On Wednesday morning, just a day before the Music City Bowl, both Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm met with the media in Nashville.
The Tennessee Volunteers (7-5) and Purdue Boilermakers (8-4) will meet in Nissan Stadium at 3:00 p.m. ET on Thursday to officially close both teams’ seasons.
During the Music City Bowl press conference, both head coaches did a joint interview side-by-side and took turns answering questions. Both Heupel and Brohm were extremely complimentary of the hospitality that their teams have received, and talked about what it means for each of them to coach in this bowl.
Heupel also spoke about the competitiveness his team has and why it will be crucial for this game.
“I think if you’re a great competitor – and those are traits that we try and build on and recruit to and have inside of our building every single day in what we do – it does matter,” Heupel said on Wednesday during the press conference. “It matters in how you perform. It matters to you – individually and collectively as a team – so certainly this is a game that our players have pushed towards, and it matters a great deal inside of our program. A bowl game is unique in that I think it’s important that they enjoy the experience when you’re at home in your preparation (and) when you get to the bowl site early in the week, but the carrot of the whole week and the thing that you’ll remember most about the experience is the game itself.”
Heupel also hit on Tennessee’s up-tempo style of play, key roster moves heading into the game, and much more.
Below is the full joint press conference for Tennessee HC Josh Heupel and Purdue HC Jeff Brohm on Wednesday.
