Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the local media Thursday morning for his final media availability before the Vols face Austin Peay in their home opener Saturday.
Heupel wished the former Vols in the NFL well, discussed who can step up in linebacker Keenan Pili’s absence and much more.
Here’s everything Heupel said.
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Opening statement
“I know the NFL season opens up (this week). I just wanted to wish all of our VFL’s over the course of the season good luck, and hopefully we’ll see a bunch of them back here during their bye weeks. Good luck to those guys as they kick off. Looking forward to Saturday night here inside of Neyland. Can’t wait to see 102,000 of our fans there. I want that place to be rocking like it always is.”
On what his emphasis to his team has been this week
“That’s really true every single week. It all starts with the guy in the mirror and ultimately everybody inside of that team room. Our preparation has been really good and sound. Today was really good. Continue to win the preparation battle here as we get ready for kickoff. You have to be consistent in your preparation and your competitive nature when you walk out onto that field. First ball game inside of Neyland, and I expect our guys to be excited and ready to go compete for 60 minutes. In all three phases, this early in the year there are so many things that we needed to grow from last week. I think our guys have been intentional in that.”
On Dylan Sampson’s leadership ability
“It’s rare. His freshman year, he got here in the summer, he wasn’t a mid-year enrollee. He’s extremely bright, smart and has a great feel naturally at the position. You saw him help on special teams as well last year. This offseason he’s continued that growth. His energy has been infectious from day one. This offseason, he initially wasn’t a part of our leadership council, but what he did all winter and spring ball, we put him on our leadership council. He’s very confident in who he is, he knows what he’s doing, he knows who he is outside of the building, and he brings a great energy. He demands things of the guys around him. He’s willing to act. That’s the first step of leadership. He has a great football future and great leadership traits inside of our building. He’s been huge for us.”
On what to expect from Tennessee’s linebackers in Keenan Pili’s absence
“For all those guys you’re, going see those guys play a bunch of football. You’ll see us rotate a bunch there. For those guys, to be honest, I haven’t seen anything a whole lot different other than who they’ve been up until the moment of opportunity here with Keenan’s (Pili) injury. I think that’s a compliment to them individually, but also Coach BJ (Brian Jean-Mary) has done a great job of developing that room. Those guys will be excited to play. I expect whoever is in to play at a really high level. You know, continued growth and understanding our gaps, gap assignments and those assignments. Keenan (Pili) was a great leader and did a really great job, had great football IQ. His communication was big for us. Those guys got to do a great job with that on Saturday night.”
On if Tennessee is more equipped to deal with a linebacker injury than they were in the past
“I think just being in year three, the guys have been with us a year or two years. They got a better understanding of who we are and what we’re about. The competition of that room has forced those guys to compete on and off the field every single day. The depth of our football program helps you at any position when somebody gets nicked up. But we’re going to need to continue to have that as we go through the season.”
On if they plan to continue to rotate offensive lineman like they did against Virginia
“The guys that are going to prove that they’re going to play at a really high level that we have great trust in, those guys deserve the opportunity to play and I anticipate us at this point continuing to rotate guys.”
