KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The second spring of the Josh Heupel era of Tennessee football is underway and the contrast in the execution of all three phases compared to one year ago is significant. Heupel put his Volunteers through the first of 15 spring workouts on Tuesday morning at Haslam Field.
“(The) kids are able to focus on the details of what we are asking them to do, the coaching staff is in sync and on the same page and should help propel us to a great amount of growth here,” Heupel said. “The difference in year one and year two is light years different. There is so much familiarity and understanding in what we are doing, coaches and players alike.”
After guiding Tennessee to a remarkable turnaround in his first season last fall, Heupel returns his starting quarterback (Hendon Hooker), his starting running back (Jabari Small), his top receiving target (Cedric Tillman), his top tackler (Jeremy Banks) and his top pass rusher (Byron Young). That combined with the departure of only one position coach provides stability and familiarity for a group looking to make major strides this spring.
Heupel tabbed former UT offensive analyst Kelsey Pope to be the Volunteers’ new wide receivers coach after Kodi Burns accepted a similar position with the New Orleans Saints last month.
“I hired him because there was no doubt that he was the right guy for the job,” Heupel said. “I believe in who he is and how he will help those guys grow. He has done a great job with those guys in the year that he has been here. We have great trust and confidence in him. He is going to be a great recruiter because he is relationship-driven and great communicator.”
Despite the absence of a traditional spring game due to construction in Neyland Stadium, Heupel said Tuesday that he is excited about the long-term growth of the program.
“A 100+ million-dollar project inside of Neyland Stadium, what we have with the Anderson Training Center, a 30+ million-dollar expansion, they (players) can see all of that happening before their eyes, and they know there are more projects on top of that coming. It is an exciting time to be here. We have great energy and momentum inside of the building.”
The Volunteers will practice again on Thursday morning before concluding the week in pads on Saturday.
Season tickets for the 2022 football season are on sale now at AllVols.com or by contacting the UT Athletic Ticket Office at (865) 946-7000. Existing season ticket holders have until May 1 to renew their tickets.
Head Coach Josh Heupel Press Conference
March 22, 2022
Opening Statement
“I appreciate everyone being here this afternoon. I just want to start by saying congratulations to women’s basketball. Great game last night, loved the way they competed. Congratulations to the Lady Vols and Coach Harper. It’s been a lot of fun, Coach Barnes and his basketball season, a lot of fun. Great environments over in our arena. It was huge part of our recruiting there in January and March, too. So, congratulations to them too and a conference tournament championship. Excited today to get an opportunity get out on the field and be with our guys. Loved what they did in the first quarter of our offseason with strength and conditioning. A ton of growth for them and continued functional development as football players. I thought you could see some of those things just in the way they took the grass today and competed. Today was a great start, great energy. Which it should be on day one. I’m proud of the growth that we’ve had and some of the things we saw out there today. I can’t wait to watch the video and meet with our guys on the backend of it.”
On identifying the leaders …
“The leadership side of it. Not just leadership, the connections and relationships that we have, the staff and players together, there is so much known versus a last year with all the unknowns of the first day; how everything was going to be handled, how it’s going to operate, how coaches were going to handle themselves and communicate. Just a year further in that growth and development, trust, communication, respect between players and coaches. You could see that today. There’s a ton of great teaching out on the practice field today. That was from coaches to players, but you saw a lot more from player to player, too. In the first quarter of our offseason, it’ll be an emphasis as we continue to go through this lead up to kickoff this season. It’s always a part of our program, developing leaders, giving them opportunities to grow in those roles, and growing our young players from the ground up as (they) first hit the campus. I love some of the ownership our players are taking. It’s has to start and be demanded inside the locker room. For Hendon Hooker, Tank (Jaylen McCollough), Trevon Flowers, there’s a bunch of them that have done really good job of growing into those roles. Lost some strong leadership (from) a year ago, but I feel like we have some guys that will become really strong in the locker room this year.”
On the wide receiver room and how much growth he wants to see …
“A little bit like last spring, we had some young guys that had to grow and become really strong players. Cedric (Tillman), obviously, his experience and ownership inside the wide receiver room is critical and big for us as a position (group), as a unit on offense, and has a program. Expect him to take another big jump in his play and development, as well. Outside of him, there are a bunch of guys that need to grow and I thought they had really strong offseasons in the first phase of what we do. They put themselves in a great position and I thought there was a lot of positives today in their ability to operate in our tempo and get lined up. For them, understanding scheme versus coverage. There were really a lot of positives today. They’re going to need continued growth and development. These next 14 days after today are going to be big for their development.”
On practice adjustments in year two compared to year one …
“Very subtle adjustments in our practice routine. I think you change and evolve just with what your needs are as a program. Some things you want to make sure that you want to grow off of your self-scout, reflecting back on the year to make sure you’re hitting on the points of emphasis during the course of your 15 days of practice. We’ll make sure that we do that and systematically accomplish that by the end of spring. As a complete overhaul, very little change as far as how I’m functioning day-to-day. Today, I spent a little more time with the wideouts in some of our individual periods. Other than that, not a whole lot of change.”
On how different spring ball is this year …
“For us, with almost all of our staff back, old and young staff familiarity, you are able to reflect and grow on those things. A lot of understanding of who we are, how we are going to function, and how we want to operate. (The) kids are able to focus on the details of what we are asking them to do, (the) coaching staff is in sync and on the same page and should help propel us to a great amount of growth here. The difference in year one and year two is light years different. There is so much familiarity and understanding in what we are doing, coaches and players alike.”
On if he enjoys teaching experienced players or the newer players more …
“The teaching, it does not matter whether it’s an older veteran guy or a young guy. It is the constant evolution, the fight and the strain, mentally and physically, to gain the inches that you need to. And (it’s) the conscientious effort to put in the work to do that and being diligent and paying attention to details. It does not matter, young or old, how long they have been here, I enjoy that and I think our staff does too.”
On managing workloads with the team’s depth …
“The player loads on those guys every single day, you need to track what they are doing, you make sure if guys are having to double back on reps that you are giving them the proper amount of time to rest In between so they can go out and play and compete. At this point, we are not worried about cutting any of the reps that we normally would have. We feel like, at this point, we are in a position to continue to get the reps that we wanted.”
On players getting reps out of position …
“At this point, in where we are at in our offseason, I think there are a ton of advantages to those guys moving around and naturally finding a home. It is something we did a year ago when we had more guys at a position and I think it paid dividends for us in finding guys a natural home. As injuries happened, being able to get the best five guys out on the football field and put them in a position (to have) success helped us defensively. The more you know, the more you understand, the more you are able to play full speed and have a global view of what is happening. I think that helps you at whatever position you are playing, as well, so I think those reps at this point and who we are and what we are doing is only going to serve us going down the road.”
On experimenting with players’ positions during the spring …
“Yes, I think guys have an opportunity to move to different positions. Some of that is just trying to create competition, some of it is based on open opportunity, and some of it is giving us the flexibility as we continue to go to play guys at a different position. As you try and create competition and find out who your best guys are, whatever that number is at each position, you have an opportunity to play. I think, just like the previous question in the secondary, it only makes you better as you go further and get closer to the season.”
On what excites him most on going into the spring …
“Fall is a long way away. As a coach, you are just focused on today. I think the thing I am most excited about is the spirit of competition. The accountability that we have inside our team room. We are starting to develop some real ownership from our players from within, they have a clear understanding of who and what we are and they have started to meet those standards that are at a really high level. I love the intensity and focus that they come into the building with every single day. They have become really consistent competitors and it is a lot of fun being around this group.”
On what he wants to accomplish by the end of spring ball …
“I don’t know if we have enough time, right? There is a laundry list of things. Offense, defense, special teams. At the end of the day, I want our players to understand how we have to compete from snap to whistle for 60 minutes and then meet that standard at the end of the day. That is our number one objective.”
On Hendon Hooker and Cedric Tillman’s growth this offseason …
“I think for both of them it is different this year than it was a year ago. They are comfortable and confident in who they are as players and have great understanding of ways they need to improve, and want to improve. They have a great voice inside of the team room and inside their position units. I think they understand that now, so the leadership and ownership from within is completely different, too. For them to continue to improve – and that does not just mean statistically, it is about becoming and maximizing who you are and your potential as a football player. Both of those guys have done a great job in the first seven weeks of our offseason, our first quarter of having very purposeful work every single day. They have made great strides in understanding, not just on the strength and conditioning side, but understanding the pure fundamentals of the positions that they are playing and how they can incrementally get better. Being able to reflect back on a year’s worth of work, as we move forward, just their intentionality today was really good. Their voice and their leadership was really strong too. They are only going to continue to improve in those things.”
On the newcomers …
“I think it would be really hard and almost unfair to that group to start singling out individuals, as far as leadership. There are a ton of new guys, I think there are 14 guys. For new guys coming into the building, they are as mature, and handled themselves from day one, as any group I have ever been around. They have done a great job of competing, helping each other out. They have a really good understanding of what we are doing. I am really proud of what they were able to do today. Blending into what we are doing with offense, defense and special teams. It shows a purpose in which they worked here leading up to today and it is a group that we feel, physically with their talent and who they are, have a chance to grow and develop during spring ball, have great offseasons and put themselves in a position to compete during training camp and earn playing time.”
On the strides the team is making for the program as a whole…
“We talk about Knoxville being a destination place for players and coaches. We have all the tools and resources to become your best and to chase championships on the field and become your best off of it and have a really powerful impact. You can see that as recruits come in and construction is going on. A 100+ million-dollar project inside of Neyland Stadium, what we have with the Anderson Training Center, a 30+ million-dollar expansion, they can see all of that happening before their eyes and they know there are more projects on top of that coming. It is an exciting time to be here. We have great energy and momentum inside of the building. That is one of the best things about being able to bring them on campus, it is different from a year ago and they are able to see and feel the energy and connection that we have, players and coaches together, which has been a huge part of the selling point of who we are, what we are doing and where we are going as a program.”
On the benefit of quarterback Tayven Jackson participating in spring practice …
“Not just for quarterbacks, but all of them in some ways they – by the time they get to training camp they almost resemble the class before them, more than they do the guys that just get here in June. I say that in, they have had a full offseason, gotten installs and 15 days of real coaching on the grass with live things going on the other side of the football. They understand how they have to grow and get a chance to re-digest that, truly, all summer long. And really propel themselves both physically, mentally and technically inside of becoming the best player they can. It is eight months of work, almost, that leads them into training camp and it really propels their understanding and growth as a football player.”
On what he has seen out of the running backs …
“I think that group has dramatically changed their bodies. The size of what they look like, lean muscle mass. They have done a really nice job as an entire group this offseason, from Jabari Small to Jaylen Wright to Len’Neth Whitehead. Justin Williams-Thomas inside of that room has been really positive. He is a fierce competitor and I love the way he approached the offseason. He is a fierce competitor out there on the grass and you can see that today in the short amount of time. That group is only going to continue to get better and we need them to continue to get better. That is in understanding our run schemes, doing a better job with delivering our blocks, being more explosive and being able to get pad under pad in some short-yardage situations, but also becoming better pass blockers, too. I think that is an area that this position group can take a great strides in during spring ball.”
On emphasizing the development of depth at the linebacker position …
“Up front, the great thing about playing a bunch of guys is that you lose a few guys that were really good players, and strong contributors to us defensively a year ago, you have a bunch of guys that have come back and played a lot of football, too. I think for them, who we were defensively this time a year ago … they were trying to learn how to play inside of our scheme. Now, they are trying to refine their skills inside of our scheme. It is just a difference of a year and we have to continue to find a way to affect the quarterback more. We have to be able to do that with a four-man rush too and so our ability to rush the passer and that development is something that will be critical this spring.”
On what traits he likes about wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope …
“Smart, competitive, consistent, great communicator, great leader inside of the room and mentor to those young guys. He has all of the tools to be a dynamic and elite coach. I hired him because there was no doubt that he was the right guy for the job. I believe in who he is and how he will help those guys grow. He has done a great job with those guys in the year that he has been here. We have great trust and confidence in him. He is going to be a great recruiter because he is relationship-driven and great communicator. He is going to work at it and those are the traits you need. We are excited and fortunate to have him apart of our staff.”
On not having a spring game …
“Yeah, for sure. Everybody in our building is going to miss the opportunity to go inside of Neyland and play in front of a bunch of people. I think it is great for your young players to get that experience before you hit the fall and everything is live for the first time. At the same time, there is a lot of excitement about what is going on inside our stadium. For us, we will try to recreate and get a bunch of people around for a couple of scrimmages. We will have great recruiting events with those dates too. There is a positive in those things but we will certainly miss the spring game.”
-UT Athletics
