Just a few weeks after watching Tony Vitello and the Tennessee baseball team hoist their first National Championship trophy, Vol Football head coach Josh Heupel made sure to acknowledge the champions during SEC Media Days last week in Dallas.
Heupel and the Vols took part in the SEC Media Days slate last Tuesday as the Vols’ head coach took the main stage for the fourth time in his Tennessee career.
Josh Heupel used two sentences to open his press conference, then thanked SEC Commissioner Sankey for the prior introduction. Heupel then quickly spun that into a congratulatory message for Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello, former infielders Christian Moore and Blake Burke, and the Vols’ championship team.
“Commissioner, thanks for the kind introduction,” Heupel said just a few seconds into his statement. “He mentioned that the last time I got a chance to see him we were in Omaha, and as I was getting ready to come here, got a chance to see Coach Vitello on the MLB Draft a couple of nights ago. Obviously the All-Star Game was here — or is here tonight, and this is the first time I have had an opportunity to talk since I got a chance to go to Omaha and watch Christian and Blake and Coach Vitello bring home a championship to Rocky Top.”
Heupel attended the Game Three winner-take-all matchup between Tennessee and Texas A&M in the College World Series last month which resulted in a narrow win for the Volunteers to claim their first trophy. Heupel was at the game alongside Vol basketball head coach Rick Barnes, Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White, and country artist/East Tennessee native Morgan Wallen.
“What an unbelievable experience, opportunity to watch the game with Coach Barnes, Danny, our athletic director, get a chance to be on the field and celebrate that moment,” Heupel continued on to say. ” Really proud of what they did bringing home a National Championship to Rocky Top, what Coach Vitello has built there and have an opportunity to have my son with me and really my entire family. So great night.”
Later in the press conference, Heupel was asked about the impact that Vitello and the Vols’ talked-about program has on football recruiting and the culture inside of the Vols’ football program. Heupel mentioned that claiming success all over campus only helps the football department in the long run in brand identity, recruiting, and hype creation.
“At times there’s baseball-football guys that you’re recruiting. So having a clear dialogue with him I think is really important, him and his staff,” Heupel said on working with Vitello in recruiting. “But I think one of the great things, when it’s going good, it’s going good all year long as far as your logo being in front of recruits. And so what Coach Vitello has done on the baseball side of it or Coach Barnes has done on the basketball side of it, those are great experiences for recruits when they come to campus. They get a small taste of what Vol Nation is like and what game days are going to be like in front of 102,000 inside of Neyland Stadium.”
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Tennessee Baseball’s National Championship capped off an all-time historic sports year for Tennessee as the Vols captured four SEC championships throughout the year with every sport reaching the postseason during the 2023-2024 year.
“You look at the success that our brand, our logo has had recently with baseball, but basketball during the course of the winter, and you look at all the team sports across the board being in post-season play, I think it really speaks to the trajectory of our university, our athletic department, where it’s going, but it also speaks to the leadership that we have there,” Heupel said. “So fortunate to work with Danny White, our athletic director, Chancellor Plowman and President Boyd. They’re visionaries.“
As previously mentioned, Tennessee claimed four SEC titles in 2023-2024, which adds up to a total of 12 conference championships since the new era at Tennessee began before the 2021-2022 seasons. In the four years prior to that start in 2021, Tennessee only had two SEC titles. The Vols’ Power T logo was one of the most seen emblems in all of college athletics this season with the amount of high-profile and postseason games that Tennessee took part in, most notably in the men’s Elite Eight and the men’s College World Series.
“The brand is stronger than it’s ever been and really excited about where we’re at on the football side of it, but where we’re going,” Heupel said.
Check out Josh Heupel’s opening comments on Tennessee baseball below:
