Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the local media on Wednesday afternoon as the Vols kick off their 2024 season Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols have an easy matchup against their instate FCS foe Chattanooga. The Mocs are a top 10 SoCon team but Tennessee is still massive favorites in its season opener.
To open up game week, Josh Heupel discussed what he’s looking for from Nico Iamaleava, the growth of his team and much more. Here’s everything Heupel said on Monday.
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Opening statement
“Good afternoon everybody. Excited talking season is over and we get to go play ball. So looking forward to seeing all of our fans inside the stadium. It’s been a long time. Unique kickoff time for us. Look forward to seeing everybody at the Vol Walk at 10:30. You guys know this week we’ll wear the Smokey Grey and wear those for this design for the first time. Facing a Chattanooga team that’s a really good opponent, preseason ranked top-10 in their division. Return a lot of really good players. At the end of the day this is the first step in our journey. I look forward to going and competing with this group.”
On if this is the first season where he’s felt the Tennessee roster is where it should be, after going through the NCAA sanctions in previous seasons
“We continue to build our roster. Certainly we’re not quite at that full roster yet, but really like the group that we have as we continue to recruit here during the different cycles — length, athleticism, physicalness, traits that we’re looking for on the field, competitive, make up, all those things. I really like this team. And we got to continue to grow throughout the course of it. But what they’ve done during the course of training camp, they’ve handled it really well. We got to handle game week preparation extremely well this week too.”
On if veterans in Tennessee’s offense make it easier to start a redshirt freshman quarterback in Nico Iamaleava
“Well for every quarterback, not just young ones, but for everyone, guys around him playing at a really high level, execution is really important. That can be your offensive line and pass protection and it’s being efficient in the run game. Staying out of the third-and-long situations. Your skill guys being where they need to be in the pass concept or protection. All those things tie in into it together at the same time. Quarterback has got to make everybody right, too.”
On what he wants to see from Nico Iamaleava
“Play smart football,. take care of the football. Manage the game extremely well. Communication, play within yourself and at times, when they present themselves, make plays and he’s had the opportunity to start the ball game. I think that was a great experience. Helps propel, create urgency in the off season. He’s handled himself extremely well here during the course training camp too. Young quarterback. He’s gonna get better as we go through the season. I say that just meaning that every rep you get at that position on game day helps you as well.”
On what challenges that UTC presents
“Veteran quarterback that’s played at a really high level. Smart with football. Playmakers out on the outside. For us offensively, looking at them, they have explosive playmakers up front and you gotta do a really good job handling the line of scrimmage.”
On adjusting to the new two-minute drill in college football
“Two minute warning obviously has a chance to change the sequencing of things at the end of both halfs. So we spend a bunch of time on that and hopefully we’re prepared the right way.”
On if he’s talked to Nico Iamaleava about his first home start, his personal emotions that come with it
“I haven’t talked to him about that. I talked to our team really every week. Enjoy the journey leading up to kickoff. That’s Vol Walk. It’s your experience at the hotel hanging out with your teammates. It is seeing your family there if they’re in town and certainly running through the T. So soak all those things in. I think that helps you enjoy the journey. Makes you better for the next week. And for him at the end of the day it’s 11-on-11 and when you get between the white lines go play ball.”
On what he likes about his team heading into the opener
“Well, I challenged our veterans in each position room today. Just the preparation, the urgency that you have to have. Not just when the coaches are in there, but outside of those times. Making sure that our young guys understand what that process looks like. Each day of the week. Mondays different than Tuesday, to Wednesday. As we get closer to kickoff, our vet guys have to do a great job of leading our young guys.
“I think this group, you’ve heard me say it post spring ball. I thought they were extremely competitive, extremely intentional. They were that way during training camp. The camaraderie that we have, the chemistry as roles get defined and roles change each week, keeping that a part of our team locker rooms gonna be very important.”
On how the team handled pre-snap penalties and red zone situations during fall camp
“Done a good job throughout the course of training camp. I thought we got better on the second half of training camp in particular on those things, which is typical as you go through training camp. A lot of young guys learning how to play. Red zone, we spent a bunch of time on it. We gotta go out and execute in both areas, offensively and defensively.”
On how he feels about the chemistry of the offensive line
“A couple guys kind of got built (up) throughout the course of training camp. That allows you to play more guys together. You don’t have just five guys playing together, but I feel like throughout the course of the lead up to this point in the year, I really like where that group’s at. They push each other. We’ll play more guys and need to, but I really like where that group is at right now.”
On if the new College Football Playoff format changes any planning for the season
“At the end of the day, at this point in the season, it’s about one week. Winning every day and putting yourself in position to go play your best football on Saturday. So it’s a one in all mindset at this point.”
