What Josh Heupel said after Tennessee's second scrimmage of fall camp

What head coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference after Tennessee Football held its second scrimmage of fall camp Friday morning at Neyland Stadium, just over two weeks out from the season opener against Syracuse in Atlanta:

Opening Statement

“Start by saying Coach (Joe) Kirt and our Lady Vols soccer team. Great way to start off the fall. Great win last night (over North Carolina). Excited for them and this season for them, too. 

“Great day inside of Neyland (Stadium), second scrimmage. Saw us take some strides just in how we operated both sides of the football. And special teams got good work there, too. Still a couple weeks before kickoff. We got some growth that we got to go get before we go kick off, but excited about what I saw. Some back and forth during the course of it, and that’s what you want at this time of year.”

Tennessee’s quarterback play in the scrimmage and the QB competition over the last week, if there’s any separation

“Yeah, I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well. George (MacIntyre) did as well. I thought they’d taken strides during the last three practices, before we got inside of the stadium for today’s scrimmage. Operated with crowd noise and some of those mechanics as well. So there was more on the plate. They’ve handled it well. Been good decision-makers and continue to grow, both in understanding what we’re doing, defensive structure and fundamentally. Consistently being accurate with the football. Today they handled that pretty well throughout the course of it.”

How Tennessee freshman tight end Dasaahn Brame has performed after missing spring practice 

“You know, it’s tough for every player when you’re out, challenging yourself and mentally being engaged. Just like you’re taking every live rep. He got better throughout the course of the spring in that — not getting work, but handling yourself like a pro. His growth during the summer, the game has slowed down for him just in the course of training camp. How we’ve operated, his ability to see signals, get lined up, handle tempo, handle everything that we’re doing. And he’s made some plays. Been really good out in space and should be a big part of what we do this fall.”

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar’s command of the offense at this point

“I thought he handled himself extremely well. That’s today, but I think he’s got better, from day one up until today’s scrimmage. Really every single day. Comfort and control. He’s handled himself extremely well during our night walkthroughs, which is mental focus, mental sweat. And because of that, he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now.” 

The importance of Tennessee quarterbacks playing clean football, taking care of the ball

“You’re going to have to make tight throws. To me, interceptions happen when you don’t understand defensive structure. Your eyes aren’t in the right spot. Fundamentally, your body is not in the right position, you’re not accurate with football. So it’s all of those pieces of the puzzle that come together for a quarterback to operate efficiently, take care of the football, while still playing on the right side of the fence of being aggressive and allowing yourself to make plays down the football field.”

What he wants to see from Tennessee’s quarterback over the next week, going into the first game in two weeks

“Again, at the end of the day, that guy’s got to be able to manage the football. That’s your sideline communication, play clock situations, game clock situations. We do a lot of work on that. Controlling your offense, it’s the run game, it’s passing, it’s RPO, it’s protection. So most of those guys master it, take you out of negative place and also put yourself in a position to create big place.”

What has changed the most for this Tennessee team since the start of camp

“Probably just growth and understanding of scheme. There’s been growth in the fundamentals as well, with understanding the scheme.”

How Tennessee has tackled during the first two scrimmages and if he thinks they’ve been clean with penalties

“Yeah, I think we’ve gotten better throughout the course of training camp as far as penalties in all three phases. End of the day, I think playing smart football is really important, not having self-inflicted wounds. Tackling, I think your guys have done a good job. Today’s scrimmage was thud for the first defense. We’ve had live periods, live scrimmage. We’ve done a lot of one-on-one tackling where you look to expose some of what’s going on as well. So fundamentally they’ve gotten themselves in really good positions, as putting the point of emphasis, even when you’re not doing a lot of tackling, body positions, key to going and finishing the play the way you need to.”

The status of Boo Carter 

“Boo was out there with us today and got work. End of the day, it’s day to day. He’s done some things in a good way here.”

How much the second scrimmage decides who will play to begin the season

“Well, this scrimmage gives you an indicator of where they’re at today. We’re still two weeks away from kickoff. There can and needs to be a lot of growth for our entire team, not just young guys here over the next few weeks. At the end of the day, players gotta earn it. And you do that how you operate in everything that we’re doing. Walkthroughs, communication, all of it. And today’s a great barometer of where we’re at. It also showcases where we got to get to and got to allow young guys to continue to grow. That’s really your entire football team too.”

What he saw from the passing game, which receivers had good days

“Yeah, thought we had a good day today. Held Chris (Brazzell out). He’s been practicing here the last couple of days, but he’s done a good job in coming back. Mike made some big plays down the football field. Tight ends were a part of it as well. I thought early in the scrimmage in particular operated well offensively and moved the football.”

His reaction to Tennessee’s new apparel deal with Adidas

“We’re fortunate, had a partner that wanted to make us their flagship school. That’s going to happen in a lot of different ways and going to be a benefit to our football program. But this athletic department as a whole too. Had an opportunity to come talk to some other guys and I think everybody’s really excited that, again, we’re going to be the flagship school for them and it’s going to provide a lot of unique opportunities for our players both on and off the field.”

Where the offensive line is at compared to where they were at this time a year ago

“Lance, I said earlier training camp (is in) a much better spot. What he’s done with his body during the off season. But then the opportunity to practice and prepare and get better every single day, too. I think that’s going to afford him the opportunity to play his best football. Collectively as a group, I like the way that they competed throughout the course of training camp. Think they’ve done a really nice job with communication, fundamentals. On the pass pro side of it, but been really good in the run game too. But it’s a young group. Ultimately, two weeks from now we got kick-off and she’s for real. But believe in these guys, that it’s grouped collectively, that they will go play at a really high level.

Wanting a quarterback to go grab the starting job

“I like what all those guys have done. First, they’ve competed in a positive way with each other in the meeting room. That’s certainly been the case on the practice field. I think this football team believes in that group of guys too. Who they are, how they lead and how they compete every single day.”

Jermod McCoy’s injury progress

“He was not a part of the scrimmage. No, he’s continuing his rehab and I think you guys saw him out on the practice field with us a few days ago and it’s continuing on that journey.”

If this is as deep as Tennessee has been at running back in a while

“Probably as deep as we’ve been. Guys that have been here, been a part of it and played extremely well. Star is completely different playing what’s his spring, what he’s done with his body, his movement, fundamentals as well. The two young guys continue to get better every single day. Did some really nice things in the scrimmage today. Some of our group work, working fundamentals, playing without the football. These guys have been continuing to grow too, which is a big part of playing that position.”

If he’s come across a recruit where the apparel brand was the determining factor in their recruitment

“Not in recent memory. I think as recruits look at who we have partnered with and the opportunities it’s going to provide our players on and off the field. I think It’s going to be a strong showing and something that will be really inviting to them.”