What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Wednesday on the SEC Teleconference

Everything Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said Wednesday during his appearance on the weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference:

Opening Statement

“Obviously was pleased with the way we performed Saturday night. Good win on the road at night. Tough to do inside of this conference. And there’s certainly a good opponent and players had a couple days off here, got back in the building yesterday and we’re pushing forward. This week has really been focused on things that we need to do to improve. That can be within our scheme, it can be the fundamentals and really in all three phases of the football game. 

And, and our guys have had really good work. We’re out on practice field earlier today and it was a lot of really good intentional work. And as we continue to navigate this season, good teams continue to get better. And our players have heard that message, but they acted upon it today out on the practice field.”

What college programs can do in the NIL era to have safeguards with players during the season

“Yeah, I’m not sure there’s any real safeguards. I’m not familiar with what happened (at UNLV), the situation that you’re talking about, so it’s hard for me to comment on that piece of it.”

Keeping a team intact in the NIL era 

“Yeah, NIL certainly a component of today’s world and landscape of collegiate athletics, not just football. And at the end of the day, it’s really important that you have the right people in the building that care about their teammates, the guys around them and love competing.”

What he likes most about this Tennessee team through four games

“I think as much as anything, just the competitive makeup. How they’ve come into everything inside of this building that we do. It’s meetings, it’s practice, it’s the weight room. And certainly they have shown up on game day, no matter who the opponent is, with the same competitive spirit. Been really consistent in that. And I think that’s the first step of teams that end up being really good football teams, because they continue to grow because of that trait.” 

Oklahoma’s quarterback situation after benching Jackson Arnold and starting Michael Hawkins

“All I can really speak to is the film that I’ve seen. And both of them are really high-level football players. They both got the ability to extend and make plays outside of the pocket. They’re both part of the quarterback run game, that’s design runs, but also pulling it down and making plays. And certainly have good skill players around them, too. So they’re both really talented players.” 

If it’s becoming more clear with how Tennessee wants to rotate across the defensive line given its depth

“You wanna play a bunch of guys. Guys that have been playing are gonna continue to play. Game to game, what you’re seeing from your opponent, from scheme to their personnel may subtly change a little bit of what you’re doing in your rotation. Situational football can be a part of that, but got great trust and belief and a big part of the strength of that group is the depth of the group. They’re able to play hard because they continue to be fresh throughout the course of a football game.”

How involved Nico Iamaleava has become in terms of discussing what plays he likes

“During the course of the week, he’s able to clearly articulate what he likes, what he may have questions about, understanding the why behind plays and how you’re trying to attack specific defense, or their defense in general. He’s got great command and control of what we’re doing. That’s run game. It’s decision making in the pass game. It’s protections. You’re able to trust him to go out and play in, really any type of situation that we’re playing in. And it’s rare that you got a young quarterback that you feel has that type of command who’s maybe, I don’t know, five starts into his career, whatever it is. But, I do, I love the growth. He’s been really consistent in his preparation. Continues to take a stronger leadership role on our football team with the experience that he’s had. Look forward to seeing him continue to grow throughout the course of the season.”

How important the open week is in terms of recruiting for Tennessee’s staff

“Yeah, we’ll spend the back end of the weekend here recruiting. Our staff will be able to get out and go see a bunch of guys here at the end of the week. So a huge part of what this week is for our coaching staff at the end of the week, with the early part focusing on our team and how we got to improve.”

The feeling of coming through the tunnel at the Morgan Wallen concert compared to running through the T on Saturdays

“Well, the good thing is in both of those scenarios, I’m not the star coming through the T, or walking out with Morgan. So no pressure on me in either one of those situations. It was a home game of a different kind. It was awesome walking into that stadium and seeing 80 plus thousand in there. It was a really unique, but cool experience and having an opportunity to be there with Morgan, obviously. He couldn’t have been more hospitable and friendly when we got into the into the locker room with him before the concert, even his family and then obviously having Peyton and a couple of our players there. It was a fun night.”