KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With exactly three weeks until Tennessee’s season-opener under head coach Josh Heupel, the Volunteers went through their first preseason camp scrimmage on Thursday morning in Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee worked all three phases for two hours and the scrimmage featured live tackling.

“There’s only one way that we should compete when we walk in that stadium,” Heupel said. “I’m proud of a lot of the things we did on both sides of the ball. Defensively, I think we played with great effort, energy and strain. We competed extremely hard and tackled well in space. A lot of really positive things from them. Offensively, we showed glimpses of those things, but didn’t really string it together the way that we want to or need to.”

Heupel gave equal reps to all three quarterbacks battling for the starting spot, including Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton III.

“They kind of cycled through. If a guy had a three-and-out he might have had an extra drive just to keep the play count relatively close.”

The Vols will take Friday off before practicing three straight days beginning on Saturday morning. That leads to the squad’s next scrimmage, which is scheduled for Tuesday in Neyland Stadium. The scrimmage will be closed to the public.

Tennessee opens the 100th year of Neyland Stadium, Shield-Watkins Field on Sept. 2 against Bowling Green at 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Tickets are on sale now at AllVols.com.

Josh Heupel – Preseason Camp Press Conference – 8.12.21

Opening Statement

“Great day inside Neyland Stadium. It’s awesome any time you get an opportunity to go in there. There’s only one way that we should compete when we walk in that stadium. I’m proud of a lot of the things we did on both sides of the ball. Defensively, I think we played with great effort, energy and strain. We competed extremely hard, tackled well in space. A lot of really positive things from them. Offensively, we showed glimpses of those things, but didn’t really string it together the way that we want to or need to. There are a lot of things that we’ve learned here that we’ll be able to use moving forward. You look at it and we’re halfway through training camp, so you have to keep pushing. We need this to be a great afternoon too, just showing growth as we go back and look at the tape.”

On Brian Maurer’s absence from practice on Wednesday and his status with the team …

“I had an initial conversation with him a few days ago as far as the reps and how those things were going to be divided up. There’s no further update on him. We’ll have a conversation with him during the off day.”

On the quarterbacks during Thursday’s scrimmage, specifically Joe Milton in his first time in a scrimmage setting in the offense …

“I thought he managed things really well inside the pocket. For Joe, Hendon (Hooker) and Harrison (Bailey), some of it’s tough because you’re not in a live situation, either you have to make a play or you have to get out of the pocket in those types of scenarios. But I thought all of them did a great job of taking care of the football, being efficient in calling it. For the most part, I thought their decision making in what we’re doing in the run game and controlling the pass game was pretty solid. At the end of the day, I don’t think we collectively offensively strung things together the way that we need to. Some of that is just 11 guys all doing their job at a really high level. It’s not just one position and one guy, it was a little bit of everything at all points. Through the first seven days, I thought all those guys have competed really well and been really sound decision makers.”

On the physicality throughout camp and during the scrimmage …

“I like the mentality that our players have stepped on the practice field every day with, certainly leading up to the scrimmage. I think that’s been one of the positives as we have gone through camp. Our competitive strain is completely different than it was during the course of spring ball. The ability to put back-to-back days together. I thought today, physicality-wise, just on the sideline, not getting a chance to watch the tape, I thought the defensive side of the football was extremely physical and changed and disrupted the offensive front, played on the other side of the line of scrimmage and again, they tackled extremely well. You didn’t see many missed tackles in the course of play.”

On if he can see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the offensive tempo …

“Yes, absolutely. At the end of the day with offensive football—I don’t care what tempo you’re playing at—you’ve got to be efficient. That means 11 guys have to do their job. If you don’t, you’re going to be on the wrong side of it, whether it’s a dropped ball, busted protection or creating negative plays. You’ve got to be able to string things together and we’ve seen that throughout training camp. Today, you didn’t see it consistently at the level that we certainly want it to be, but we absolutely feel like our guys our continuing to progress as we’ve gone through camp. There’s some really good things out there from today, too.”

On if the team played with his desired tempo in the scrimmage …

“Absolutely. At times, we didn’t play as efficiently in the mechanics of playing with tempo, but some of that is getting the first, first down, too. Early in the scrimmage, there were a couple of three-and-outs. Collectively as a whole, the way that we operate on the offensive side of the ball, I’m overall pleased with what we’re doing.”

On if he is pleased that his defense had a good day during Thursday’s scrimmage …

“As a coach, I don’t think you’re ever comfortable or completely satisfied with where you’re at in any phase of what you’re doing. You’re constantly trying to push and get better. Offensively, there have been days and portions of practice where you string things together and you feel really good about the efficiency, how you’re operating and 11 guys playing as one. Defensively, they’ve had those same moments during the course of it. I think as a coach, you get concerned when it’s one side of the football that is consistently dominating practices or scrimmages. There has been good back-and-forth. I think our guys on both sides of the line of scrimmage have a much better understanding of what we’re doing schematically (and) fundamentally with technique. We’ve continued to progress. Their practice habits have been really good. I think that’s what brings a sense of confidence to myself and our coaching staff, too. There’s a process that you have to go through. Our kids are straining and competing through that.”

On the play of defensive transfers …

“For all those guys, they blended in immediately. When I say that, you don’t see them consistently out-of-gap, not being able to get a call and lined up, you don’t see issues with communication. They’ve blended right in to what we’re doing on all three levels, and I really believe all those guys are going to have an impact on what we’re doing.”

On the aggressiveness of the defense and STAR position …

“I thought those guys made some plays. I don’t remember a bunch of contested balls down the field that those guys made plays on off-hand, obviously, we will go back and watch to have a better understanding of that. I think (the STAR) position as a whole has been really solid. They’ve shown up in every practice that we’ve had. I think they have a unique ability to play physical and be a factor in the run game as they become fitter, but they have unique cover skills as well.”

On the status of K’Rojhn Calbert …

“K’Rojhn did have surgery and will not be with us for an extended period of time right now. I’ve said it before, the strength of one position can’t just be one guy, certainly offensive line. Next guy has to step up and take advantage of his opportunity and, at the end of the day, compete and prove that he can play at a championship level.”

On the playing time of quarterbacks in the scrimmage …

“They kind of cycled through. If a guy had a three-and-out he might have had an extra drive just to keep the play count relatively close.”

What he has learned about the team thus far through camp …

“I just look to where we started. Our sense of team, our sense of competing for the guy who sits next to me in the team room. I think there is a sense of becoming a team and it being bigger than just me and ultimately if you’re going to have a football team that plays the right way, it’s got to be about the guys around you, not about yourself.”

On the running backs and any players that flashed in the scrimmage … 

“Over the history of my tenure as a coordinator and head coach, our skill guys have gotten a ton of recognition for what we’ve done through the air. For us, it all starts with what we do in the run game, operating extremely efficiently and being physical at the point of attack. We’ve ran the ball extremely successfully through my tenure. I thought our offensive line did a really nice job of covering guys up at times. I don’t think we distorted the line of scrimmage the way we are capable of and have shown during some of the practices. I do like our running back room. I think Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans are playing at a really high level. I’m excited to see some young guys get the opportunity to play and to go back and watch the tape.”

On the offense showing retention of system … 

“You see that in ball mechanics but also in the schemes we are running. Our ability to do the right thing and play with better technique are areas we have consistently improved. Where we finished spring ball is completely different than where we started. We got better throughout the course of summer. Day 1 was better than the end of spring ball. We’ve gotten better throughout the course of training camp too.”

On how the receivers have played so far … 

“You can do everything else right, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t catch the ball when it comes to you. Our guys have made competitive plays during camp. Cedric Tillman is a guy that has made a bunch of competitive plays. JaVonta Payton, being a new guy, is starting to get more comfortable with what we are doing after missing those 15 practices in the spring. He’s getting his feet in the ground and starting to understand what we are doing. His history of having played in this league helps him with the competitive nature of it, lining up, getting off the press, those kinds of things. We’ve seen it consistently throughout the course of training camp. There are some young guys we will continue to push to make competitive plays, because coming down with the 50-50 balls is a huge part of playing that position and will be a huge part of our success.”

On how much of his offensive and defensive schemes have been installed … 

“We have a huge portion installed on both sides of the line of scrimmage. As you go through the course of the season, you’ll continue to grow, evolve and find ways to attack people on the other side of the line of scrimmage as you game plan. There’s no set playbook that is the only thing you do. You have to continue to evolve as the game and opponent changes and you find out more about your personnel.”

On issues in the scrimmage being cleaned up by narrowing the game day rotation …

“I feel good about the direction of where we are going on the offensive side of the ball. We have enough playmakers, and our guys are competitive and have a great understanding of what we are doing. It’s a growth process. We will get where we want to get to.”

On how far the defensive front has progressed since the end of the spring … 

“From the first day of pads in the spring to where we are now, it’s a different group. It’s different on the practice field with our physicality, playing up the field, disrupting and changing the line of scrimmage. Most importantly, it’s a different group inside the meeting room, who they are, accountability every single day as well as their consistency, work habits and ability to learn and want to play for the guy next to them. Accountability in that room is completely different, and that’s why they are different on the field.”

On what he saw from Darnell Wright and Cade Mays … 

“I’ll get a better chance to see it as I watch the video this afternoon. I think Darnell is really natural on the left side of it. For him, he’s athletic and has the ability to bend. He has the chance to be an elite pass protector as well. Overall, we feel good about where those two guys are at on the edges.”

-UT Athletics