KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The long-awaited first day of preseason camp is officially in the books as the 2021 Volunteers hit the ground running bright and early on Wednesday morning at Haslam Field.
During his post-practice press conference, head coach Josh Heupel was quick to praise his team’s energy level during the first official practice of the season.
“I think the thing that stuck out to me today, more than anything, is we had really positive energy,” Heupel said. “The guys were flying around the entire practice. I thought they handled the practice. None of them were completely exhausted as we were walking off the field today. I think they’re in really good shape and they’ve gained strength.”
Heupel also came away impressed by the communication between the players, who could be heard coaching each other up throughout the morning session.
“There’s a culture that is starting to build here about doing things the right way,” Heupel said. “There are players getting on players—in a positive way—and being real with each other. Once it starts taking hold inside of the locker room, that’s where you have a chance to really accelerate.”
Josh Heupel Transcript (8.4.21)
Opening Statement…
“Great day, it was awesome to get out there and be able to go compete with everybody. I thought the energy was really good, we expected that for day one. I thought their ability to take instruction and communicate with each other, you saw a bunch of players coaching each other up and giving positive feedback, I think that is unique and something we are trying to build. A lot of positive things this morning.”
On the importance of the first day…
“You can lose it, before you can win it on day one. The amount of injuries that take place early in training camps and being conscious of building these guys as we go through training camp. We tried to keep guys in short spaces today with how we did some of our drills, even with some of our installing. Obviously, (they) aren’t in shoulder pads either, so you are just being conscious of that. As you go through training camp (we’re) teaching them good habits. It’s the little things that matter and I made a point during a drill today, someone was worried about the end result, it wasn’t positive, but it’s about the little things that take you to the end result we need to be worried about. We are continuing to teach these guys how we want to react in adverse situations.”
On the players that missed spring practices…
“(We) didn’t feel like they hadn’t been out there. Jeremy Banks up in the front of the line when (we got) into the special team drill. Roman (Harrison) did a fantastic job, (Cheyenne) Labruzza looked really good out there. Some guys just have long rehab processes that have come back and are truly at 100 percent. They feel comfortable and confident in what they are doing out there on the football field. I think we’ve got a tremendous staff. I got here and we had a large amount of injuries. We’ve got a tremendous strength and conditioning staff that does a really good job. Dave Young, in particular, leads that force, does a great job in the rehab process and they work extremely well with our medical team, Jeronimo (Boche) and that staff.”
On freshman WR Walker Merrill…
“He looked really good. You guys saw him out there, he still has a knee brace on right now for protection, it’s precautionary. I feel like he is at 100 percent and is comfortable running and moving. He will continue to progress. No restrictions on him as we go through training camp.”
On Dee Beckwith at running back…
“We have Dee at running back because we believe he is a running back. We want to continue to see him progress. I thought during the course of spring ball, his last five practices were his best. He started to understand how to press holes and use blockers in front of him and started to use his body as a true weapon, which means you start playing with a little bit of pad leverage too. As a big, tall body back there that has physical strength, he’s got to be good at using his pads to play pad-on-pad and finish through a tackle. We are going to see where he is at when we get into pads – we will find more out – but certainly, that is where we think he is at.”
On dividing his time at practice…
“In the structure of our practice, early on when we get through our active stretch period, I try to get over to the defense a little bit. It’s my opportunity to see them on the defensive side of the ball and make sure they understand I’m watching them too and have a vested interest in that. During the course of some of the individual work on offense, I make sure I’m with the offensive unit or quarterbacks, at times. Try to always make it to routes to see fundamentals and technique at quarterback. We break it up, sometimes we’ve got two guys going at a time with Coach Halzle. Then there are certain team periods where I try to step back and make sure that the defense feels my presence on positive things they are doing, it may be an individual rep that you see a guy defeat a blocker or get himself into a really good body position. Juju (Juwan Mitchell) in the 7-on-7 drill did a great job today finishing the drill, making sure he is in a position to finish the tackle so when we get to the live situation and practicing with good habits. You want to make sure to celebrate the victories on both sides of the ball.”
On if there is a ‘good cop’ versus ‘bad cop’ scenario with the position coaches…
“There’s no bad cop/good cop scenario here in anything that we’re doing. We try to be real and we feel that that we can be real and transparent in our communication with our players. You do that because you’ve got the ability to have a connection with them and a relationship with them. They know exactly who and what they’re going to get every single day when they walk in the building. There’s no games being played with them.”
On who the largest running back is that he can remember coaching and if he questioned Dee Beckwith’s ability as a running back upon arriving on Rocky Top…
“No, I wouldn’t say that. One of the biggest is probably Adrian Peterson, that I’ve been around, with his length and stature. Running backs are a little bit like quarterbacks. They come in different sizes and different shapes. There’s a great one a couple of hours down the road [Derrick Henry] who is a big human being who imposes his will on people. As I’ve gone through my tenure in coaching, you find different skill sets and different body types. They’re all weapons with the ball in their hands. We need to try to utilize that.”
On his evaluation of freshman Kaemen Marley, who is listed as a defensive back and played wide receiver on day one of fall camp…
“That’s just how he was recruited. I feel like that’s a natural starting point for him. He’s a guy that’s ultra-talented and we’ll find out his skill sets, where he feels comfortable, where his progression goes and how we get him on the field fastest.”
On how he feels the defensive line developed over the summer…
“We’ll find a lot more as we go down the road. I think just through the summer those guys – and really defensively as a whole – I think they’ve gained so much comfort, understanding and the ability to comprehend C-formation, recognize it and communicate at all three levels and truly know their job, know it inside and out. They’re a long ways away from where they ended the spring. They had a great summer. All of those guys up front fit into that teaching pattern too. I’m pleased with what they’re doing and we’re going to find out more as we go watch the video.”
On if a strong-armed quarterback is responsible for learning to throw with touch, or if the wide receivers have to learn to adjust to the speed of the ball…
“There’s certain throws that you’re going to make that require touch. There’s some that you’re going to drive in there—slants at times—and throw the ball with some pace on it into some of those windows. We have strong-handed receivers that will be able to adjust to whichever quarterback’s playing. We’re going to let our quarterbacks be them.”
On Kamal Hadden, Trinity Bell and Princeton Fant’s status…
“Kamal was out there. Trinity is coming back. He’s still rehabbing from a knee injury that he suffered in high school. It’s a process that we feel really good about—his rehab—right now, but he’s not ready to be on the field for us. Princeton will be with us tomorrow.”
On the importance of the positive practice habits that he’s trying to build…
“It’s being able to be really with them and having a clear vision of how you want to play on Saturdays and being able to rewind that and your players understanding what is important. When they understand those things, then they’ve got a chance to grab onto them. If they don’t meet the standard, you communicate real clearly to them. There’s a culture that is starting to build here about doing things the right way. There’s players getting on players—in a positive way—and being real with each other. Once it starts taking hold inside of the locker room, that’s where you have a chance to really accelerate.”
On what he saw from the transfers today and if he focused on helping them become acclimated…
“I think they really are acclimated. Those guys have been here, most of them for June and July. There’s a portion of them that have been here all of May. They’re integrated into our team. Our team welcomed them. They’re good teammates. They do things the right way. The guys that we’ve brought in here, there’s no off-the-field issues with those guys. They’re helping to build the culture that we want inside of the locker room, out on the practice field and ultimately on gamedays. Did they know exactly how the practice was going to unfold? Certainly not, but they weren’t standing out in any way. They went out there and they competed really hard.”
On what he saw from JaVonta Payton on the first day of fall camp…
“Explosiveness—he made a couple of nice, competitive catches. He looks natural, fluid, with strong hands. We did a release drill and he did a good job in that with the ability to see man-press and get off of it too. I feel good about what he did in day one.”
On if there is anything specific that stood out to him after Wednesday’s opening of preseason camp…
“I think the thing that stuck out to me today, more than anything, is we had really positive energy. The guys were flying around the entire practice. I thought they handled the practice. None of them were completely exhausted as we were walking off the field today. I think they’re in really good shape and they’ve gained strength. They all feel really good in their athletic movement and the progress that they’ve made since Coach (Kurt) Schmidt got here in the strength and conditioning area. I think the one thing outside of that that I take away is their ability to communicate with each other and give positive feedback or talk to each other about not using the right technique. I was really excited about that.”
On the retention level of the offense and quarterbacks…
“I really feel like, for pretty much everyone on the offensive unit, we are way ahead of where we finished (the spring). I mentioned that on the defensive side of the ball too, but we’ve continued to become smarter and have more understanding of what we are trying to do and how to operate throughout the summer. Quarterbacks, I saw them all miss throws, I saw them all make throws. It’s day one, you know what I mean? It was a good day. I’m excited to go watch the video with the staff.”
On the excitement level within the coaching staff…
“Our staff is excited to get out there and go compete and start the on-field process of this journey. We have come a long way and we’ve got a long way to go and you’re never satisfied as a coach, but it was exciting to get out there and, for lack a better term, get their hands on guys and start coaching and start that process. It was a lot of fun.”
-UT Athletics
