Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel met with the local media on Thursday morning for his final media availability before the Vols host UConn on homecoming.
Heupel discussed his team’s preparation this week, Josh Dobbs getting traded to the Vikings and more. Here’s everything Heupel said on Thursday.
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On Pat Summitts’ impact on himself and Tennessee
“Obviously the success that her program had underneath her watch, it’s something that’s recognized nationally. I think one of the most pointed things that I could remember in my short time here about Coach Summitt is the stories of the people that she impacted not associated with Tennessee women’s basketball. Everybody that has come into contact with her has a great story about how she impacted the people around her and enriched the lives of the people around her. She had a great impact on the court, but she had more impact off the court. It’s a really powerful legacy.”
On what his favorite part of homecoming is
“It’s still going to be kickoff at 12 o’clock for me. But I think the best thing is the amount of former players that come back and we get an opportunity to meet, talk and share stories with them, or hear their stories of their time here. That’s one of my favorite things.”
On how he has viewed his team’s practices this week preparing for UConn
“Good teams continue to get better throughout the course of the season. If you cheat the game, the game is going to kick you right in the rear end. It’s been our message to our team this week, but it’s also consistent with what we preach every single week. We have to continue to get better. We have not played four quarters of our best football yet. That’s the challenge for us, to go out and continue to get better.”
On former Vol Josh Dobbs getting an opportunity with the Minnesota Vikings
“Excited for Josh. He’s one of the former guys I’ve gotten a chance to spend a lot of time with. A lot of guys in the league end up going from organization to organization, just continue to fight and compete. When he’s gotten opportunities, he’s done a remarkable job, and the opportunity for him to go to Minneapolis and have an opportunity to play football, I’m really excited for him. Obviously, I grew up a Vikings fan with my uncle living there. My uncle actually sent me a text when he got the news. He was pretty fired up.”
On the challenges UConn presents
“They play hard, they compete. They’ve been in a lot of close football games. Last week against Boston College, you can see that they play three phases of the game together. Coach (Jim Mora) is a great coach. They’ve had to battle through some injuries during the course of the season. For us, we have to play really smart football. We have to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of it. There’s going to be one on one opportunities out on the outside, and we have to go win some of those too.”
