KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Spring football has arrived at Tennessee as the Volunteers worked out in helmets inside on the first day of practice on Monday morning at the Anderson Training Center.
“You walk out there and you can see the difference in depth, really at every position,” said head coach Josh Heupel, who enters his third spring with the program. “The new guys, the young guys that we’ve added. Length, athleticism, size on the offensive and defensive lines. We are much deeper than we’ve been. Skill spots, same thing. For us, this spring we’re truly going to be able to get reps for an entire roster of guys.”
Tennessee will practice back-to-back days with another workout scheduled for Tuesday morning followed by practices on Thursday and Saturday.
The Orange & White Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 15 at 2:30 p.m. in Neyland Stadium.
Premium and non-premium seating will be available for the contest. Admission is $5 for non-premium seats, and all proceeds will count as a contribution to the My All Campaign. All seats can be secured now at AllVols.com or by calling the UT Athletic Ticket Office at (865) 656-1200. All open sections of the bowl of Neyland Stadium will be general admission seating.
Below are quotes from Heupel’s Monday media session:
Head Coach Josh Heupel
March 20, 2023
Opening Statement…
“Great to see everybody again. I feel like it’s been a while. Hard to believe, at the same time, it’s only been, I think, 80 days since we finished up last season. Really proud of the effort that our guys have put in leading us up until this point to get on the grass. Today was a great day. Also, want to recognize just what’s going on on our campus. Great weekend, Vols basketball, Coach (Rick) Barnes and the team, their performances over the last weekend were phenomenal. A lot of fun to watch. Excited to see them as they embark on the Sweet Sixteen here later this week. I’m sure a lot of you guys will be traveling. Looking forward to tonight’s game, getting a chance to watch Kellie (Harper) and her team play. They’re ready to make a run at the Sweet Sixteen too and, shoot, Vol Softball is off to a great start, top-five in the country and playing extremely well. A lot of positive things going on here on Rocky Top. I think it speaks to the culture inside of this athletic department and this university. Excited about all of our spring sports. I’ll open it up to questions.”
On how different this year’s spring practices feel in terms of depth…
“I think for you guys, you walk out there and you can see the difference in depth, really at every position. The new guys, the young guys that we’ve added. Length, athleticism, size on the offensive and defensive lines. Much deeper than we’ve been. Skill spots, same thing. For us, this spring we’re truly going to be able to get reps for an entire roster of guys. Year One, we were a shell of not just numbers, but athletes on the grass that we are today. That allows you to increase the number of reps that you’re going get during the spring and it also creates a ton of competition and urgency, from the meeting rooms, to what you’re doing on the practice field. The seven weeks that we had before spring break had been great. Great competition, guys made a bunch of strides, changing their bodies, starting to learn our schemes, but today is Day One of putting the helmets on and getting out there and doing some things for real.”
On how willing Nico Iamaleava is on taking instruction and how he will determine how fast he will push him…
“He’s going to be pushed extremely quickly. Just look at where we’re at at the quarterback position. Great urgency is going to be needed for him. He’s extremely coachable. From the moment he’s stepped foot on campus, that’s bowl preparation to coming back here at the end of January when we started the winter semester, he’s been phenomenal. He’s got great urgency, he cares a great deal about learning our offense (and) learning his craft at the quarterback position. Takes coaching extremely well. He resets and moves on to the next play at a really high level. He’s come in, he’s worked, guys believe in him. I’m just talking about how he carries himself. Slowly seeing him start to grow and take more ownership. He’s still really young, but excited to have these 15 days with him.”
On how he balancing getting guys to grow and develop while avoiding playing them too early in the age of the transfer portal…
“I do think that the development of the athletes that we have here has been shown in the first couple of years in what we do on the strength side of it. Developing the athlete specific to his position. You’ve seen the way that they’ve preformed at Pro Days, at NFL Combines. I don’t think you ever give up on the development of your roster. At the end of the day, everybody that steps foot on this campus Day One, you better have the mentality and approach that I’m competing to be the starter right now, here today. If you do anything less than that, you’re cheating yourself, you’re cheating the program, you’re not going to be ready when your opportunity comes. At the same time, for the 125 guys that sit in our team room, it’s their responsibility, it’s their job to prove they are going to play at a championship level. When you do that, then it’s our job as coaches to find a role that’s going to allow you to play at a really high level and help us win football games. That’s what these 15 days are all about. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Reset from play to play. Grow every single meeting and every opportunity that you have on the field. The young guys inside of our program, man, they’re going to make a ton of strides in the 15 days – really everybody should. The first five aren’t going to be as good as the second five aren’t going to be as good as the third five. When they come back for training camp, they are going to be a completely different player too, because they have an opportunity to sit back, digest, reset, learn from everything, be intentional in the way that they work all summer and grow during the course of training camp too. It’s an ongoing process, it doesn’t just happen, you don’t just snap your fingers and be ready to play. That’s part of having a deep roster, having competition, having an opportunity to get all these guys reps, really beneficial here as we go through spring ball.”
On if Joe Milton III handles his business differently with Hendon Hooker gone…
“He really has been the same guy. I said this last year, you could feel his energy and focus, and he was very intentional in the way that he worked. He had a voice inside our team. When he got his opportunity to start on the back end of the season, I spoke to those things before the Vanderbilt game and the Orange Bowl. The same is true today. You hear his voice more often because certain guys aren’t here that were in some of those leadership roles, but that’s true for a lot of guys on our roster. I’ve been really proud of the way that Joe has worked here. He’s hyper-competitive and intentional in trying to become the best that he can be at his craft and at the same time, push and pull his teammates to compete at a championship level every day.”
On his first impressions of wide receiver Dont’e Thornton…
“He’s long, he’s got great speed, he’s got experience, he’s mature and he’s got great work habits. He’s a guy that is constantly up here in the meeting room, but also doing things in the indoor and trying to become the best he can be. He’s got some position flexibility, can play inside, can play outside. How quickly he grasps what we do offensively is going to be one of the keys for him as we go through the spring. I’m really excited about who he is and what he’s brought to the table so far.”
On how comfortable he is with Joe Milton III …
“I believe Joe will be ready to play at an elite level. There’s competition at every position. I’ve said that from the time I got here. I don’t care how you were recruited, if you were walk-on or not, if you started a game or a year ago, it doesn’t matter, it’s about who you are today. That’s why you have to be very competitive in everything that you’re doing and intentional in the way that you work. I believe Joe will be ready to play at a really high level but there’s going to be competition everywhere.”
On what determines the alignment of his offensive line, particularly at tackle…
“Competition. Grade them every day, then you find the right way to put the jigsaw puzzle together of the five guys and who you’re going to need to be able to rotate and play behind them. We’re one day into that riddle, and I do like who they are, how they’ve worked and how they’ve responded. I’m excited in a couple days to get into pads and see these guys go to work. I feel like they all have position flexibility.”
On the importance in building up quarterback-wide receiver relationship during spring practice…
“It’s important. Our guys spend a bunch of time (together) during the off-season — during the course of winter and summer, too. Day one of spring ball to day 15, we should make a ton of improvement fundamentally and becoming more in-sync in what we’re doing. That process is going to be on-going up until we kickoff, and even throughout the course of the year. The amount of reps that you can get certainly helps push yourself forward. In what we do offensively, that’s extremely critical.”
On where the defense can grow this year…
“We took a big step. Some of that was just regaining the personnel that you need to go compete, and then (going through) another year in the system. Fundamentally being better, and then tackling in space. We made a huge jump in the run game on defense. Obviously, we need to take another step in our pass defense and third down defense. That doesn’t just strictly correlate to the secondary. It’s your second level defenders, it’s your front-line guys maybe dropping into zones off of your pressures. At the same time, it’s also getting to the quarterback with a four-man rush. All of those pieces have to come together to help us take another step. I believe in who we have, both from coaches and personnel, that we’ll be ready to take another step as long as we work and compete at a championship level.”
On how Joey Halzle is developing into an offensive coordinator…
“Coach Halzle will do a fantastic job. He’s been a leader for a long time. He’s been instrumental. We’ve been together 15, 16 years. We work hand-in-hand really well together. We’re able to have easy conversations and have hard ones, too, at the end of the day to find what’s best for us offensively. Players have great trust in him, and the coaches do too. It’s been a really easy transition.”
On if he expects for newcomers to be discouraged if they have a tough transition coming into this offensive scheme…
“I don’t think discouraged is the right word. I don’t think, hope and feel that that’s right for anybody inside of our program. It’s an ongoing progression. I don’t care if you’re on offense, defense, special teams, skill spot, big bodies, understanding the progression that it takes. We’re pretty systematic in how we teach it and the opportunities that they get in the lead-up until live reps. That’s before we get to spring ball. It’s during the course of our 15 practices, too. At the end of the day, we have great teachers. I’m talking about our coaching staff, guys that are able to help these guys understand the why behind what we’re doing, being really clear in their teaching progressions and developing them fundamentally. Eyes, hands, feet and being very urgent in what you do here. Every single rep, every single day. At the same time, being able to reset and move forward.”
On how important it was to add more competition at the cornerback spot…
“It was important for us. Depth was an issue, and some of that was just injuries a year ago. All of those guys being able to have the reps to make the growth that you want individually and collectively as a unit. Our lack of depth played out during the course of the season with those injuries. Competition, depth, all of those things, we have to stay healthy throughout the course of the spring. We need these reps for us to take another step. It’s certainly extremely important for us.”
On which receivers he sees stepping up this spring…
“In year one, the question was wideout. In year two after the departure of Velus (Jones Jr.), it was wideout. I believe in the young guys we have in our program. They have to grow, and then they have to take advantage of their opportunities when they come. I believe in the guys that we have here. We have some vets that have played a lot of football and have played really well. We have some new guys, young guys that are going to get more opportunities here. I believe we’ll have guys that will step up and be able to play at a really high level.”
On what role Cameron Seldon will play this spring…
“We’ll start him in the backfield. That’s where he’s going to get the majority of his work. His skillset allows for him to do different things. We’ll increase his exposure out on the perimeter intentionally throughout the course of spring. We’ll start it spoon-fed, and then he’ll grow from there. The thing that’s important for him is all the things that take place at the running back position, obviously your run game, run schemes, he’s going to understand some pop-pass concepts because of them being involved in it. With the protection part of it, I think it’s important that he starts there and is able to grow from that starting point.”
-UT Athletics
