Tennessee football completed its first fall practice on Wednesday morning as they worked inside the Anderson Training Center. Following practice, head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to discuss the first practice and more as his team gets going in fall practice.
Heupel discussed the new in helmet communication, the Vols’ depth at edge rusher and much more. Here’s everything Heupel said on Wednesday.
Opening statement
“Good start day one. A lot of good. Lot of things to clean up too. But all in all, just organizationally, really good. A good start to training camp.”
On how essential it is for Tennessee to develop talent and have difference makers on defense rushing the passer
“Well in this league, but in general football, you want to be good up front. And guys can rush the passer and can affect the game on the first level are extremely important. That’s your edge guys, you interior. The depth that we’ve been able to build with athletic traits that we’re looking for. As I said a day ago, it’s as deep as we’ve been at that position. Got great length, athleticism, ability. Those guys are multiple, can play the first level and can drop in some zone and pressure packages. And they’re really intelligent guys that can handle the volume of what they have to do within our scheme.”
On rule changes allowing quality control coaches to help coach on the field, if that accelerates development in practice
“I don’t think you’re accelerating your installs necessarily. I do think there’s times where you can break out into more intentional, specific pods. Your front, your interior, but you know, we’re talking about Leos, those guys being able to break off. You got more eyes, more guys that are able to coach your secondary, so you can split those guys up in some of your drills.”
On Tennessee’s Joshua Josephs getting bigger during the offseason, what the change has been for him
“I think it’s just the growth of the person. And that part lends itself to the growth of the player. For him just, what he’s doing every minute of the day, how he’s taking care of his body, sleep that he’s getting, who he’s outside of the building. And then when he’s here, how intentional, how focused he is, just becoming a master of his craft and he’s done a great job in the weight room. Nutrition has done a great job with him. And that’s him taking lead on those things. And you look at his frame now compared to where he was a year ago, dramatically different. His confidence and understanding of what we’re doing, allowing his athletic traits to take over, continue fundamental development. Really excited about the off season that he’s had.”
On what a player like Tennessee freshman Jordan Ross can learn from James Pearce
“Learning what it takes to be a high level college athlete. How you take care of your body, how you do extra inside of our building. That can be in the meeting room, it can be fundamental development on your own during the summer months. It’s what it looks like to be the consummate pro. And we’re fortunate that, as we’ve built this thing, we’ve got guys that have the right accountability to the daily task. Guys that understand what it takes to do your plus one. Meaning everybody in the country’s lifting a certain amount of hours, a certain amount of practice hours during the week, during the season. How do you prepare yourself? What’s your plus one to gain an edge? And that’s in your position room as you’re competing for playing time, but it’s also against your opponent.”
On the offseason for Tennessee receiver Chas Nimrod and where he is entering his third season
“Yeah, he’s done an unbelievable job. One of the guys that we recognized during the course of our meetings yesterday. Just the summer that he’s had, how he’s transformed his body. It’s his body composition, it’s his muscle mass, it’s what he did in the weight room, hitting PRs. He’s a guy that is going into year three. His understanding of what we’re doing offensively, ability to play inside, play outside, play with speed, be decisive, being on the same page with the quarterback, coverage recognition, really excited about his growth and development in our program. Excited about what he did here on Day 1.”
On Joey Halzle’s biggest growth in Year 1 as an offensive coordinator, if it mirrored his own transition in that role
“We all learn things. As you go through every year, there are things that you are going to learn. It’s a leadership role. It’s your communication with your staff, your players, your organizational side of it. And then for us offensively, as the evolution continues to change as far as what we see from defensive structures, just how we continue to, to put our players in the best position, both by personnel placement and by scheme to go attack those things.”
On Tennessee freshman Jeremias Heard
“Yeah, young as a football player. You look at at where he played, tight end (in high school). He played D lineman, he played out the space a bunch. The opportunity to see him play basketball, his athletic traits, size, length, short area, quickness, ability to bend. He’s a young football player, but now being on the offensive line, there’s a lot of understanding and growth for him. Fundamentally that’s going to take place, but really rare, unique athletic traits.”
On Bru McCoy being back on the practice field following his ankle injury
“For Bru, you can tell just walking out the football field from him today at practice it was a big day for him. Everything that’s gone into, from the injury, to the rehab, from mentally and physically, getting back to the point where you’re ready to go compete. We’re gonna control his volume and availability as we go through training camp. Today was a big moment for him. Really proud of what he’s done and how he’s grown. He’s a tremendous leader inside of our locker room and really excited that he’s back out there.”
On the transition to the new in helmet communication
“Quarterbacks get tired of hearing us in the headsets, but it’s unique. You got to plan for it. You got to be ready if it goes out. At times there’s issues that occur with headsets. You got to pre plan that too. So it’s an opportunity, it’s a tool to use. We’re trying to be intentional about how we do that on both sides of the ball and at the same time got to be ready to operate without it.”
On balancing improvement and learning for freshman that enrolled in June
“You got to learn it, earn it and go take it. It’s a player’s responsibility to prove that he’s gonna play at a championship level play in, play out. Day in, day out. Young guys, they gotta have an opportunity to grow, make mistakes. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Important that they learn from the guys that are in their room as well. You got to accelerate the curve. They’re gonna have to handle the installs that we have to go through with our vets as well. And based on how they’re able to take that information and be able to go execute it— it kind of tells you what their role will be in the early parts of the season. But every player inside of our program, including our young guys, you got to give them an opportunity to continue to grow from day to day and that’s the journey that we’re all on together.”
On the leadership dynamic with a lot of new players in the secondary
“We have good leadership inside of that room. Andre Turrentine is a guy does a dynamic job in the leadership role. Will Brooks is a guy that has been around for a long time. He does a nice job. Jourdan Thomas, those are all guys that are our leadership council as well. The young guys that are in that room are the new guys, are really mature with who they are and how they compete every day and so it’s a group that feeds off of each other.”
On Tim Banks calling Christian Charles the X-factor in the secondary
“He’s a guy that’s extremely athletic. Really good length. He’s played corner, he’s played safety, he has an opportunity to be a utility knife a little bit. For him, because he’s missed so much time. Not the same circumstances as Bru, but for him to be back out on the field full go, it was big for him today too. He’s really excited. I think Charles has grown so much off the field with just who he is and how he takes care of his body. Really excited to see fall camp unfold for him and seeing him continue to grow as a player.”
On the importance of having a veteran like Omari Thomas still around
“Omari, a lot of our veteran guys, there’s a little over a handful of guys that are six-year guys. They’ve seen this program change a bunch. They’ve been a huge part of the change here inside of this building and who we are and how we operate. And they’re a big part of the recruiting process. At the end of the day when recruits come on campus, your players are the biggest touchpoint, sales point for what it’s like to be a Vol and they’ve been a huge part of that as well.
That group, Omari is one of the guys that you named just the journey that this program’s been on, how we’ve navigated the success that we’ve had. There’s more out there. We understand that. We’re working towards that every day, but those guys have been a huge part of changing the trajectory of Tennessee football.”
On who will be talking in the headsets for in helmet communication
“Offensively, Joey (Halzle) and myself. Defensively it will be Coach Banks.”
On if it is complicated to switch who all is talking
“Don’t believe (so). We haven’t actually had like the true game day set. You know what I mean? But we should have that fully operational as we go over there (to Neyland Stadium) for scrimmages.”
