KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After some much needed and deserved time off, preparations for the Capital One Orange Bowl are officially underway for No. 6 Tennessee after hitting the practice field on Friday and Saturday morning this week.

Head coach Josh Heupel was excited to be back on the practice field with the team and said during his Saturday press conference that the time away was helpful for the team’s veterans to recharge and get healthy while also getting the younger players some opportunities to further their development.

“The early part of bowl prep has been about getting our young guys a ton of reps and helping them grow as a football player as our older guys had a little bit of time to kind of heal up from the season,” Heupel said after Saturday’s practice at Haslam Field.

Playing in their first Orange Bowl since 1997, the Vols know they have a great opportunity to add an exclamation point to a memorable season with a win over ACC champion No. 7 Clemson, who has been one of college football’s premier programs during the playoff era.

“Clemson, obviously a great football team and they have been doing it at a really high level for a long time,” Heupel said. “Defensively, one of the top teams in the country, extremely aggressive in what they do.

“They got great personnel offensively. (They have) a new quarterback that played in a dynamic way in their conference championship game, but great skill players out on the perimeter as well and a huge test, but a great opportunity for our football program at the end of the month. I’m excited about that.”

The Vols and Tigers will square off at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Limited tickets remain for the game and fans are encouraged to visit AllVols.com to purchase tickets.

The full transcript of Heupel’s post-practice press conference can be found below.

Head Coach Josh Heupel Transcript

Opening Statement…
“First opportunity for me to be in front of you since a couple of tragic things have happened. First the UCF family, all the former players, everybody connected to that program, lost a great teammate and a great person, somebody that absolutely loved life in Jake Hescock. My heart goes out to his entire family and all those that know him. Another young man that is gone way too early. Also, college football lost an iconic figure in Mike Leach. Someone that changed the way people thought about the game. One of the most unique individuals that I’ve come into contact with, someone that had a huge impact on my career, how we think about the game, how we think about offensive football, but also someone that gave me a shot in college football. So grateful to him for everything he has really helped me accomplished. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with Sharon and their entire family as they go through the grieving process.

“Obviously, you guys saw today we also flipped the page and started some of our bowl prep. We got some good work in with our young guys in particular, up until this point our vets have started working back into things over the last three, four days. As we get through this week, we will kind of turn the page and head towards Clemson in our preparation. Clemson, obviously a great football team and they have been doing it at a really high level for a long time. Defensively, one of the top teams in the country, extremely aggressive in what they do. They got great personnel offensively. (They have) a new quarterback that played in a dynamic way in their conference championship game, but great skill players out on the perimeter as well and a huge test, but a great opportunity for our football program at the end of the month, I’m excited about that. We have a bunch of midyear enrollees you guys got a chance to see a little bit of today, as well. Excited to have them a part of our program in what’s going on, get this experience here, practices at home, but also a lot of them will be able to go to the bowl site as well. Excited for them, I’ll talk about those guys here when we get to Signing Day. I’ll open it up to some questions at this point.”

On Coach Leach’s impact on him wanting to get into coaching…
“That clip, man it was a long ago and at the same time it feels like that seems like yesterday. I remember that moment really clearly. That was the last practice that he was at Oklahoma, it hadn’t become public that he was taking the job at Texas Tech yet. That opportunity to talk to him, (I was) excited for him. Obviously, he and I, in that year being able to flip what was going on offensively, what had been done there before and with Bob (Stoops) and the entire staff flipped the trajectory of Oklahoma Football. Really thankful for what he poured into me. There’s a million conversations that had nothing to do with football – they might have started out as football, but they quickly transitioned into life—that you remember with him. Had an opportunity to talk to him with maybe two weeks left to go in the regular season, late night conversation and I remember my wife wasn’t listening to the entire conversation, but she heard it start with football, go way off the beaten path, and somehow navigate back to football at the very end of it. You know, from Mike, just being with him every day in the meeting room, schematically how he thought at that time, there were very few people that were that wide open and thought differently. The way the game is played in space in today’s game is a direct reflection of him and his thought pattern. For sure, how he thought about the game, how he allowed his quarterbacks to be a part of the game and have control out there on gameday, those are all things that played a major role in me ultimately wanting to get into football and coaching.”

On the balance between onboarding mid-year enrollees and focusing on bowl prep…
“You guys will make (the newcomers) a story. We won’t make them the story. It’s awesome to have those guys here. The great thing about the way recruiting is in today’s world is they’ve been around our players a bunch, and they’re already connected—that group as they come here on campus, but also to our football team. The focus for us is getting our players ready to go play here. The early part of bowl prep has been about getting our young guys a ton of reps and helping them grow as a football player as our older guys had a little bit of time to kind of heal up from the season. Having them here on campus, you get them started primarily through individual (periods), maybe some one-on-one sessions where they’re able to grow an understanding of what we want. We spent a little bit of extra time with them on the back end of practice, 10 to 15 minutes, being intentional and helping them grow where they’re gaining something out of the experience. They learn the culture. We set the parameters of who we are and what we do. It’s a great opportunity for them to spend two weeks here and kind of get a feel for that. I think the biggest thing out of this bowl preparation for the young guys that come in, is they understand the speed, the urgency that you have to have. I think it accelerates the urgency when they get back here in January, where they’re very intentional in growing every single day. They get themselves in a position to be ready for spring ball.”

On Jalin Hyatt winning the Biletnikoff Award and his decision to declare for the NFL Draft…
“What an awesome story, right? Proud of him. All of those individual awards come through team success and a team working together. So extremely excited for him, and excited for our football team that he gets recognized in that way. The season that he had, everybody’s heard the story. Wanting to be a great player versus working to be a great player. Man, he paid the price and he reaped the rewards. Really proud of him and what he accomplished all year long. It’s a great story that will live forever inside of this building for our future players and future teams. At the same time, the NFL process for all of our guys, we want guys to have the opportunity to go to that level, to be a high draft pick and maximize their value. The conversations, we use not just coaches’ (evaluations), but resources. You try to get them the right information in front of them, so that they can make the right decision for them and their family. Whether that’s Jalin, whether it’s Darnell (Wright), all of those guys, you feel like they have the education, they have the information, then you let them make a great decision. Excited for Jalin and his future, know he’s going to be a high draft pick. Excited that we had a huge part in his journey. This is going to be his home forever.”

On the NCAA calendar for football during the month of December…
“I think there are going to have to continue to be changes to the calendar. That’s recruiting calendar, it’s the amount of dead time that you have where you can focus and emphasize what’s going on inside of your own building. There are a lot of balls that have to be juggled in the air here once it hits December. Finding the right balance, I think is something that the NCAA is going to have to take a hard look at. Obviously, our coaches’ association should be a huge part of that in trying to find the right way to structure and balance everything here throughout the 12-month calendar.”

On how he feels the team will be from a health standpoint for the Orange Bowl…
“I do feel like by the time that we get to the major part of our prep, but certainly by the time that we get to Miami, we should be pretty healthy and ready to go compete with everybody.”

On the status of QB Tayven Jackson and if he’ll be available for the bowl game…
“I think if we continue down the stretch that we have (he will be available). He’s been back, he’s been practicing here the last week. As long as we continue on that (path) I feel like he’ll be available for us when we get to Miami.”

On Cedric Tillman’s health status throughout the season and his lasting impact at Tennessee…
“I think that’s a really unique situation. A young guy that obviously played extremely well a year ago and was ready to play extremely well this year too. From Week 3 or Week 4, whatever it was, obviously had the surgery, just hasn’t been at 100 percent. I love that he came back and tried to compete on the backend of the season. I think that shows his heart for his teammates, for this program. For him, as he’s getting ready for the draft process, I think it’s important that he gets to the point where he’s 100 percent. For him, this month here has got a chance to help him heal up and be ready for the backend of the NFL process.”