understand we’re helping them grow to become their best and achieve their goals and dreams.”

His reaction to NFL Draft analysts saying Tennessee’s offense downs’t translate at the next level because of wide receivers using wide splits

“I’m getting a lot of questions about scheme and guys that want to incorporate a lot of what we’re doing (in the NFL). So I think it will transition just fine. You look at the NFL, college football, how it’s impacted the way that game is being played now, a lot of what is happening on this level is transitioning upward. Not necessarily just downward.”

Tennessee’s reaction to seeing Byron Young run a 4.43 in the 40 at the NFL Combine

“We did know he was physically gifted, we’ve seen that. Whether it was going to be 4.43 or 4.45, I wasn’t sure. But really excited. What he’s done, how he’s ran, how he’s jumped. But you look at his individual stuff today, he’s continuing to put himself where he’s maximizing his value.”