Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel answered questions from the media on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday ahead of the Vols trip to Oklahoma Saturday night.
With Heupel returning to his alma mater, there were an abundance of questions about his time at Oklahoma both as a player and a coach. No. 6 Tennessee’s SEC opener at No. 15 Oklahoma is Heupel’s first time back in Norman since Bob Stoops fired him as offensive coordinator 10 years ago.
Heupel discussed what stands out about this Oklahoma team, working with Brent Venables and much more. Here’s everything Heupel said on Wednesday afternoon.
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Opening Statement:
“Good afternoon, everybody. Yeah, opportunity this week go play a really good opponent on the road. Know it’s gonna be a great environment there for our football team. We’ve had really good work on the field, just finished up our Wednesday and I like, you know, the preparation that we have, the attention to detail right now. We gotta continue to push as we get closer to kickoff. Understand the quality of the opponent that we’re getting ready to go play. Length, athleticism on all sides of the football. Do a really good job at the line of scrimmage and special teams have been good for them. So for us, we gotta continue to prepare and understand that it’s going to be a four-quarter game and play each play independently, get ready to go play our best.”
On what he feels like helmet communication will be like on the road, what some of the communication would have been like for him as a quarterback when playing for Mike Leach and Mark Mangino:
“Yeah, I’m certainly glad that we didn’t have helmet communication back then, really for both of them. With Mike, you had no idea what he’d be talking about if he was in your ear. Man, Gino, when it wasn’t going well, or you did something he didn’t like. probably was glad that he didn’t have direct communication with me. Looking over and seeing him on the sidelines was enough for everybody probably. And I say that with love and respect for coach.
“Yeah, know it’s gonna be loud. Hopefully, we wanna make sure that the green dot communication is working as well as the headsets for the coaches and make sure that we’re able to operate as usual. You know, I think in certain situations, obviously the communication helps, but when you’re in a really good road environment, it’s got a chance to be difficult for the quarterback to hear, too.”
On the benefit of Nico Iamaleava being at road games last season even though he didn’t play
“Throughout my career, have always tried to take all the young quarterbacks and certainly Nico was our backup last year. I have always done that. Just to try to get those guys exposed to what it’s going to be like playing in opposing stadiums and just the level of consistent communication that it takes and understanding the flow of the game, the momentum swings. It is just 11-on-11 when you’re between the white lines. But young guys at times can get overwhelmed with the momentum of the game, but from the crowd too. Nico’s got a super calm demeanor. He is got really good command and control of what we’re doing, got a great presence. He’s able to play each play independently and that’s what you gotta do in this football game. You go on the road, the little things add up to all the big things that everybody sees. So we’ve tried to replicate that here in our practices and know that it’s going to be a great environment in Norman.”
On Brent Venables saying Heupel was ‘skinny, frail and pasty’ and threw a wobbly ball when he was working out on his Oklahoma visit, what he remembers about the visit
“Yeah, I probably was a little pasty. I was hiding in hibernation in the early part of my life. But when we got there I certainly had to continue to grow as a player. I might have always had a little wobble on my ball, but staff there, Mike (Leach) and obviously the strength staff there, did a great job of helping me transform. But really our entire football roster.”
On if he ever looks back on getting fired at Oklahoma as a blessing in disguise
“Yeah, absolutely. Proud of a lot of what we did or I was a part of while I was there, but I wouldn’t change anything. I’m fortunate and blessed to be here and absolutely love it on Rocky Top and have had an opportunity to meet so many great people along the way that have impacted me, but also Oklahoma impacted me that way too. And from a player, the relationships that I got with teammates, fellow coaches as a coach, but my coaches as a player too and it was a great journey and I wouldn’t be here without everything that happened at Oklahoma.”
On what stood out about Brent Venables when Heupel was playing quarterback, and what it was like going against Venables’ defenses on a weekly basis in practice
“There’s so many things that I learned from Brent, but as a player, you saw his energy and his passion, his focus every day. Super consistent inside of the building, in the meeting room, in his preparation, the detail that he had in his preparation and how he poured into his players. I saw those same things as a coach working with him there as well. Brent’s made a huge impact on my career.”
On if he remembers some of the lessons that he took from Venables and if there are still some that he carries with him to this day
“Yeah, I mean, a lot of the things that I just talked about. Brent’s got great attention to detail and has an ability to relate to his players extremely well while still pushing them to be their best. Those are things that absolutely stick with me.”
On Venables saying earlier on the SEC Teleconference that Heupel played through an elbow injury in his throwing arm the second half of the 2000 season in which they won the national championship
“Well, it still doesn’t look right if you look at it closely, but there were a couple other bruises too that caused me some problems at the end of the year. That team in general, the ability for guys to be resilient, play through whatever they were going through was a huge part of why we were able to go win a championship.”
On what stands out about Oklahoma’s defensive line
“Strong, explosive power, speed off of the edges. They play with great fundamentals and technique. They play extremely hard. Their second and third levels do a great job of playing off of what’s happening up front as well. It’s why they’ve been really good against the run. They got really good talent, but you can tell it’s been developed, too.”
