What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on The Hard Count with On3's J.D. Pickell

What Josh Heupel said Thursday during an appearance on The Hard Count with On3’s J.D. Pickell:

His demeanor on the Tennessee sideline and seeming to always stay calm

“I think having played quarterback, understanding that you’ve got to reset every play and the next play is the only one that matters. Understand that everybody around you is going to feed off of your energy, too. I think that plays a huge part in why I respond the way I do. We’re very intentional with the staff, trying to make sure our players are going to notice what we’re doing even more than what we’re saying. So making sure we’re handling the moment the right way too.”

What attributed to Tennessee’s jump from Year 1 to Year 2 under Josh Heupel

“Well, I think from the time we’ve gotten here, our staff has handled it in a great way, not flinching at anything that has come at us. That happened in Year 1 and we gained a lot of trust from our players because of it. Our work in Year 2 was different. I’m just talking about the extra effort and energy they put into every single day. How intentional in the way they worked. Growing in our understanding of our schemes in all three phases helped as well. Our connection continued to grow as well. So we became a really mature football team that handled the different situations that inevitably are going to come up in a really positive way. We were connected, we loved each other and we fought and strained for one another. It took a huge jump. For us, as a program, we talk a lot about our work habits, building an expectation that we’re going to find a way to win games as long as we prepare the right way. We’ve continued to grow this offseason too. This is becoming a really mature group. We’re essentially a third of the way into spring ball. I love how intentional we’ve been out on the practice field. Obviously there’s a lot of room for growth as we go every single day. Excited about this group.”

The areas of opportunity for this Tennessee football team during spring practice

“For us, we’ve got close to 30 new guys that are inside of our program, 18 of those guys being new enrollees. We’ve got a lot of opportunity for them to grow in fundamentals and technique, but that’s everybody inside our program. The little things add up to the big things that everybody sees. We’re certainly growing in our schemes, understanding situational football. We haven’t had our first scrimmage yet. Looking forward to that, getting out, seeing what game day looks like as our coaches get away — off on the sideline — how we handle situations out on the field. But with that, there’s great competition at every single spot as well. We are a much deeper football team. Obviously there are a lot of guys that left our program before I was hired here. We had been thin in particular on the defensive side of the football. I feel like we’re, for the first time really, at full strength as far as our roster numbers. I like that length, athleticism and toughness of the guys that we have in the program. That has all lended itself to great competition in each position room.”

How he defines the culture within the Tennessee football program

“Great accountability and love and respect for each other. We build trust every single day. It’s a group and a staff and a program that are fierce competitors that love to compete in everything they’re doing and love to have fun when we’re doing it together. I think you can do those things at a really high level. You can enjoy the competition and you can love and enjoy the people that you’re doing it with. That’s what this group has lived out every single day.”

Handling the pressure next season, after an 11-win season in 2022

“Whether they are low expectations or high expectations, our group has not paid attention to the outside noise. Not that you don’t hear it. But that’s not going to define who we are when we get to Saturdays next fall. What defines us is our work habits. How we compete at everything we’re doing, every rep, every set, every team period. Our guys have been really intentional in the way they’ve competed. So focus on the process of continuing to become what you can be individually, and thus collectively as a unit. And we’ll be ready for next fall.”

If there’s an edge to recruiting quarterbacks to Tennessee because of the uptempo, productive offense 

“I do think it’s different for us. Me having played the position at a relatively high level, having success, understanding what it looks and feels like. The process that you’ve got to go through to get that guy the tools to play at a really high level. But also what it feels like throughout the course of the game, how you handle (the quarterback) through the course of the game, give him the opportunity to be successful. Coach (Joey) Halzle (quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator) does a great job with those guys as well. What we’ve done, the success we’ve had offensively and at the quarterback position, you put all those things together, it gives us an opportunity to recruit at a really high level. I love that they’re very competitive in the meeting room, out on the practice field. They drive each other in a really positive way. They celebrate the great plays from the other guy as much as they do their own plays. You can build that inside of a quarterback room. You saw the relationship that Hendon (Hooker) and Joe Milton had the past couple years as they were entrenched in a quarterback battle at different points in that relationship. But they handled it in a really positive way. We expect to continue to behave that way.”

Josh Heupel: Nico Iamaleava is ‘as talented as anybody I’ve ever been around in my coaching career’

If there are any changes to how the Tennessee offense is called with Joe Milton at quarterback

“We’re always different with each quarterback, subtle in what we do, based on the things they’re really comfortable with, that they can operate and process at a really high level. It’s going to change a little bit because of the skill guys and who you are up front as well. Year to year, we continue to grow and evolve. Joe has the ability to spray it sideline to sideline and vertically down the football field. You saw some of that in the bowl game. He’s continued to refine his fundamentals from within the pocket. I think that has drastically changed his ability to be accurate. Really excited about what he’s doing right now.”

How good Tennessee five-star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava can be at Tennessee

“Man, extremely talented. As talented as anybody I’ve ever been around in my coaching career. I love his competitive nature. It’s extremely important to him. He’s handled himself very professionally, from the time that he’s gotten here. And I saw that meaning that he’s typically one of the first guys in the building. He’s definitely the last one to leave. He’s spending as much time as anybody in our program trying to learn and master his craft. His ability to understand his body position, coach it, teach it and be able to take those coaching points and implement it into his game from rep to rep and day to day, really, really impressed with what he’s done up until this point. Feel like he’s going to continue to grow and go help us win football games.”

Tennessee’s philosophy he has when it comes to the NCAA Transfer Portal

“For us, where we were at with our roster, there was essentially two recruiting classes that was basically gone from our roster. So for us, being able to patch our roster similarly to what junior college recruiting used to be in the past for a different program, that’s kind of where we were at. So we are able to add length, athleticism, physicality on the front lines, both offensive and defensive lines. Guys that had played some football and bring some maturity. They’ve handled the transition into our program extremely well. A lot of them were here, I think half of them were here, for our bowl preparation. The other half showed up in late January when we started this past semester. They’ve been really good. They’ve been good out on the practice field with us. They’ve came in and understood now at this point what it means to be a Volunteer, what it means every single day, what are the standards you’ve got to see to be part of our program. Really excited about who we’ve brought in.”