Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the local media on Monday afternoon to put a bow on the Vols’ win over Florida and to open up Alabama week.
Heupel discussed what Nico Iamaleava needs to do to improve, the challenges that Alabama’s elite offense presents and much more. Here’s everything Heupel said on Monday.
More From RTI: Tennessee Linebacker Keenan Pili Out For Season With Knee Injury
Opening Statement
“Good afternoon. Another huge contest here for us (against Alabama). Rivalry game and college football is as good as it gets here with these two teams playing. So looking forward to seeing our fans out on Saturday. And needing a great week of practice preparation for a really good football team that we’re playing. Talented as everybody knows. Ability to make explosive plays on the offensive side of the football Starts with their quarterback, him being a part of the run game and then playmakers out on the outside. And defensively, personnel wise, they look like they always do. Big and strong up front and second level can run and third level is extremely athletic. So a huge task for us. We got to continue to get better and get ready to go play really good football.”
On what he saw from Tennessee’s offense against Florida on film, if he still feels like the Vols are close to making big plays
“Yeah, certainly there’s big plays out there that we’re a little bit off on. But even just the run, some of our, our pass game that’s not vertically down the football field, we’re close on things. Eleven guys got to fully operate as one. And the good thing is we have guys that can do it. We have guys that have already done it before. We got to prepare the right way, practice really well and take some steps. But we’re fully capable of being more efficient than we were.”
On the update on injured Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili
“Yeah, Keenan had an injury, ACL, and will be done for the season. Keenan, I said it after the game, there’s nobody that represents Tennessee better than him. He’s a great leader and will continue to be that inside of our building. Just heartbroken for him and his family. A guy that does absolutely everything right. And a special, special player, but special person too. He’s got a great future.”
On the key to getting the Tennessee run game going earlier in games
“Execution. Winning on blocks when they’re isolated. Communication and, targeting the right thing. We got to settle in the football game a little bit better early in the football game. And again, that’s something that we’re fully capable of.”
On the deep balls that Tennessee missed on against Florida, what went wrong on those plays
“A little bit off on the throw. Squirrel (White was) really close. Make him bend outside a little bit off of it. Safety was a little bit tighter to it than anticipated. But all in all, wide receivers, quarterback, we got to make it right. And got to hit some of those plays.”
On Alabama coach Kalen Deboer visiting Oklahoma early in his career and Josh Heupel helping him at the time
“Kalen, not a lot of us from us from South Dakota. But anyways, knew of him when I was younger. And through his coaching career, he was just somebody that I stayed in contact with at times. Got great respect for him and what he’s done throughout his career and how he handles himself.”
On if Kalen DeBoer’s offense has evolved similarly to his since that meeting
“I think everybody’s continued to evolve from when he first visited us.”
On if he’s worried about Nico Iamaleva’s confidence
“Well, I think for every player, not just a quarterback, you’ve heard me say this, you got to play the next play independently. The next week independently too. We started extremely fast. We have the turnover, get behind the chains a couple times there in the first quarter, early second quarter with penalties, some self-inflicted wounds. Things that we can control and be smarter in. I thought for a second maybe it was just offensively we weren’t playing with the same aggressiveness that we came out early in the football game with. For us, settling in, we got a bunch of guys that have played at a high level and have made plays and Nico’s played well. He hasn’t played his best football the last couple of weeks. Let’s go prepare and practice and go play the next game, the next play with an aggressive mentality. And there’s a lot of things that he did well in the football game too, so he’s got to continue to grow.”
On if he has concerns about him trying to press too much
“I don’t have concerns about him pressing. He’s prideful. It matters to him. He wants to perform well not for himself, but for the guys around him. Let’s go have a great week and be ready to go play really good football. When you play quarterback, it’s not gonna be perfect. Everybody wants it to be. It wasn’t for Hendon Hooker, any of the guys that we’ve had. Being resilient, coming back and playing with great confidence, which he will and poise will lead you to the plays they’re going to present themselves.”
On how he’d assess Iamaleava’s pocket presence
“Some of them, he’s absolutely right. On some of them, he has got an opportunity to deliver a ball. Can the pocket be cleaner while he’s trying to deliver it? Yeah, offensive football, 11 guys got to operate together. There’s times the oline’s doing a really good job and we’re not doing a good job at running back or vice versa. For Nico being calm, poised, being in a great platform to be able to deliver the football on time is important. But a part of his game and part of what we need is when it’s not right down down the football field to be able to scramble and make plays.”
On if it feels weird preparing to face Alabama without Nick Saban
“This rivalry has been around a long time before Nick Saban was a part of it or I was a part of it. The magnitude of this rivalry is the historical nature and what it’s meant inside of this league a lot.”
On the challenges defending Jalen Milroe
“He has been extremely accurate with the football. Been a pretty sound decision maker. I think while you’re trying to apply pressure to him, right? So those guys don’t have all day to run around on the second and third level. You have to be mindful not letting him escape. His athleticism when he does escape is special. You put all those pieces together, you got to do a great job of having rush integrity, getting off a block, making a play when he tucks it.”
On how he felt like the linebackers player the other night after Keenan Pili got hurt and how comfortable he is with Jeremiah Telander potentially stepping into the role that Pili was playing
“Well, he’s played a bunch throughout the course of the season. Played, you know, really the entire football game the other night. Everybody’s got great confidence in him. But the other guys as well. Defensively, played extremely well; gap integrity, communication was solid. There’s a couple things that we weren’t right on. We can clean those things up, but all in all, have great confidence in all of those guys.”
On where tight end Ethan Davis is at after not playing at Arkansas and only 14 snaps against Florida
“He is somebody that we plan on using more. A couple weeks ago, structural change, Miles (Kitselman) got a majority of it with Holden (Staes). We got a great confidence in him. We’ll continue to play him moving forward.”
On James Pearce Jr.’s increased production the last two games
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s anything different in his effort, strain. There’s been a few more times where he has had an opportunity to make the play, and he’s made the play, but he’s played really well all year long. A couple of huge plays in the game the other night. Things that you don’t take for granted but expect him to make and he’s played really well. So, within the structure of what we’re doing, assignment sound, playing at a really high level.”
On who will take over the green-dot communication at linebacker with Keenan Pili out
“Yeah, haven’t finalized that. Could be Arion (Carter). Could be Telander that takes that one.”
If Nathan Robinson could see an expanded role after this performance in Tennessee’s jumbo-package against Florida
“Yeah, I don’t think we will expand him to play a bunch of tight end. That was something that we thought gave us an advantage in short-yardage situations the other night. He and Jackson (Moi) both performed really well with it.”
If he saw any growth in Tennessee’s offensive line from the Arkansas game to the Florida game
“At times, just not consistent enough. Five guys operating as one. A lot of times we had four operating as one. That’s how we clean it up and be more efficient in what we’re doing up front.”
On some of the younger linebackers being thrust into action with Keenan Pili out
“Yeah, we played some of those guys throughout the course of it. Have rotated there and you know, feel good about all of those guys that you’ve seen in action already. Kalib (Perry) and Jalen (Smith), those guys will continue to play.”
