Tennessee football has now completed its first scrimmage of the spring slate on Thursday morning. After the intrasquad meeting, Vols head coach Josh Heupel met with the media.
Heupel was asked about where his defense is at, the play of his quarterbacks and more.
Here’s what he said.
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Opening statement
“Start by wishing Coach Barnes, the basketball team, good luck as they get ready for the Sweet 16 ball game tomorrow night. Looking forward to watching them.
“Today, scrimmaged today, seven days in, a lot of it was good work. I thought defensively, played extremely well. Created a couple of turnovers, but played assignment sound, fit the run game pretty well and didn’t give up a lot of big plays. So good day, I thought. Through the first seven days, those guys really continue to grow and build and master what we’re doing on that side of the football. And offensively, there’s some real positives, too. Couple penalties that we got to play smarter in as we continue to learn how to play smart football. All in all, a really good day of working. Got some special teams work in, as well.”
On teaching young quarterbacks that the battle is a marathon and not a sprint
“From play-to-play, you got to learn how to play the next run from a half of football to the next half and from day-to-day, right? You got to be able to reset and go play the next play or the next day. It is a marathon. You also got to sprint that marathon to become as good as you can, as fast as you can. I think being able to reset and recharge and go play the next play or the next day is really important. With all of the learning that’s taking place around you, from offensive line, running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, all of that, it applies a different pressure at the quarterback’s position as guys are learning to target the right guys in pass protection, whatever that might be.
“But all of those adverse situations are also helping to prepare you for what it can be in the fall and how to play smart football. Both of those guys and Ryan (Staub), they’ve done a really good job growing through seven days. There will be a couple things to learn from today, but there were a lot of real positives too.”
On if George MacIntyre is processing things faster like he’s been a guy in the system for a year now
“I think, even day one (or) day two of spring ball, from where he was at the end of the season, you can see the steps that he’s taken. So, really pleased with that. Faizon (Brandon) has done the same thing in learning the offense. Ryan (Staub) – those guys continue to progress. There’s some fundamental things that they got to continue to grow in, but pleased with that entire group and how they functioned and operated, the first seven days.”
On if Faizon Brandon operated the offense fast and free like he wanted him to
“Yeah, there were a couple (of) mechanical things – just how you’re calling it in the huddle or operation-wise coming off of a penalty or some of those things – that as you get more experience, become ingrained in you. But all in all, I thought all three of the quarterbacks, including Faizon, did a really good job on that side of it.”
On the evaluation of the first scrimmage with 46 new players
“This time of year, man, there’s so much growth that has to happen. Coaches got to apply pressure to the players and players got to apply pressure to each other to become as good as you can, as fast as you can to build and master ownership of fundamentals, technique, and the scheme. Through the winter and what we’ve done the first seven days, I like where we’re trending and where we’re going. Defensively, new system. Thought they’ve operated extremely well within the scope of that. At this point there’s– you got so far to go, and that’s true every year. Continue to apply pressure and take advantage of every moment, every day.”
On if he likes where the defense is and if it is farther along than he thought seven days into camp
“I do like where we’re at for seven practices in. It’s our entire defense. It’s young guys where they’re continuing to trend. I think our staff has done a really good job in the install process of giving them an opportunity to truly grab on and grasp what they’re doing. That was true late in the winter to what we’ve done in the early part of spring ball. So, players and staff have worked hard and I like where we’re at and our understanding. There’s still a lot of growth within it.”
On if fans will notice any differences stylistically with the defense
“At the end of the day, we’re going to play aggressive. We want to control and own the line of scrimmage. That’s your front four and your second level for sure. Multiple in pressures and multiple on our fronts. Now we got to continue to grow in the scheme to play assignments sound and then fundamentals and technique got to continue to grow. That’s taking on blocks. It’s shedding blocks. It’s tackling in space. All of those things.”
On the running back room, particularly behind DeSean Bishop
“Yeah, really good competition inside of that room. A lot of guys that have the ability to go out and play at a really high level. The new guys have grasped what we’re doing offensively real quickly. Some of the young guys from a year ago had great winters. Their size, their movement, all that has continued to grow. So really good competition. Desean had a great start to it. We limited him in today’s scrimmage a little bit, just not as much live-type of work for him, but he’s had a great start.”
On the defensive Penn State transfers helping with the transition to Jim Knowles
“Well, I think having coaches that are familiar with it and getting that in a clear, concise way to our defensive players holistically as a unit and as a position group has helped with that process. And then some of those guys that have familiarity with it, absolutely. That’s on the field, but it’s also just clearly defining some things as they spend extra time trying to learn what we’re doing.”
On spring practice without DL coach Rodney Garner
“Yeah, I think they’ve handled it well. They still got Rodney’s voice loud and clear in the meeting room for sure. Excited to get Rodney back here, hopefully pretty quickly here as he comes off the backside of this.”
On any position groups being ahead of schedule
“I don’t know that I’d say ahead of schedule. Holistically, I like where the offensive line is trending. I like a lot of what I see from the defensive line. Our secondary, it’s transfers, it’s the new guys, like the length, athleticism and the understanding of what we’re doing defensively. So, it’s a lot of positives and just gotta continue to grow. We’re the youngest team in the league. You just look at freshman snaps a year ago offense, defensively, and special teams. A lot of young guys that have opportunity to continue to grow and take jobs and get ready to compete in the fall.”
On tight end Dasaahn Brame and new tight ends Luca Wolf and Trent Thomas
“The two guys you mentioned at the end have done a really good job. They’ve played physical in the scope of what we’re doing offensively from tempo to shift, trade and motion to run game, pass game, protection piece. They’ve handled that install in a really good way for new tight ends looking at them through seven days.
“Dasaahn, a young guy, extremely talented. Missed really all of spring ball and a portion of summer last year coming in with an injury from high school. His growth during the year, he’s had a great off-season. But I just think his complete understanding of what we’re doing is allowing him and his traits to show up in a way that you would hope and expect in year two and expecting to play a lot of really good football.”
On one word to describe the scrimmage
“I’ll say competitive. These guys have attacked every day, every rep and competed extremely hard.”
On what it is that he likes about this team so much
“I like the physical traits, but I like the competitive makeup of this group. They’ve competed and practiced extremely hard. We don’t have to push them to get going. They embrace and take advantage of every opportunity that we’ve had out on the field. Derek (Owings) has done the same thing in the weight room, growing that mindset. And so holistically in every area of our program, I like the way that they’ve attacked everything that we’re doing.”
