It’s a busy time for Tennessee football as the Vols prepare for the Music City Bowl and the ensuing transfer portal that will open on Jan. 2. As Josh Heupel juggles these responsibilities, he joined Voice of the Vols Mike Keith on ‘The Mike Keith Show‘ to give his thoughts.
He was asked about the hiring of new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, young talent, Illinois and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On feeling good to get back on the football field with his Tennessee players
“It is. It’s good getting out on the grass with our guys and continuing to grow and have fun doing what we love to do. And a lot of young guys are getting a ton of work. And it’s a culmination, it’s a finishing of the current season that we’re in and in a lot of ways it’s kickoff to to the following year, too.”
On how Tennessee divides up bowl practice, if it all falls together or there are portions dedicated to developing young players
“Yeah, a little bit different. You don’t have your signing class that’s here on campus with you. In previous years we always did that on the back end of our typical practice and got a lot of work there. Our guys are all working with the numbers where they’re at. Everybody’s getting a ton of reps. And when we first got back on the grass, we were really intentional on the young guys inside of our program, fundamental group work, O-line, going against D-line in separate drills and then getting some teamwork and then slowly built bringing some of our best back into it. And then you get to a true game week before we head to the bowl site. Been handling it like that.”
On Jermod McCoy, Chris Brazzell II and Arion Carter declaring for the NFL Draft
“You get to the end of the season, we’re in a bowl, the players are going through the process and we want to be there to help them and support them and help collect information. And at the end of the day, it’s always about what the right decision is for the player and the family and his future. And as long as he’s got all the information in front of them, we’re going support them. And I’m excited for those guys that they have the chance to the next level. They’re all going to play at the next level and help them through this journey.”
On which Tennessee receivers will help replace Brazzell in the Music City Bowl
“Yeah, Travis Smith and Radarious Jackson. Guys that have gotten some play throughout the course of the year. Two young guys that I spoke really highly of before the season even started. Really mature, really good understanding of what we were doing. Both encountered injuries at one point during the season, missed some time. Great to have them back. They finished the regular season practicing and doing things at a high level. They’ve continued to grow here as we got back on the grass for bowl preparation. And looking forward to seeing those guys play and I expect them to play at really high level.”
On if Tennessee’s younger tight ends will get more reps in the bowl game
“Yeah, the tight ends, Jack (Van Dorselaer) was banged up a little bit heading into the last game of the regular season, but anticipate all those guys getting the opportunity to play.”
On what’s the defensive challenge for Tennessee facing the Illinois offense
“I think the physicality, their ability to run the football, veteran quarterback, play-action pass, pushing it down the football field. You got to have great gap integrity. You got to destruct blocks and and tackle extremely well. And Coach Inge, our staff have done a great job here, building a plan and we got to continue to grow in that up until kickoff and then we got to go play.”
On new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ role right now
“Just got here on Monday. You start onboarding with just general campus and then gets an opportunity to watch our guys from the season, produce cutups on those guys, get a chance to watch those guys practice here. Gets to sit in on the position meetings and get to know our players, get to know our staff, too, and ultimately be a part of some things that we need to go get inside of the transfer portal.”
On why he decided to hire Knowles
“I think, you know, first of all, it’s gotta be a guy that shares a vision of the culture that you want to create. And that’s in your team room, it’s in your position rooms. Gonna play with physicality and aggressive on the defensive side of the football. A guy that has done it different ways at some of his stops. And I say that because, man, we have really good personnel here. We gotta take advantage of the traits. He’s got the ability to tweak it and make it fit, the body types and the athletic traits that you have inside of your defensive meeting room.
“And then his ability to change and evolve, but build the elite defenses that allow you to go compete for championships. You tie all those things together. His experience, success, culture, his understanding of offensive football and how you have to attack it from the defensive side and being able to be multiple in it. Went through a couple of different installs with him, his teaching progression. Really excited about all of those pieces to help our players go be their best.”
On what it says about the program that it had five Freshman All-Americans
“We were a young football team inside of the landscape of college football, inside of the landscape of this league. I think it speaks to our ability to take high-level talent and get them prepared quickly to go play at a really high level. I think it speaks to the future of this program, and at the end of the day, we got an opportunity to continue to grow. There’s some Saturdays certainly disappointed with results, certainly disappointed in the last half of the regular season. But we got a lot of pieces of the puzzle here. We gotta continue to gather some pieces, but we got an opportunity to be special.”
On if its important to age the roster through the portal
“I think it’s important for us to make sure that at each position group we have the traits and the personality to go play the way that we want to and need to when we get to next fall.”
Closing statement
“(The Music City Bowl is) right around the corner. Merry Christmas to our entire fan base. Hope you enjoy the holidays with your family and look forward to seeing everybody in Nashville.”
