What Josh Heupel said Wednesday on the SEC Coaches Teleconference

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel made his weekly appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday, previewing Saturday’s Homecoming game against UConn at Neyland Stadium. Here’s everything Heupel said on the call:

Opening Statement, looking ahead to Tennessee vs. UConn on Saturday

“As a football team, excited to have an opportunity to get back home and play in front of our crowd. It’s been a while since we’ve been inside Neyland Stadium. It’s also a unique week where it’s Homecoming for us. So we’ve got a lot of alumni obviously, that are coming back.

But (also) a lot of VFLs, former players that will be back in town for this one. It’s always great having them around our program. A lot of guys will be coming to practice on Friday for us. So really excited about the opportunity that we have to go play in front of a home crowd and get that going.”

Charles Campbell growing up a fan of Tennessee football, transferring from Indiana during the offseason and having a big impact on the Vols this season

“For Charles, the opportunity to come back to his home state and really play for a program that he followed and loved as a young guy has meant a lot to him and to his family. And a lot of people that have helped him in the beginning stages of his career. From the moment he got here he integrated himself into the team in a really positive way.

“He’s extremely focused. He works extremely hard on the field, just his consistency all spring long, all training camp. He just hits the ball extremely consistent. He’s been very accurate from the beginning and at the end of the day, you never know until game day. Obviously he had a history that was really positive at his former stop. But he’s been everything that we hoped for and what we thought we were getting in him.

“He’s a great ball striker. He’s a true competitor too. He’s got a great mental makeup for a kicker. Competes hard and cares about the people around him. But he’s been really good on the field.

“So we’re gonna need him as we continue down this home stretch here this season. Obviously red zone we gotta continue to get better at. And we get seven, not threes all the time, but he’s been a huge part of our season. He was a difference in the football game last week.”

His relationship with Campbell on an off the field and if he has much interaction with him during Tennessee practices

“Yeah, absolutely, at the very beginning for sure  I do that with really our entire football team.

Meet those guys as they’re coming up the stairs to meetings. He is always wired and ready to go every single day. On game day we have a great relationship. I think involving them in communication is extremely important. We do a lot of situational kicks during our practices, during training camp, during spring ball, and we try to put them in different types of situations to expose them to what’s gonna be real life when you get to the season. And I try to be extremely positive with him. Joke around with him and try to knock them off their game a little bit occasionally before one of the pressure kicks too. So, we got a great relationship on and off the field. He represents everything that’s good about Tennessee football.”

Tennessee bouncing back from the loss at Alabama with a road win at Kentucky and how he adapts as a coach each season to fit that team’s personnel 

“I think first of all, every season is different. Your personnel is never the exact same. If you play one game on a given day and you play it 10 times, it’s gonna unfold differently every single time because there’s so many variables in this football game. And as we’ve gone through the season, good teams continue to get better throughout the course of it. I’ve talked about in the media that I really do like this team and that’s because they prepare really hard to practice hard. And they play extremely hard. And we haven’t always played our best football on a given Saturday, but they do compete extremely hard and they care about each other. And as far as being able to bounce back, I think the consistency that you have, not necessarily just the words that you say, they see you and they feel you more than they listen to you.

“So I think as a coach, our assistant coaches, everybody in the program how we push forward after a win or after a loss, it’s fairly similar in sports. You’re only as good as your next one. And fans, media, your family, everybody around you wants to talk about the last one. As a competitor, when our players come back in on Monday, man, you reset you gotta refocus and you gotta compete and prepare to go play your best football the following Saturday. And so there’s a lot of consistency in our message when we lose. There’s a lot of consistency and the energy that they feel from our staff and from me hopefully too. And I think that allows our players to continue to reset and refocus, no matter what the result. You gotta be process-driven during the course of a season, but really just in life too. And I think that’s important and this group’s been able to do that so far.”

The impact left tackle John Campbell has made for Tennessee out of the NCAA Transfer Portal

“Yeah, I haven’t made the late-night trip to Waffle House with him yet, but during the recruiting process, that was something that he definitely cared about. But Big John is a great teammate. As a transfer, the recruiting process happens pretty quickly. Sometimes you have a history with them, sometimes you don’t. John is a great teammate inside of this building from the moment he stepped foot in this building. He competes extremely hard.

“He brings energy to whatever room he’s in and he’s grown into a guy that really pushes the people around him in a positive way. And there’s multiple instances of him gathering a teammate and having a talk with him. And he is a dynamic player. Obviously athletic and pass pro with the best of them. But he’s physical in the run game. He’s extremely bright. He’s a huge part of what we’ve been able to do up until this point up front and the success of this football team.”

What Tennessee has seen from UConn on tape and his relationship with UConn coach Jim Mora

“They’ve played a lot of close football games. This is a football team that you watch the tape, they play and compete extremely hard. And for us, having the ability to go out and play smart football, be extremely physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage, special teams. Important that we win that phase of the game. Those are the keys this week in my opinion.

“Jim, I’ve gotten to know a little bit while he was doing TV, covered some of our football games and he’s a guy that’s won a lot of football games at a lot of different levels. He’s a really good football coach and you can just see that in the growth of the program. I don’t think their record indicates how good of a football team they are. They just came up short on some of those football games.”