On Thursday morning, Tennessee football took to Neyland Stadium to hold its first scrimmage of the spring practice slate. With the scrimmage closed to the media, Josh Heupel met with reporters after the event to field questions about what transpired.
While Heupel often doesn’t get into intimate details about what happened at these scrimmages, he does give some information.
Here are three things that stood out about his press conference.
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Defense Garnered Praise
During Heupel’s opening statement, the first thing he noted (outside of wishing luck to Rick Barnes and Vols basketball in the Sweet 16) was his defense. He noted there were a couple of turnovers forced and that explosives were limited.
For a group in its first handful of practices under a new staff headlined by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Heupel seemed pleased with where the group is at.
“I thought defensively, played extremely well,” Heupel said. “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.”
Later in the press conference, Heupel was asked about the transition to Knowles’ defense and how he assesses where the group is at. Again, he said he likes the direction it’s headed.
“I do like where we’re at for seven practices in,” Heupel said. “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.”
DeSean Bishop Was Limited
Tennessee football is pretty healthy this spring, but there are still a handful of injuries. Notable names sitting out include linebacker Arion Carter, offensive guard Wendell Moe Jr. and defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs.
While running back Desean Bishop isn’t on that list and has been a full participant at practice sessions open to the media, the Vols took some precautionary measures with him at this point in the off-season. Heupel said that Bishop was limited and didn’t get too much live work in.
“Really good competition inside of that room,” Heupel said. “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 has 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.”
That opens up reps for the young group behind Bishop. Tulane transfer Javin Gordon and second-year returners Daune Morris and Justin Baker are battling for snaps off the bench.
Pleased With The Offensive Line
Heupel was asked if there are any position groups he thinks are ahead of schedule at the moment. While he didn’t want to tip his hand too much, the first group he said was the offensive line.
Other units Heupel mentioned were the defensive line and the secondary, continuing the trend of praise for Knowles’ defense. He did, of course, note that there is more growing to do with fall camp still months away.
“I don’t know that I’d say ahead of schedule,” Heupel said. “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.”
