Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the media at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on Friday afternoon as the Vols continue their prep for the Music City Bowl matchup against Illinois. Kickoff is four days away as the Vols put a bow on their 2025 season.
Heupel discussed Tennessee’s opt outs, freshmen getting opportunities and much more Friday. Here’s everything Heupel said.
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Opening statement
“Great to be here in Nashville. I want to thank Montgomery Bell for hosting us here. Great practice facility for us during the course of the week. Guys had a great couple days off for Christmas. That’s staff too. Get a chance to be a dad and be with their families and excited to get back here and start competing and get ready for kickoff against a really good Illinois team.”
On what the bowl game opportunity means for the team
“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow, get better. Fundamentals, technique inside of a scheme. Bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation, but also on game day too. And obviously it’s the last chance for us to compete, this team together, in this ‘25 season. In some ways it’s the build up to the following year.”
On Colton Hood opting out, what the secondary looks like without him
“We’ve been practicing that way through December with Colton leaning towards making that decision. Excited for him and his journey and what comes next. Some of our young guys are gonna get an opportunity to go play on game day and young guys have had good preparation and expect them to go play in a really, really good way.”
On where freshman corner Tre Poteat is compared to the middle of October
“Tre’s done a phenomenal job during the course of the season of continuing to grow. Made plays on special teams, got some action on the defensive side of the ball early in the year, but his preparation here in December has been really good. Expect him to be ready to go play at a really high level.”
On if bowl game performance from young players affects how they view them entering the offseason
“I think a lot of times in December you get a glimpse of where they’re continuing to grow. Last time we were here, Jalin Hyatt was a great example and that’s a story we actually talked to our team about pretty much every single year. One that I share with our young guys, the guy that had a little bit of up-and-down during the course of the season and his focus, his preparation, his work habits during the month of December, were dramatically different. Expected him to play really well when we got here. He obviously did and that was the springboard to his following season.”
On his expectation for freshman receiver Radarious Jackson against Illinois
“Yeah, Radarious, Travis, both of those guys get in action, expect both of them to play at a really high level. Those were guys that we had a lot of trust heading into the season based on what they had done during spring ball. Their maturity, their summer prep. Both of them got nicked up at different points during the season but have finished in a great way and expect them to play really well.”
On if the opt outs affect the importance of these bowl games
“Well, I think December feels dramatically different than it used to and it’s inside the landscape of college football, but it’s trended and kind of been that way for a handful of years now and it feels different, I said that, but when you get out on the grass and you get closer to kickoff, you get the urgency and the focus from the guys and their excitement to go play.”
On if the season can be a building block to a title or if NIL makes every year a reset
“Well each year your roster changes and in that you gotta kind of start as a team. The foundational growth that you have to go through as a program, you got to restart that every January when you get everybody together. This season, there’s been some disappointment obviously, but it’s a group that continues to compete and get better and we’re not where we want to be. That’s not the standard at Tennessee. It is about going to chasing and winning championships. But I’m excited about the guys that we have inside of our program and as we head into the portal, you’ll add some pieces. You got a great signing class and we’ll be ready to roll in ‘26.”
On if he expects other seniors with NFL futures to opt out like Lance Heard, Miles Kitselman, Jalen McMurray
“Some of the guys waited to announce their intentions. We’ve been practicing with the same group of guys for a while now. Planned on those guys making that announcement. We feel good about where we’re at and guys that are here ready to go play.”
On how the defense has handled the last few weeks with interim DC William Inge and opt outs
“Well initially I think everybody hurts because you know there’s change. But as we started our preparation getting back on the grass, guys have had excitement. Coach Inge has subtly tweaked some things from his past and we’ve had really good work and guys are ready to go play and compete and excited for the opportunity.”
