What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said about Syracuse on SEC Coaches Teleconference

Everything Tennessee Football coach Josh Heupel said during his appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday morning, previewing the season opener against Syracuse on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ABC) in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta:

Opening Statement

“Good afternoon, everybody. Excited to get a chance to go kick off here with these guys. Our team has done a great job throughout the course of the offseason during training camp of continuing to grow — camaraderie, connection — from the way they compete. Get a chance on Saturday to go tee it up and play ball together. Really good opponent. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. We’ve got a bunch of kids, I think 20 guys, that are from the state of Georgia, 15 from the Atlanta area. Opportunity for them to go play in front of a lot of their people too. Certainly expect to see a lot of Tennessee orange inside the building. So excited for the opportunity.”

On his contract extension with Tennessee

“We have dynamic leadership from president to chancellor to athletic director. They’ve given us in this program an opportunity to grow, given us the tools and resources that we need. And we’ve built a team inside of that team room or locker room that, I love being around. And to me this is college football as good as it gets. Excited about who we have in the building as far as our staff and excited about the future here at Tennessee.”

How Tennessee’s depth on defense this season compares to last season 

“I believe we have really good depth inside of our roster. On the defensive side of the ball we lost some dynamic players, but we return a lot of guys that have played a lot of football as well with the ability. The way that we’ve been able to rotate here, in particular last year, and so a lot of experience. And our young guys have all the traits and have done a really good job growing. I think that’s one of the things that was striking, where we finished spring ball to where we opened up training camp, the growth that we saw from our young players in our entire program, but on the defensive side of the ball as well.” 

The growth of Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar as a player and a leader

“First of all, the entire (quarterback) group competed. In the meeting room, in the weight room, on the practice field. All the right ways. I think it was a great example to our team of how you handle competition. They pushed each other, challenged each other, helped each other grow. And you need that throughout the course of the season as well. Joey, from when he first arrived here, just his ability to build relationships with our guys and grow into somebody that has a voice inside of this team. And anytime you’re learning a new offense, there’s a lot of time on task with that. And as he’s continued to grow inside of it, I’ve been able to see and feel him  on the practice field and in the building more and more. He’s got an extremely calm demeanor about him. Very confident in who he is as a person and as a player. And he’s done a great job just being super consistent here throughout the course of the build up to kickoff.”

What impresses him about Fran Brown and Syracuse

“All three phases, they play smart, they play all of them together. There’s a lot of new personnel for them like there is for us. But certainly, you look at offensively— the success that they had a year ago. Playing in space and forcing your defense to make plays in space. And for us, we got to do a great job controlling a lot of scrimmage and winning one-on-ones out on the outside. And I say that both offensively and defensively.”

On the leadership of his team this fall

“Yeah, not just this fall. When you come back in January, that’s one of the things that we’re intentional in developing. And it’s not just one individual. It’s a really strong, deep core of leaders that we have in all three phases of the game. And those guys have had extreme ownership of what we’re doing. You just look at how they coach their teammates, the extra work that those guys put in collectively by position group, that only happens when you got really strong leadership and really proud of those guys. But that’s an ongoing growth from those guys here, and you’re going to need that on Saturday, but you’re going to need it throughout the course of the season as well.”

If Tennessee tight end Miles Kitselman is 100% healthy

“Yeah, he is.”

Preparing for Syracuse with all the personnel change over the offseason

“Well, game one, everybody’s had a chance to change too. So there’s going to be new wrinkles in all phases of the game. And it’s where your staff and players got to do a great job of adjusting early during the course of the football game and ultimately you don’t know where the personnel is going to be placed. You have an idea of the personnel that’s there and anytime it’s early in the year, for guys that are in one-on-one situations, you try to study a little bit of where those guys have been before and kind of their traits and who they are.”