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SEC Media Days: UF opponent Tennessee
- Thread starter Mark Wheeler
- Start date
Courtesy ASAP Transcripts...
JOSH HEUPEL: Great to see everybody here today. Hope everybody had a great summer. For us it's fitting that we're here in Atlanta. Obviously a lot of our roster comes from right here in the state of Georgia and Atlanta area, but this is also where we kickoff here in the AFLAC Kickoff game here in Atlanta as we get ready to start the season.
Extremely appreciative of Gary Stokan, his entire staff, the organization, everything that they've done for us and our preparation to come down here, but also affording us the opportunity to play in this game inside of Mercedes Benz against great opponents. I know there's going to be a lot of orange inside of that stadium when we kick off Vol Nation and need to make sure it's the right shade of orange.
Embarking into year five, as I was getting ready for today, I really rewound back to year one and how myself and our staff came to Tennessee and the adversity in which we took the program over.
I'm really proud of what we've done, from roster management to some of the recruiting things we've had to deal with. It's how I know our best is in front of us. What has crippled other programs in the past, University of Tennessee and our football program has been able to flourish.
You look over the last three years, 30 wins, the most wins in Tennessee in the stretch of three years of Tennessee football since the late '90s, if you look at the College Football Playoff, New Year's Six bowl wins, you look at what we've done in the NFL draft. The best stretch of NFL draft picks in Tennessee in over two decades.
While we've been able to have that success on the field, players have done an unbelievable job inside our community. Each year we've set a team GPA record in the history of Tennessee football. I'm extremely proud of what our staff and our players have done here in a short amount of time.
Defensively, extremely excited. A year ago you guys maybe heard the quote of me saying that elite defense is required, and it's our history at the University of Tennessee. It's the home of Reggie White, Al Wilson, Eric Berry, three guys that may be one of, if not the best, players at their position in the history of the game.
Our defensive staff, led by Tim Banks, but our entire staff has done a great job. A year ago, you look at us, and we're top 10 in the country in six defensive statistical categories. Since we arrived at Tennessee, lead the league in tackles for loss. Could not be more excited about what we've done but also the future on that side of the football with the leadership and the players that we have inside of our program.
Offensively we found a lot of ways to win during the course of my career as an offensive coach and as a head coach, through the air and on the ground, have found a way to be elite year in and year out. You look at what we've done, two SEC Players of the Year in the last three years, one at quarterback, one at running back.
Last two years we've led the SEC in rushing. The last four years since we arrived we've rushed for 125 yards each year. Never been done in the history of Tennessee football. Really proud of what we've done, but the guys and the staff that we have to continue to grow as we move forward this year into the '25 season.
I know, when I open it up for questions, the first one will be about our quarterback situation. So I'm going to touch on that a little bit here as I get started. We will have a competition at the quarterback position, three guys inside of that room - really proud of what they've done - Joey, since he got there in May, Merklinger and George MacIntyre, what those three guys have done since they've been on campus. They've taken the summer, developed relationships, rapport with the guys around them, their ability to compete in a positive way with each other in the meeting room and on the field, their ability to have leadership traits and to continue to grow in that. I'm really excited about getting on the field with those guys.
We've found a way to win with a lot of different quarterbacks throughout my career on the offensive side of the ball, and we're going to find a way to win with the guy that earns a starting spot as we go through training camp here in August.
We have three players that are with us today that resemble everything that we want inside of our program, from an accountability standpoint, leadership, mental and physical toughness, who they are inside of the community and how they impact their teammates on a day-to-day basis. Linebacker Arian Carter that is a dynamic player; defensive tackle Bryson Eason from Memphis. He's in year six with us. Really proud of the steps that he's taken individually as a person and as a player and he's ready to play his best ball. And then tight end Miles Kitselman that a year ago came into our program. There's nobody that puts more work into every single day and impacts the teammates around him in a more positive way. Great leader for us.
As we move forward here into the '25 season, I'm going to rewind to last December. Everybody inside of our program didn't like the taste in their mouth as the season finished up in late December. That's been a part of spurring us on throughout each quarter of our off-season. It's been a part of how intentional and how focused that we've been throughout the course of the summer, and I'm excited to go compete with these guys when we get here to training camp.
For us to take another step and to continue to grow as a program, it has come down -- and this is something that we've been very diligent in inside of our program this off-season. The accountability to yourself and to your teammates every single day, guys doing their job at an elite level, building the leadership that you need to have to control and command your unit and your position group, and ultimately the way that we're going to compete every single day together.
Our young guys don't have time to be young as we get to the fall, and that's been a part of the message that our leadership has applied to the young guys inside of our program. I'm extremely excited about the young talent and the young competitive traits that we have inside of it, but we've got to have a great training camp here to go be the best version of ourselves as we get ready for the season.
Excited to open up camp. Our fan base is nothing short of the best in college football. You look at our season ticket waiting list of over 24,000 fans, our home record 20-1 over the last three seasons, that's been a huge part of us continuing to create momentum in recruiting, and couldn't be more excited to get ready to go tee this thing up with these guys as we get to September.
With that, I'll open it up for questions.
JOSH HEUPEL: Great to see everybody here today. Hope everybody had a great summer. For us it's fitting that we're here in Atlanta. Obviously a lot of our roster comes from right here in the state of Georgia and Atlanta area, but this is also where we kickoff here in the AFLAC Kickoff game here in Atlanta as we get ready to start the season.
Extremely appreciative of Gary Stokan, his entire staff, the organization, everything that they've done for us and our preparation to come down here, but also affording us the opportunity to play in this game inside of Mercedes Benz against great opponents. I know there's going to be a lot of orange inside of that stadium when we kick off Vol Nation and need to make sure it's the right shade of orange.
Embarking into year five, as I was getting ready for today, I really rewound back to year one and how myself and our staff came to Tennessee and the adversity in which we took the program over.
I'm really proud of what we've done, from roster management to some of the recruiting things we've had to deal with. It's how I know our best is in front of us. What has crippled other programs in the past, University of Tennessee and our football program has been able to flourish.
You look over the last three years, 30 wins, the most wins in Tennessee in the stretch of three years of Tennessee football since the late '90s, if you look at the College Football Playoff, New Year's Six bowl wins, you look at what we've done in the NFL draft. The best stretch of NFL draft picks in Tennessee in over two decades.
While we've been able to have that success on the field, players have done an unbelievable job inside our community. Each year we've set a team GPA record in the history of Tennessee football. I'm extremely proud of what our staff and our players have done here in a short amount of time.
Defensively, extremely excited. A year ago you guys maybe heard the quote of me saying that elite defense is required, and it's our history at the University of Tennessee. It's the home of Reggie White, Al Wilson, Eric Berry, three guys that may be one of, if not the best, players at their position in the history of the game.
Our defensive staff, led by Tim Banks, but our entire staff has done a great job. A year ago, you look at us, and we're top 10 in the country in six defensive statistical categories. Since we arrived at Tennessee, lead the league in tackles for loss. Could not be more excited about what we've done but also the future on that side of the football with the leadership and the players that we have inside of our program.
Offensively we found a lot of ways to win during the course of my career as an offensive coach and as a head coach, through the air and on the ground, have found a way to be elite year in and year out. You look at what we've done, two SEC Players of the Year in the last three years, one at quarterback, one at running back.
Last two years we've led the SEC in rushing. The last four years since we arrived we've rushed for 125 yards each year. Never been done in the history of Tennessee football. Really proud of what we've done, but the guys and the staff that we have to continue to grow as we move forward this year into the '25 season.
I know, when I open it up for questions, the first one will be about our quarterback situation. So I'm going to touch on that a little bit here as I get started. We will have a competition at the quarterback position, three guys inside of that room - really proud of what they've done - Joey, since he got there in May, Merklinger and George MacIntyre, what those three guys have done since they've been on campus. They've taken the summer, developed relationships, rapport with the guys around them, their ability to compete in a positive way with each other in the meeting room and on the field, their ability to have leadership traits and to continue to grow in that. I'm really excited about getting on the field with those guys.
We've found a way to win with a lot of different quarterbacks throughout my career on the offensive side of the ball, and we're going to find a way to win with the guy that earns a starting spot as we go through training camp here in August.
We have three players that are with us today that resemble everything that we want inside of our program, from an accountability standpoint, leadership, mental and physical toughness, who they are inside of the community and how they impact their teammates on a day-to-day basis. Linebacker Arian Carter that is a dynamic player; defensive tackle Bryson Eason from Memphis. He's in year six with us. Really proud of the steps that he's taken individually as a person and as a player and he's ready to play his best ball. And then tight end Miles Kitselman that a year ago came into our program. There's nobody that puts more work into every single day and impacts the teammates around him in a more positive way. Great leader for us.
As we move forward here into the '25 season, I'm going to rewind to last December. Everybody inside of our program didn't like the taste in their mouth as the season finished up in late December. That's been a part of spurring us on throughout each quarter of our off-season. It's been a part of how intentional and how focused that we've been throughout the course of the summer, and I'm excited to go compete with these guys when we get here to training camp.
For us to take another step and to continue to grow as a program, it has come down -- and this is something that we've been very diligent in inside of our program this off-season. The accountability to yourself and to your teammates every single day, guys doing their job at an elite level, building the leadership that you need to have to control and command your unit and your position group, and ultimately the way that we're going to compete every single day together.
Our young guys don't have time to be young as we get to the fall, and that's been a part of the message that our leadership has applied to the young guys inside of our program. I'm extremely excited about the young talent and the young competitive traits that we have inside of it, but we've got to have a great training camp here to go be the best version of ourselves as we get ready for the season.
Excited to open up camp. Our fan base is nothing short of the best in college football. You look at our season ticket waiting list of over 24,000 fans, our home record 20-1 over the last three seasons, that's been a huge part of us continuing to create momentum in recruiting, and couldn't be more excited to get ready to go tee this thing up with these guys as we get to September.
With that, I'll open it up for questions.
Q. You mentioned Miles Kitselman. Obviously you guys evaluated him out of the portal from Alabama, and he took on a much bigger role for you. How did he kind of expand his toolbox with you guys, and what do you foresee his role being this year?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think it starts with him, with his competitive makeup of who he is every single day as he walks into the building. Elite competitor, you know exactly what you're going to get, which is everything that he has every single day. He's got great football IQ and understanding as of what we're doing offensively, the fundamentals and the technique, but also understanding the scheme we're going against on the other side of the football.
He's really developed as a leader during the course of this off-season. He's always been a guy that's been able to coach the guys at his position or even during the course of the special teams as he got comfort and earned the trust of the guys around him. He's taken his leadership to a whole 'nother level for us. Expect him to play at an elite level, be a huge part of what we're doing.
The tight end position inside of the scope of what we do offensively is kind of our utility knife. Within our tempo, it gives us the ability to play in a lot of different formations if they have the skill sets that Miles has. That's the ability to play out in space, be in line, be off the ball, the ability to run, block and pass protect while being a guy that can make plays down the football field with his hands as well. He's got great understanding of spatial relationships in the scope of our pass game too.
Q. The fortune for Tennessee against Georgia in the past, the recent memory has not been too well for the Volunteers.
JOSH HEUPEL: Thanks for reminding me.
Q. How is it going to be different this year welcoming the Bulldogs back to Knoxville and Neyland?
JOSH HEUPEL: We haven't been able to be on the right side of the scoreboard in that game. That's players and coaches together ultimately being a little bit better. A couple of those games last year, it's a tight ballgame in the fourth quarter. For us it's tying all three phases of the game together.
Kirby and their staff and their players have done a really good job and played really well in those games. It will be important for us - that's week 3 - that we're ready to go play at the level that we need to against a really good football team.
Q. In your tenure at Tennessee, you have been one of the best fast-starting offenses in the country. You scored 41 of your last 43 games in the first quarter. However, at the end of last season, you failed to score in six of the last nine. How much of that has been a focus in the off-season, how to fix it?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, we certainly want to start fast. That has the ability to apply pressure and maybe change the way the game's played in some situations as the game continues to unfold. At the same time, if it doesn't, you've got to continue to play and find a way to scratch and claw and get back on the right side of it.
Proud of a lot of what we did not starting fast last year, competitive makeup to continue to play. That could be offensively, but it's ultimately all three phases playing together, having an expectation that somebody's going to make a play that makes a difference in the game.
For us, you rewind and look at what happened early in ballgames last year. It ultimately became a little bit of a snowball effect. First ballgame, we're turning it over twice inside of the red zone, and that comes down to the small details, fundamentals, and technique that you're embarking on as soon as you're starting your off-season. You're on the field during the course of spring ball and certainly during the course of summer and training camp.
You put those little things together, ultimately that becomes what everybody sees and talks about. For us, the attention to detail on the offensive side of the ball -- it could be snap, could be messes with the running back, could be protection, could be reading progression for quarterback. All of those things have got to come together for us to be what we want to be, which is a football team that starts fast.
Q. You lost a quarterback. A lot of people lose quarterbacks in the portal these days, but you lost one at a unique time, the end of spring. What had you guys done to that point in the possibility of losing a quarterback, and what did you do in scramble mode, and going forward what can programs do to prepare for that kind of unique situation?
JOSH HEUPEL: Ultimately at the end of the day, it's never about who's not in your building but about who is in your building. For us, you can lose a quarterback at a lot of different times: December transfer portal, spring transfer portal. You can lose one week 1, first quarter of the ballgame in your opener, and now you're on to number two through injury, right? You've got to have the next-man-up mentality.
At the end of the day, having guys that want to compete along with their brothers inside of that locker room, building that connection, but also having the right guys in there.
At the end of the day, I'm really excited about who we have in there. The addition of Joey to who's already inside of that group, highly competitive guys that are smart, that have the physical traits to be successful. Teammates have grown to have great trust in those guys through the course of this off-season during the summer, and now it's about getting to training camp and going and competing. Somebody is going to earn the opportunity to be our starting quarterback through that process.
Q. You're 2-2 in that rivalry against Alabama. That's typically pretty streaky. What do you think you guys need to do to take the reins in that rivalry this season?
JOSH HEUPEL: That game is a long ways away from where we are today. I think in this entire journey it's important your team controls the controllable, which isn't yesterday, it's not tomorrow, it's where you are right now.
If this football team is focused on that journey day in and day out, we'll have a chance to grow to be a team that can go down to Tuscaloosa, compete, and hopefully find a way to win.
It's one of the greatest rivalries I've ever been involved in. It's a really unique game in a really unique setting. A couple years ago, we weren't on the right side of it, but I'm looking forward to going down there and competing with this group when we get to that point in the season.
Q. A lot of the talk around personnel departments, general managers. You have a unique setup, it feels like, from my understanding from 35,000 foot, Jake Breske, Billy High, and Brandon Lawson. Can you discuss what all three of those roles are? You have a wily veteran defensive line coach, got his lumps around the league in Rodney Garner in Georgia and Auburn, did phenomenal jobs there. How has he helped bring back that Tennessee defense to where it's supposed to be and the standard it's supposed to be? How has he helped you all through the first few years starting back in '21?
JOSH HEUPEL: Absolutely, personnel department, scouting department for high school, transfer portal when those times open up, recruiting department, everything that goes into the day-to-day operations of that side of it, being able to coordinate all those things together, ultimately cohesively make decisions on what's right for the future of our program as far as our personnel. We've had that in place since I got there. Really proud of what all of those guys have done and who we have in the building because of the strategic way that we've approached it.
Rodney Garner, a guy that's coached 35 years, I think, inside of this league, understands what it takes to win on Saturdays, but the approach and the plan that you have to get there. Does a great job of fundamentals and technique, the development of our guys. You look at the success that we've had up front. I mentioned leading the league in tackles for loss over the last four years, guys that have been drafted -- James Pearce, first-round pick. He's done an elite job up there.
That's a big part and key philosophically of how we want to play on the defensive side of the ball. With the scheme of Tim Banks and Rodney being a huge part of that, Coach Levorn Harbin being a massive addition to what we're doing on that side of the ball, Marion Hobby coming back, a guy that played at Tennessee, coached at Tennessee. He's been in the NFL. Having him back in the building, we've got a plethora of resources for our guys that sit in that defensive line room.
Q. This off-season you were able to add Seth Littrell as an offensive analyst, a guy that's coordinated and coached some really high-powered offenses. What kind of impact do you think he could have on the 2025 offense?
JOSH HEUPEL: For Seth, somebody that I've played with, got great trust in. He's the kind of guy that's going to be clear in his communication to me. His experience as a head coach is another tool that he brings to us. He's had elite offenses with great players, done it at an extremely high level. His knowledge, expertise, his understanding of some of the things that we do offensively and the ability to bring some creative things that are maybe good additions to what we're doing.
Seth has been great for us since he got there in February, and we expect him to be a big part of what we're doing.
JOSH HEUPEL: I think it starts with him, with his competitive makeup of who he is every single day as he walks into the building. Elite competitor, you know exactly what you're going to get, which is everything that he has every single day. He's got great football IQ and understanding as of what we're doing offensively, the fundamentals and the technique, but also understanding the scheme we're going against on the other side of the football.
He's really developed as a leader during the course of this off-season. He's always been a guy that's been able to coach the guys at his position or even during the course of the special teams as he got comfort and earned the trust of the guys around him. He's taken his leadership to a whole 'nother level for us. Expect him to play at an elite level, be a huge part of what we're doing.
The tight end position inside of the scope of what we do offensively is kind of our utility knife. Within our tempo, it gives us the ability to play in a lot of different formations if they have the skill sets that Miles has. That's the ability to play out in space, be in line, be off the ball, the ability to run, block and pass protect while being a guy that can make plays down the football field with his hands as well. He's got great understanding of spatial relationships in the scope of our pass game too.
Q. The fortune for Tennessee against Georgia in the past, the recent memory has not been too well for the Volunteers.
JOSH HEUPEL: Thanks for reminding me.
Q. How is it going to be different this year welcoming the Bulldogs back to Knoxville and Neyland?
JOSH HEUPEL: We haven't been able to be on the right side of the scoreboard in that game. That's players and coaches together ultimately being a little bit better. A couple of those games last year, it's a tight ballgame in the fourth quarter. For us it's tying all three phases of the game together.
Kirby and their staff and their players have done a really good job and played really well in those games. It will be important for us - that's week 3 - that we're ready to go play at the level that we need to against a really good football team.
Q. In your tenure at Tennessee, you have been one of the best fast-starting offenses in the country. You scored 41 of your last 43 games in the first quarter. However, at the end of last season, you failed to score in six of the last nine. How much of that has been a focus in the off-season, how to fix it?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, we certainly want to start fast. That has the ability to apply pressure and maybe change the way the game's played in some situations as the game continues to unfold. At the same time, if it doesn't, you've got to continue to play and find a way to scratch and claw and get back on the right side of it.
Proud of a lot of what we did not starting fast last year, competitive makeup to continue to play. That could be offensively, but it's ultimately all three phases playing together, having an expectation that somebody's going to make a play that makes a difference in the game.
For us, you rewind and look at what happened early in ballgames last year. It ultimately became a little bit of a snowball effect. First ballgame, we're turning it over twice inside of the red zone, and that comes down to the small details, fundamentals, and technique that you're embarking on as soon as you're starting your off-season. You're on the field during the course of spring ball and certainly during the course of summer and training camp.
You put those little things together, ultimately that becomes what everybody sees and talks about. For us, the attention to detail on the offensive side of the ball -- it could be snap, could be messes with the running back, could be protection, could be reading progression for quarterback. All of those things have got to come together for us to be what we want to be, which is a football team that starts fast.
Q. You lost a quarterback. A lot of people lose quarterbacks in the portal these days, but you lost one at a unique time, the end of spring. What had you guys done to that point in the possibility of losing a quarterback, and what did you do in scramble mode, and going forward what can programs do to prepare for that kind of unique situation?
JOSH HEUPEL: Ultimately at the end of the day, it's never about who's not in your building but about who is in your building. For us, you can lose a quarterback at a lot of different times: December transfer portal, spring transfer portal. You can lose one week 1, first quarter of the ballgame in your opener, and now you're on to number two through injury, right? You've got to have the next-man-up mentality.
At the end of the day, having guys that want to compete along with their brothers inside of that locker room, building that connection, but also having the right guys in there.
At the end of the day, I'm really excited about who we have in there. The addition of Joey to who's already inside of that group, highly competitive guys that are smart, that have the physical traits to be successful. Teammates have grown to have great trust in those guys through the course of this off-season during the summer, and now it's about getting to training camp and going and competing. Somebody is going to earn the opportunity to be our starting quarterback through that process.
Q. You're 2-2 in that rivalry against Alabama. That's typically pretty streaky. What do you think you guys need to do to take the reins in that rivalry this season?
JOSH HEUPEL: That game is a long ways away from where we are today. I think in this entire journey it's important your team controls the controllable, which isn't yesterday, it's not tomorrow, it's where you are right now.
If this football team is focused on that journey day in and day out, we'll have a chance to grow to be a team that can go down to Tuscaloosa, compete, and hopefully find a way to win.
It's one of the greatest rivalries I've ever been involved in. It's a really unique game in a really unique setting. A couple years ago, we weren't on the right side of it, but I'm looking forward to going down there and competing with this group when we get to that point in the season.
Q. A lot of the talk around personnel departments, general managers. You have a unique setup, it feels like, from my understanding from 35,000 foot, Jake Breske, Billy High, and Brandon Lawson. Can you discuss what all three of those roles are? You have a wily veteran defensive line coach, got his lumps around the league in Rodney Garner in Georgia and Auburn, did phenomenal jobs there. How has he helped bring back that Tennessee defense to where it's supposed to be and the standard it's supposed to be? How has he helped you all through the first few years starting back in '21?
JOSH HEUPEL: Absolutely, personnel department, scouting department for high school, transfer portal when those times open up, recruiting department, everything that goes into the day-to-day operations of that side of it, being able to coordinate all those things together, ultimately cohesively make decisions on what's right for the future of our program as far as our personnel. We've had that in place since I got there. Really proud of what all of those guys have done and who we have in the building because of the strategic way that we've approached it.
Rodney Garner, a guy that's coached 35 years, I think, inside of this league, understands what it takes to win on Saturdays, but the approach and the plan that you have to get there. Does a great job of fundamentals and technique, the development of our guys. You look at the success that we've had up front. I mentioned leading the league in tackles for loss over the last four years, guys that have been drafted -- James Pearce, first-round pick. He's done an elite job up there.
That's a big part and key philosophically of how we want to play on the defensive side of the ball. With the scheme of Tim Banks and Rodney being a huge part of that, Coach Levorn Harbin being a massive addition to what we're doing on that side of the ball, Marion Hobby coming back, a guy that played at Tennessee, coached at Tennessee. He's been in the NFL. Having him back in the building, we've got a plethora of resources for our guys that sit in that defensive line room.
Q. This off-season you were able to add Seth Littrell as an offensive analyst, a guy that's coordinated and coached some really high-powered offenses. What kind of impact do you think he could have on the 2025 offense?
JOSH HEUPEL: For Seth, somebody that I've played with, got great trust in. He's the kind of guy that's going to be clear in his communication to me. His experience as a head coach is another tool that he brings to us. He's had elite offenses with great players, done it at an extremely high level. His knowledge, expertise, his understanding of some of the things that we do offensively and the ability to bring some creative things that are maybe good additions to what we're doing.
Seth has been great for us since he got there in February, and we expect him to be a big part of what we're doing.
Q. This off-season you were able to add Seth Littrell as an offensive analyst, a guy that's coordinated and coached some really high-powered offenses. What kind of impact do you think he could have on the 2025 offense?
JOSH HEUPEL: For Seth, somebody that I've played with, got great trust in. He's the kind of guy that's going to be clear in his communication to me. His experience as a head coach is another tool that he brings to us. He's had elite offenses with great players, done it at an extremely high level. His knowledge, expertise, his understanding of some of the things that we do offensively and the ability to bring some creative things that are maybe good additions to what we're doing.
Seth has been great for us since he got there in February, and we expect him to be a big part of what we're doing.
Q. You mentioned that open quarterback battle headed into fall camp. What are the benefits of not naming a starter, and what traits are you looking for in the guy who will eventually earn that spot?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think it's important. We talk about it at the beginning of every year. You earn everything in this game, and you certainly do inside of our team room, and that's who you are, your understanding of what we want to be -- fundamental, technique, scheme. It's how you compete every single day. It's what you're doing off of the field.
That's certainly true at the quarterback position. I think it's important, through my career as a player, as a coach, different spots that I've been, I think it's really important that everybody on your team sees that guy earn that job as well.
As you get out on the practice field, their ability to command everything that you're doing on offense, the ability to handle bad play and reset, the ability to handle a good play, go play the next play, the ability to impact the guys around you in a positive way -- you know, run game checks, protections, all the things that go into playing that position. I think it's really important that the guys around them see them earn it.
Through the course of training camp, we don't have a set timeline on when we want to announce somebody as our starter. Once somebody earns that opportunity, then they'll be named that guy.
Q. NIL has become such a unique factor in college football, whether good or bad, however everybody looks at it, but for you all, balancing that some of the adjustments you all have had to make obviously with the new profit share, how do you do that while also keeping some of the things that made college football so unique for all participants, coaches and players alike?
JOSH HEUPEL: Certainly what's happening around the game has changed quite a bit and certainly recently has changed dramatically, but what it takes to be successful once the ball is teed up has not changed. So you've got to have tough, smart, relentless competitors that love football and care about the people around them.
Throughout the recruiting process, we're trying to not just identify the physical traits you're looking for, but also those personal characteristics and traits and competitive makeup as you try to build a locker room of the culture that you want to have. You've got to constantly help that grow and foster that, but you've got to recruit to it as well.
That's something that our staff, our personnel departments are all intentional on.
Q. With Joey coming in as late in the off-season as he did, have you had to accelerate the install process with him in some way? Does that concern you because of how much goes into the quarterback position?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, got there in May. It's something that we've been through before as a staff. Took him through our spring installs once he was there on campus. He got a chance to digest those things. You get into summer, you're able to kind of repeat some of those things. He's continued to grow in his understanding of what we're doing and also the verbiage that we're using, maybe identifying defensive structures.
There's so many nuances that go into it, to having clear communication on the meeting room, on the practice field, and then ultimately on game day as well.
Is it an accelerated process? Absolutely. I think anytime you have a guy that's played a lot of football and sat in college meeting rooms offensively, he's been able to be a part of different things, he's able to draw on those experiences, correlate it to something that maybe he's done before, and kind of expedite the growth process as well.
Q. We heard a lot, we had Commissioner Sankey, we heard Coach Kiffin, Beamer, all weighing in on should the SEC play eight or nine games. What are your thoughts there? How important is it when you look at rivalries, especially third Saturday in October being preserved, how much does that weigh in on your decision?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think the rivalries, the special games, different for each fan base, are a huge part of what fan bases look forward to and those experiences that they know they're going to have, whether it be a home game, road game, or neutral site game. I think those are special things that make college football a part of what college football is.
Certainly you've got to balance the ability to play our conference and be able to travel and experience different sites. I'm going to leave that to the commissioner to find the right balance on that side of it.
Eight or nine games, ultimately I'm not making that decision either, but I think the commissioner did a really good job of kind of showcasing what an eight-game schedule looks like inside of this league and the historical data of how different that is from maybe playing a nine-game conference schedule in another league.
Q. I married into the Hamm family from Collierville, Tennessee, so I hear Vol talk all the time.
JOSH HEUPEL: You married up, Buddy.
Q. The power of T, how big a deal is it for you? And you made a statement which I have the utmost respect for, nobody's bigger than the power of T. We know what that was about. But how fired up are you about playing football and getting all of this other crap out of the way and Saturdays on the banks of the Tennessee River?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, anybody that knows me knows that I'm ready for talking season to be over; ready to go tee it up and go play. There's not a better fan base in all of college football.
You look at Vol-Navy, 150 boats tied up on the river. They start showing up on Wednesday, some of those things. Those boats are sitting there all year long that travel from all over the country in preparation for September, October, and November inside of Neyland Stadium.
Our walk to the stadium is the most unique thing in sports that I've ever seen or experienced. 30,000 to 35,000 every Saturday. It's college football as good as it gets. Inside the atmosphere, there's not a more passionate fan base. To be a part of this iconic brand, to be leading this program with the type of leadership that we have on campus, with who we have in our staff room and the players we have inside of our locker room, it's why I don't consider it a job. I get a chance to go compete every single day with people that I absolutely love.
Q. Wondering about the hurry-up, no-huddle offense, where it's gone, how it's evolved since it kind of blew up about a decade ago.
JOSH HEUPEL: That's a little bit generic there maybe in the question. You're just talking about where it was 10 years ago and where it is today? I think it's still a part of what's going on inside of college football. There's been some rule changes that have maybe impacted some of the times or the moments during the course of the game where you can use that to your advantage. Some of those have recently changed here over the last couple of years.
It's a way for us to try to apply pressure on a defense. It's not what we do every single play, but it's a way for us to try to apply pressure, and I think that still rings true today as well.
JOSH HEUPEL: For Seth, somebody that I've played with, got great trust in. He's the kind of guy that's going to be clear in his communication to me. His experience as a head coach is another tool that he brings to us. He's had elite offenses with great players, done it at an extremely high level. His knowledge, expertise, his understanding of some of the things that we do offensively and the ability to bring some creative things that are maybe good additions to what we're doing.
Seth has been great for us since he got there in February, and we expect him to be a big part of what we're doing.
Q. You mentioned that open quarterback battle headed into fall camp. What are the benefits of not naming a starter, and what traits are you looking for in the guy who will eventually earn that spot?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think it's important. We talk about it at the beginning of every year. You earn everything in this game, and you certainly do inside of our team room, and that's who you are, your understanding of what we want to be -- fundamental, technique, scheme. It's how you compete every single day. It's what you're doing off of the field.
That's certainly true at the quarterback position. I think it's important, through my career as a player, as a coach, different spots that I've been, I think it's really important that everybody on your team sees that guy earn that job as well.
As you get out on the practice field, their ability to command everything that you're doing on offense, the ability to handle bad play and reset, the ability to handle a good play, go play the next play, the ability to impact the guys around you in a positive way -- you know, run game checks, protections, all the things that go into playing that position. I think it's really important that the guys around them see them earn it.
Through the course of training camp, we don't have a set timeline on when we want to announce somebody as our starter. Once somebody earns that opportunity, then they'll be named that guy.
Q. NIL has become such a unique factor in college football, whether good or bad, however everybody looks at it, but for you all, balancing that some of the adjustments you all have had to make obviously with the new profit share, how do you do that while also keeping some of the things that made college football so unique for all participants, coaches and players alike?
JOSH HEUPEL: Certainly what's happening around the game has changed quite a bit and certainly recently has changed dramatically, but what it takes to be successful once the ball is teed up has not changed. So you've got to have tough, smart, relentless competitors that love football and care about the people around them.
Throughout the recruiting process, we're trying to not just identify the physical traits you're looking for, but also those personal characteristics and traits and competitive makeup as you try to build a locker room of the culture that you want to have. You've got to constantly help that grow and foster that, but you've got to recruit to it as well.
That's something that our staff, our personnel departments are all intentional on.
Q. With Joey coming in as late in the off-season as he did, have you had to accelerate the install process with him in some way? Does that concern you because of how much goes into the quarterback position?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, got there in May. It's something that we've been through before as a staff. Took him through our spring installs once he was there on campus. He got a chance to digest those things. You get into summer, you're able to kind of repeat some of those things. He's continued to grow in his understanding of what we're doing and also the verbiage that we're using, maybe identifying defensive structures.
There's so many nuances that go into it, to having clear communication on the meeting room, on the practice field, and then ultimately on game day as well.
Is it an accelerated process? Absolutely. I think anytime you have a guy that's played a lot of football and sat in college meeting rooms offensively, he's been able to be a part of different things, he's able to draw on those experiences, correlate it to something that maybe he's done before, and kind of expedite the growth process as well.
Q. We heard a lot, we had Commissioner Sankey, we heard Coach Kiffin, Beamer, all weighing in on should the SEC play eight or nine games. What are your thoughts there? How important is it when you look at rivalries, especially third Saturday in October being preserved, how much does that weigh in on your decision?
JOSH HEUPEL: I think the rivalries, the special games, different for each fan base, are a huge part of what fan bases look forward to and those experiences that they know they're going to have, whether it be a home game, road game, or neutral site game. I think those are special things that make college football a part of what college football is.
Certainly you've got to balance the ability to play our conference and be able to travel and experience different sites. I'm going to leave that to the commissioner to find the right balance on that side of it.
Eight or nine games, ultimately I'm not making that decision either, but I think the commissioner did a really good job of kind of showcasing what an eight-game schedule looks like inside of this league and the historical data of how different that is from maybe playing a nine-game conference schedule in another league.
Q. I married into the Hamm family from Collierville, Tennessee, so I hear Vol talk all the time.
JOSH HEUPEL: You married up, Buddy.
Q. The power of T, how big a deal is it for you? And you made a statement which I have the utmost respect for, nobody's bigger than the power of T. We know what that was about. But how fired up are you about playing football and getting all of this other crap out of the way and Saturdays on the banks of the Tennessee River?
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, anybody that knows me knows that I'm ready for talking season to be over; ready to go tee it up and go play. There's not a better fan base in all of college football.
You look at Vol-Navy, 150 boats tied up on the river. They start showing up on Wednesday, some of those things. Those boats are sitting there all year long that travel from all over the country in preparation for September, October, and November inside of Neyland Stadium.
Our walk to the stadium is the most unique thing in sports that I've ever seen or experienced. 30,000 to 35,000 every Saturday. It's college football as good as it gets. Inside the atmosphere, there's not a more passionate fan base. To be a part of this iconic brand, to be leading this program with the type of leadership that we have on campus, with who we have in our staff room and the players we have inside of our locker room, it's why I don't consider it a job. I get a chance to go compete every single day with people that I absolutely love.
Q. Wondering about the hurry-up, no-huddle offense, where it's gone, how it's evolved since it kind of blew up about a decade ago.
JOSH HEUPEL: That's a little bit generic there maybe in the question. You're just talking about where it was 10 years ago and where it is today? I think it's still a part of what's going on inside of college football. There's been some rule changes that have maybe impacted some of the times or the moments during the course of the game where you can use that to your advantage. Some of those have recently changed here over the last couple of years.
It's a way for us to try to apply pressure on a defense. It's not what we do every single play, but it's a way for us to try to apply pressure, and I think that still rings true today as well.
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Miles Kitselman.
Q. Who are some of the tight ends you watched growing up, and why?
MILES KITSELMAN: I've touched on this. I would say Gronk. I'm nowhere near his level yet, hopefully. But just like how he took blocking personally. Him and I love George Kittle and that Netflix series that George Kittle did where he touches on, I focused on blocking and protecting my quarterback and doing what I need to do in the box, and the rest will take care of itself. So I love that.
Q. Do you see more fleet tight ends these days as opposed to the big, structured guys you saw 10, 20 years ago?
MILES KITSELMAN: There's just a bunch of great athletes out there. I don't want to say I'm not one of them, but man, there's just a bunch of great athletes out there that can run and jump really well.
I have to look at myself saying, hey, I may not do those things as well what can I do to separate myself from them. I think inside the box is where I try to do that.
Q. What's been the coaching message this year coming into the season? Obviously last year was very, very successful. You have change every year. What's the message?
MILES KITSELMAN: There's a word in it that I can't quite say, but we don't need anybody outside of this facility. All that we need, all that we got, if you're strong, I'm strong, let's go do it.
Q. How difficult or easy is it to build chemistry with a new quarterback, especially in such a unique situation coming in so late?
MILES KITSELMAN: I've touched on this a little bit today. Joey is one of those guys who has a very outgoing personality. He walks into a room and is automatically friends with everybody.
Whenever he first committed I hit him up on Instagram and said, man, love to have you. Let's go out and get a bite to eat and let's get to know each other. We were just off since then.
We get along super well. He gets along with everybody. Him and Jake and George, they all thrive together. They all compete with each other. And I don't think we could have asked for a better dude.
Q. What do you think of kind of the way you guys are viewed nationally and in the SEC going into this year, for a College Football Playoff team. A lot of the rankings don't have you guys maybe toward the top, maybe because of Nico's departure, whatever, have you talked about it internally much?
MILES KITSELMAN: No, and I try to stay off social media as much as I can. It's just rat poison, stuff you don't need, stuff you don't need to focus on. No, I haven't really paid attention to any of that stuff.
Q. I was going to ask you about the Ohio State game. When you reflect on that game, not dwell on it, but you must have learned something from that game moving forward because you are trying to get into the playoffs again. What did you learn from that experience?
MILES KITSELMAN: I think when you look back at that game, you can say whatever you want about it. It's 21-10 at halftime, we have the ball coming out of half. If we go score it's 21-17, it's a ball game.
I think when you look back at it like that, it's how close we were. You come out of halftime and you have a good drive, that could be a completely different ball game.
Ohio State's a great team. They have a lot of great players. But that just puts it into perspective of how close we were.
And then all of a sudden it's, okay, it's time to reflect. What do we need to do better? What do we need to do differently? And that's all of us. That's coaching staff. That's players. How do we need to attack this offseason where we don't end up in that same situation this upcoming year?
Q. Arion was just in here. He mentioned he and the other leaders went to Joey when he first got there and sat him down. They went over expectations for everybody and what the plan would be moving forward. Can you take us inside that room? I assume you were probably one of the leaders in there talking. What were the first initial conversations like with Joey?
MILES KITSELMAN: What I was touching on before, as far as Joey is a very easy guy to get along with. He also knows how to handle his business and he takes this football thing very seriously. Anyone who cares about this game is going to buy into whatever program they're at.
We have a leadership meeting every Wednesday morning. This is the standard. If you let that standard walk, you just set a new standard. We're not doing that here.
I know you're new. I know you may feel like, hey, I need to prove myself, because I was there last year at this time, coming into Tennessee being a new guy. So I understand where you're coming from but you don't have time for that. You don't have time to prove yourself.
We believe in you and Jake and George, and we need a competitor, we need you to be a leader right off the bat. And whatever you see that is not the standard, we need you to call it up to the standard.
Q. What were your early impressions of DaSaahn Brame? What have you seen from him so far?
MILES KITSELMAN: DaSaahn is a competitor. DaSaahn is super athletic. All those young freshmen, all those young tight ends are just willing to learn. I love that, how somebody like DaSaahn, a really high recruit, can come into a building, has put his pride to the side and said, no, this isn't high school anymore. I need to improve my game. I need to get better. Who can I pull from? Who can I go seek knowledge from and seek wisdom from?
And I love how anytime I try to help him out, anytime I try to hold him accountable he's right there, willing to listen to me and take whatever advice I have. Same thing if Ethan Davis is trying to do with him, it's the same way.
I just love how there's a mutual respect there because you have a lot of guys in today's day and age who are five stars and getting whatever. And they come into a program and they might have a little bit of pride to themselves. And I love how we don't have that on this team.
Q. What does the Alabama game mean to you specifically?
MILES KITSELMAN: Not worrying about the Alabama game. We play a really good team week one. We're worried about fall camp. We're worried about tomorrow's workouts. We're ready to go attack fall camp in week one.
Q. We saw glimpses of what Boo Carter could do last year. How excited are you to potentially add him to the offensive side of the ball as well?
MILES KITSELMAN: Boo has a lot on his plate, stepping up on the defensive side. And we're going to try to do everything we can to put him in a position to help our team out. I'm really excited.
Q. Do you know much about Syracuse at this point? Have you taken a look at them?
MILES KITSELMAN: Just kind of like what I said, man, I'm focused on tomorrow's workouts. I'm focused on fall camp. I'm focused on what I need to do to get better, and I'm focused on how I can help our team right now.
Q. Not a lot is known about you guys as wide receivers nationally because you guys have some young guys ready to step in there. What do you see from Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley, some of the younger guys that are ready to take on bigger roles outside?
MILES KITSELMAN: I would say the two biggest things I've seen from those guys is, last year they always did what they were supposed to do but that's just your job, and the one thing I love about those guys is not only are they doing what they're supposed to do at a high level, but they're also bringing guys along with them.
You have Rah Rah in there, Radarious, and you have Travis Smith, and they're bringing those guys along with them.
I love that because I don't think last year's Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews would have done that as freshmen. Now that they've grown into this leadership role, they're bringing those guys along with them, because we're going to need those young guys this fall, and they know that. And I love that.
Q. You talked about coming into a new situation, you're kind of focused on yourself, like you were a year ago, Joey. But how weird was this offseason with everything that went on with Nico and just you're coming off the playoff, you would think, kind of like what we were talking about earlier, it would be a lot more hope and hype right now and it just doesn't seem like that obvious?
MILES KITSELMAN: We had a group text with a couple of the guys. Whenever some stuff was going around, we all came together and said, hey, man, we want somebody who wants to be here.
I talked about it earlier, it's the next snap, next play, don't worry about what happened before. I think that can translate over into life, can translate over to the situation, if you don't want to be here, that's fine, we're going to go find somebody who does and he's going to come in here and compete and want to be here. We didn't skip a beat and I love it.
Q. Who are some of the tight ends you watched growing up, and why?
MILES KITSELMAN: I've touched on this. I would say Gronk. I'm nowhere near his level yet, hopefully. But just like how he took blocking personally. Him and I love George Kittle and that Netflix series that George Kittle did where he touches on, I focused on blocking and protecting my quarterback and doing what I need to do in the box, and the rest will take care of itself. So I love that.
Q. Do you see more fleet tight ends these days as opposed to the big, structured guys you saw 10, 20 years ago?
MILES KITSELMAN: There's just a bunch of great athletes out there. I don't want to say I'm not one of them, but man, there's just a bunch of great athletes out there that can run and jump really well.
I have to look at myself saying, hey, I may not do those things as well what can I do to separate myself from them. I think inside the box is where I try to do that.
Q. What's been the coaching message this year coming into the season? Obviously last year was very, very successful. You have change every year. What's the message?
MILES KITSELMAN: There's a word in it that I can't quite say, but we don't need anybody outside of this facility. All that we need, all that we got, if you're strong, I'm strong, let's go do it.
Q. How difficult or easy is it to build chemistry with a new quarterback, especially in such a unique situation coming in so late?
MILES KITSELMAN: I've touched on this a little bit today. Joey is one of those guys who has a very outgoing personality. He walks into a room and is automatically friends with everybody.
Whenever he first committed I hit him up on Instagram and said, man, love to have you. Let's go out and get a bite to eat and let's get to know each other. We were just off since then.
We get along super well. He gets along with everybody. Him and Jake and George, they all thrive together. They all compete with each other. And I don't think we could have asked for a better dude.
Q. What do you think of kind of the way you guys are viewed nationally and in the SEC going into this year, for a College Football Playoff team. A lot of the rankings don't have you guys maybe toward the top, maybe because of Nico's departure, whatever, have you talked about it internally much?
MILES KITSELMAN: No, and I try to stay off social media as much as I can. It's just rat poison, stuff you don't need, stuff you don't need to focus on. No, I haven't really paid attention to any of that stuff.
Q. I was going to ask you about the Ohio State game. When you reflect on that game, not dwell on it, but you must have learned something from that game moving forward because you are trying to get into the playoffs again. What did you learn from that experience?
MILES KITSELMAN: I think when you look back at that game, you can say whatever you want about it. It's 21-10 at halftime, we have the ball coming out of half. If we go score it's 21-17, it's a ball game.
I think when you look back at it like that, it's how close we were. You come out of halftime and you have a good drive, that could be a completely different ball game.
Ohio State's a great team. They have a lot of great players. But that just puts it into perspective of how close we were.
And then all of a sudden it's, okay, it's time to reflect. What do we need to do better? What do we need to do differently? And that's all of us. That's coaching staff. That's players. How do we need to attack this offseason where we don't end up in that same situation this upcoming year?
Q. Arion was just in here. He mentioned he and the other leaders went to Joey when he first got there and sat him down. They went over expectations for everybody and what the plan would be moving forward. Can you take us inside that room? I assume you were probably one of the leaders in there talking. What were the first initial conversations like with Joey?
MILES KITSELMAN: What I was touching on before, as far as Joey is a very easy guy to get along with. He also knows how to handle his business and he takes this football thing very seriously. Anyone who cares about this game is going to buy into whatever program they're at.
We have a leadership meeting every Wednesday morning. This is the standard. If you let that standard walk, you just set a new standard. We're not doing that here.
I know you're new. I know you may feel like, hey, I need to prove myself, because I was there last year at this time, coming into Tennessee being a new guy. So I understand where you're coming from but you don't have time for that. You don't have time to prove yourself.
We believe in you and Jake and George, and we need a competitor, we need you to be a leader right off the bat. And whatever you see that is not the standard, we need you to call it up to the standard.
Q. What were your early impressions of DaSaahn Brame? What have you seen from him so far?
MILES KITSELMAN: DaSaahn is a competitor. DaSaahn is super athletic. All those young freshmen, all those young tight ends are just willing to learn. I love that, how somebody like DaSaahn, a really high recruit, can come into a building, has put his pride to the side and said, no, this isn't high school anymore. I need to improve my game. I need to get better. Who can I pull from? Who can I go seek knowledge from and seek wisdom from?
And I love how anytime I try to help him out, anytime I try to hold him accountable he's right there, willing to listen to me and take whatever advice I have. Same thing if Ethan Davis is trying to do with him, it's the same way.
I just love how there's a mutual respect there because you have a lot of guys in today's day and age who are five stars and getting whatever. And they come into a program and they might have a little bit of pride to themselves. And I love how we don't have that on this team.
Q. What does the Alabama game mean to you specifically?
MILES KITSELMAN: Not worrying about the Alabama game. We play a really good team week one. We're worried about fall camp. We're worried about tomorrow's workouts. We're ready to go attack fall camp in week one.
Q. We saw glimpses of what Boo Carter could do last year. How excited are you to potentially add him to the offensive side of the ball as well?
MILES KITSELMAN: Boo has a lot on his plate, stepping up on the defensive side. And we're going to try to do everything we can to put him in a position to help our team out. I'm really excited.
Q. Do you know much about Syracuse at this point? Have you taken a look at them?
MILES KITSELMAN: Just kind of like what I said, man, I'm focused on tomorrow's workouts. I'm focused on fall camp. I'm focused on what I need to do to get better, and I'm focused on how I can help our team right now.
Q. Not a lot is known about you guys as wide receivers nationally because you guys have some young guys ready to step in there. What do you see from Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley, some of the younger guys that are ready to take on bigger roles outside?
MILES KITSELMAN: I would say the two biggest things I've seen from those guys is, last year they always did what they were supposed to do but that's just your job, and the one thing I love about those guys is not only are they doing what they're supposed to do at a high level, but they're also bringing guys along with them.
You have Rah Rah in there, Radarious, and you have Travis Smith, and they're bringing those guys along with them.
I love that because I don't think last year's Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews would have done that as freshmen. Now that they've grown into this leadership role, they're bringing those guys along with them, because we're going to need those young guys this fall, and they know that. And I love that.
Q. You talked about coming into a new situation, you're kind of focused on yourself, like you were a year ago, Joey. But how weird was this offseason with everything that went on with Nico and just you're coming off the playoff, you would think, kind of like what we were talking about earlier, it would be a lot more hope and hype right now and it just doesn't seem like that obvious?
MILES KITSELMAN: We had a group text with a couple of the guys. Whenever some stuff was going around, we all came together and said, hey, man, we want somebody who wants to be here.
I talked about it earlier, it's the next snap, next play, don't worry about what happened before. I think that can translate over into life, can translate over to the situation, if you don't want to be here, that's fine, we're going to go find somebody who does and he's going to come in here and compete and want to be here. We didn't skip a beat and I love it.
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Bryson Eason.
Q. Is this a rite of passage? Can you tell the season is coming along when something like this comes along, this event?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, very surreal. Very blessed to be in this opportunity.
Q. How does it feel to be asked, what does it mean to be asked to represent your school at this?
BRYSON EASON: Man, it means everything to just know that those guys believe in me to represent them well and put on for the Power T and put on for the name on the back of my jersey, it means a lot and I appreciate them.
Q. How has the team kind of come together after Nico left in the spring? And what's that been transition like?
BRYSON EASON: It's just been us, just focused on everybody that is in the building. That's really what only matters at the end of the day. Just focusing on us and building as a team and just taking steps every day to be better as a team and as one.
Q. (Inaudible)?
BRYSON EASON: Just hanging with guys outside the building, getting extra work in, watching film together, just little things to just build piece by piece to be better as a unit and as a team.
Q. What were the overall feelings from last year, what do you take from that season?
BRYSON EASON: I feel like last year was a great experience for me and a lot of my other guys to just go through the ups and downs of the whole season. It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to but it was a great opportunity to still be able to go to the College Football Playoffs and learn from a lot of our mistakes throughout the year.
Q. What do you know about Aguilar? And what's been his interaction with the team, just coming in -- I guess he came in late summer, right?
BRYSON EASON: Just trying to step in and be a leader. Gaining guys' trust around the building. To show he's here for the team no matter what happens with whatever. And just be a good guy and be one of those dudes to just be there for the younger guys and help them along as they get through this college journey, start their college journey.
Q. This is a time of so much change in college sports now. Talking about changing the SEC schedule, College Football Playoff seeding. What are conversations between you and your teammates like as you navigate a constantly changing environment?
BRYSON EASON: You just gotta adjust to it. It's like life, you know what I'm saying? You've got to adjust whatever comes your way. We discuss it and what not, but that's not really the main task ahead. We just like focusing on balling, getting better in certain aspects.
Q. What did the defense do well last year and you want to continue, and what are some of the things you want to improve on the total defense and for yourself?
BRYSON EASON: Some things I feel like the defense did well last year was stop the run and affect the quarterback with, whether that was with a four-man rush or a blitz.
But some things I want to get better at is just rushing the quarterback, disrupting the quarterback, and just getting to him overall, and just bringing guys along with me to do the same thing.
Q. When you get questions about Coach Heupel, what do folks seem to ask you about?
BRYSON EASON: What kind of person is he, how is he. In my perspective of Coach Heupel, he's been a real genuine person who pours into his players and programs and is real. Whatever he says, he's really going to do. It's not just lip servicing.
He's standing for everything he's talked about since I've been there. He's doing a great job with the coaching staff to turn it around and build a real brotherhood along the team.
Q. With regard to Coach Heupel, has this been a different offseason. You make the playoff first time ever as a program and obviously the news this spring. What's the offseason been like? Has it been weird at all?
BRYSON EASON: I wouldn't say it's weird. I would say it's very like not -- what's the word I want to use -- just kind of random, you know what I'm saying? To lose your main guy after the season we had.
Like I said earlier, you've just got to adjust to everything in life that comes your way. This is one of those situations where us as a team and as a program have to adjust. I think we're just going to do just fine.
Q. It's been since 2001 since Tennessee has gone into Bryant-Denny Stadium and beaten Alabama. Obviously last two times you got them in your place and you came out victorious. What's it going to take to go into Bryant-Denny and win in that atmosphere?
BRYSON EASON: It's going to take everybody on this team to discipline and know what you have to do and know your assignments so we can go out there play with our hats on fire, just attack those guys the best way we can to come out on top.
Q. You had a chance to reflect on the Ohio State game and traveling up north and that outcome. What did you learn, and what would you like to tell the younger players, you're trying to reach the playoffs again?
BRYSON EASON: Last year was last year. So that's kind of just out of the equation. We can't keep reflecting on that comparing whatever we're trying to do now to what we did last year. We have to let that go and move on.
Obviously we didn't get the outcome we wanted. It's really nothing to just sit there and dwell on, if you know what I mean, because we didn't end up victorious. So just keep moving forward, keep working. The mission we have at hand, let's focus on that.
Q. Is there a particular road SEC opponent and place you like to play or a place that's really impressed you?
BRYSON EASON: A place that really impressed me was Alabama. I didn't know that the stadium was that big, had the four big screens on each side. I thought that was really cool. It gets really loud in there. Alabama was really impressive to me.
Q. Does Tennessee cigar smoke better than an opponent's cigar smoke?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, sir it does, it's the smell of victory, that's what I would call it. The smell of victory.
Q. You mentioned something about Joey Aguilar. What do you like to tell people about him off the field or on the field, some things?
BRYSON EASON: Off the field, I would say he's a very down-to-earth person, you know what I'm saying? Nothing cocky about him, nothing arrogant about him, just a real down-to-earth human, who is willing to come into a program and help them out.
On the field-wise, I feel like he's a worker, you know what I'm saying? Comes to work every day, has a mission, ready to get better in every aspect he can and wants to bring along guys with him, so everybody can elevate and get better. I feel like overall he's just a great dude.
Q. Tennessee is such a storied and long program, produced so many players, are there any older Volunteers you've gotten to know that you've developed friendships with?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, of course guys like Matthew Butler, BY, Byron Young, a lot of older guys that was in the D line room who just poured into us when I was a sophomore or freshman, showed us how to go about our business and take care of our business.
So a lot of the guys in the D line room, in the O line room as well. I have a Memphis native named Jerome Carvin, who pulled me under his wing when I was on the younger side, just showed me the steps on how to go and how to work and how to get through college ball and how to be productive as well to make an impact on the team.
Q. Is this a rite of passage? Can you tell the season is coming along when something like this comes along, this event?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, very surreal. Very blessed to be in this opportunity.
Q. How does it feel to be asked, what does it mean to be asked to represent your school at this?
BRYSON EASON: Man, it means everything to just know that those guys believe in me to represent them well and put on for the Power T and put on for the name on the back of my jersey, it means a lot and I appreciate them.
Q. How has the team kind of come together after Nico left in the spring? And what's that been transition like?
BRYSON EASON: It's just been us, just focused on everybody that is in the building. That's really what only matters at the end of the day. Just focusing on us and building as a team and just taking steps every day to be better as a team and as one.
Q. (Inaudible)?
BRYSON EASON: Just hanging with guys outside the building, getting extra work in, watching film together, just little things to just build piece by piece to be better as a unit and as a team.
Q. What were the overall feelings from last year, what do you take from that season?
BRYSON EASON: I feel like last year was a great experience for me and a lot of my other guys to just go through the ups and downs of the whole season. It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to but it was a great opportunity to still be able to go to the College Football Playoffs and learn from a lot of our mistakes throughout the year.
Q. What do you know about Aguilar? And what's been his interaction with the team, just coming in -- I guess he came in late summer, right?
BRYSON EASON: Just trying to step in and be a leader. Gaining guys' trust around the building. To show he's here for the team no matter what happens with whatever. And just be a good guy and be one of those dudes to just be there for the younger guys and help them along as they get through this college journey, start their college journey.
Q. This is a time of so much change in college sports now. Talking about changing the SEC schedule, College Football Playoff seeding. What are conversations between you and your teammates like as you navigate a constantly changing environment?
BRYSON EASON: You just gotta adjust to it. It's like life, you know what I'm saying? You've got to adjust whatever comes your way. We discuss it and what not, but that's not really the main task ahead. We just like focusing on balling, getting better in certain aspects.
Q. What did the defense do well last year and you want to continue, and what are some of the things you want to improve on the total defense and for yourself?
BRYSON EASON: Some things I feel like the defense did well last year was stop the run and affect the quarterback with, whether that was with a four-man rush or a blitz.
But some things I want to get better at is just rushing the quarterback, disrupting the quarterback, and just getting to him overall, and just bringing guys along with me to do the same thing.
Q. When you get questions about Coach Heupel, what do folks seem to ask you about?
BRYSON EASON: What kind of person is he, how is he. In my perspective of Coach Heupel, he's been a real genuine person who pours into his players and programs and is real. Whatever he says, he's really going to do. It's not just lip servicing.
He's standing for everything he's talked about since I've been there. He's doing a great job with the coaching staff to turn it around and build a real brotherhood along the team.
Q. With regard to Coach Heupel, has this been a different offseason. You make the playoff first time ever as a program and obviously the news this spring. What's the offseason been like? Has it been weird at all?
BRYSON EASON: I wouldn't say it's weird. I would say it's very like not -- what's the word I want to use -- just kind of random, you know what I'm saying? To lose your main guy after the season we had.
Like I said earlier, you've just got to adjust to everything in life that comes your way. This is one of those situations where us as a team and as a program have to adjust. I think we're just going to do just fine.
Q. It's been since 2001 since Tennessee has gone into Bryant-Denny Stadium and beaten Alabama. Obviously last two times you got them in your place and you came out victorious. What's it going to take to go into Bryant-Denny and win in that atmosphere?
BRYSON EASON: It's going to take everybody on this team to discipline and know what you have to do and know your assignments so we can go out there play with our hats on fire, just attack those guys the best way we can to come out on top.
Q. You had a chance to reflect on the Ohio State game and traveling up north and that outcome. What did you learn, and what would you like to tell the younger players, you're trying to reach the playoffs again?
BRYSON EASON: Last year was last year. So that's kind of just out of the equation. We can't keep reflecting on that comparing whatever we're trying to do now to what we did last year. We have to let that go and move on.
Obviously we didn't get the outcome we wanted. It's really nothing to just sit there and dwell on, if you know what I mean, because we didn't end up victorious. So just keep moving forward, keep working. The mission we have at hand, let's focus on that.
Q. Is there a particular road SEC opponent and place you like to play or a place that's really impressed you?
BRYSON EASON: A place that really impressed me was Alabama. I didn't know that the stadium was that big, had the four big screens on each side. I thought that was really cool. It gets really loud in there. Alabama was really impressive to me.
Q. Does Tennessee cigar smoke better than an opponent's cigar smoke?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, sir it does, it's the smell of victory, that's what I would call it. The smell of victory.
Q. You mentioned something about Joey Aguilar. What do you like to tell people about him off the field or on the field, some things?
BRYSON EASON: Off the field, I would say he's a very down-to-earth person, you know what I'm saying? Nothing cocky about him, nothing arrogant about him, just a real down-to-earth human, who is willing to come into a program and help them out.
On the field-wise, I feel like he's a worker, you know what I'm saying? Comes to work every day, has a mission, ready to get better in every aspect he can and wants to bring along guys with him, so everybody can elevate and get better. I feel like overall he's just a great dude.
Q. Tennessee is such a storied and long program, produced so many players, are there any older Volunteers you've gotten to know that you've developed friendships with?
BRYSON EASON: Yes, of course guys like Matthew Butler, BY, Byron Young, a lot of older guys that was in the D line room who just poured into us when I was a sophomore or freshman, showed us how to go about our business and take care of our business.
So a lot of the guys in the D line room, in the O line room as well. I have a Memphis native named Jerome Carvin, who pulled me under his wing when I was on the younger side, just showed me the steps on how to go and how to work and how to get through college ball and how to be productive as well to make an impact on the team.
Q. This Tennessee addition of their defense, what can you tell us about it?
ARION CARTER: We have a whole new bunch of guys to add to our repertoire, I feel that bring assets in different ways. You have a guy like Colton Hood who brings a lot of speed, a lot of quick decisiveness in run/pass, who I feel is very good in run-pass defense.
And you bring guys in at corner and a lot of our young DBs who are willing to learn, who come to work every day that have the right mentality, who came and adopted our culture and who are fitting in very, very well.
Q. What have you guys been doing in the offseason to make that next step and get into that conversation, not only conversation, but that opportunity to play for an SEC Championship? It always has to be something that you have to do differently to make that next step. What has the team been doing in the offseason to get themselves ready for that?
ARION CARTER: I feel like we've just approached the offseason with a different level of preparation. We realize that we belong here, playing at a championship level in the SEC. And just as a whole, I feel like we just needed to set ourselves apart by working very intentionally through our preparation and our work habits to set ourselves apart from everybody else in the SEC, in our conference and in the league.
Q. What are the most pleasing aspects of last season and how much do you have to put in the past to get ready for the future?
ARION CARTER: A lot of pleasing aspects is seeing the growth we made as a team. I feel like we had a lot of young guys step up last year, offensively and defensively, that are ready to take on leadership roles this year.
And I feel like there's guys defensively who have already been in leadership roles, including myself, that were able to expand upon their leadership roles and be able to take it to a whole other level, bringing our new guys in, our newcomers in to go compete at a championship level.
Q. Just given everything that happened in the spring, with Nico, how different and how, for lack of a better term, weird was this offseason, especially coming off a playoff trip?
ARION CARTER: Having a guy like that leave with such character and such poise was a hard thing to do, but nobody's bigger than the program. We wish him the best where he is at. And I hope he has a great career and goes on to do great things.
I feel it didn't waiver from the agenda we had to step forward and do, especially with the new guys we have set, with the three quarterbacks in our room, with George, Jake and Joey. I feel we were able to crowd around those guys early and get those guys ready and prepare them over this course of these last few weeks.
And these next few weeks going into fall and training camp for this 2026 season I feel very well where we're standing, but we have a lot to do and a lot to prove still.
Q. When you play the linebacker position in this pass era, what's the most difficult for you at the linebacker position? You're one of the leaders tackling last year for Tennessee, but what is the most difficult responsibility playing the linebacker position for you?
ARION CARTER: You are the quarterback of the defense, per se. We are the glue that holds all three phases of the defense together, with tying in the front and having great communication with the back seven.
You want to always be able to have a clear, concise communication. That's something that's hard within this game, that offenses have made it hard to do with a lot of fly motion and shift and treys.
But have you to be able to adapt on the run and be able to roll with the punches. I feel I've been able to do it very well and make decisive and quick decisions. I have to build on it going into this season to make sure we have a great standing for this SEC play and for this 12-game schedule.
Q. We saw glimpses of how dynamic Boo Carter was last year. What impresses you the most about him and what kind of growth have you seen from him, specifically in the offseason?
ARION CARTER: A young guy like that who is so explosive that's able to be dynamic on all three phases of the game of defense, special teams and offense. Just being able to have a guy like that that's like a Swiss Army knife, in my opinion, that you can put him anywhere in the field, that's a playmaker, it's such a great blessing to have a guy like that that's going to be young, talented and still growing as a player, as a young man who is going to have a great future for us, who is able to make big-time plays for us in big-time games for us.
I'm so pleased where he's headed and the growth of our younger guys and young playmakers. And I'm ready for the season.
Q. It seems like Tennessee has more rivals than probably any other team in the Southeastern Conference -- Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Georgia, Florida. There's talk about circling games. Do you circle a game or games?
ARION CARTER: I circle the next game, per se. And that might be cliché to say, but I feel like in this league, with such high talent and one of the best conferences in America, playing at this level I feel you've got to be on your Ps and Qs at all times going into each game week and each SEC play week.
I feel there's nothing like it. It's nothing more than the competition. There's nothing like the competition. There's nothing like the excitement. There's nothing like the fans. And just the overall level of play that I'm grateful to be a part of and go out and do every single day.
Q. You touched on him earlier. What do you think about Colton Hood so far, and what stands out most about his game?
ARION CARTER: A guy like Colton, very smart, a guy with experience. Him coming from Auburn and coming from Colorado. A guy who has been in big-time games who has played in the SEC before who has games-like experience.
It's great to have an addition like him to our secondary. A very young talented secondary group that he is able to come in and bring his experience and talent level to expand upon the talent and the knowledge that we have to go out and win ball games for us. I can't wait to go out there and play with him.
Q. You mentioned rivals, Vanderbilt is obviously one of them. Diego Pavia recently said they're going to run the state of Tennessee. As a Tennessee kid, do you have a reaction to that?
ARION CARTER: I don't play too much attention to offseason comments. I feel that's why we have the season for. We're going to be prepared when that time comes to go seize the opportunity. That's what you look forward to the season for.
Q. You mentioned Joey. I know he came in sort of late in the process this summer. How much interaction have you had? And just as a defensive player, what did you see from him, maybe whatever practices are throwing, activities that he's been a part of?
ARION CARTER: When he first got here, I made sure, as being the leader, one of the leaders on the team, I wanted to get with him and make sure we had a clear understanding of the expectations set for him, but the expectations he should have for us, and to make sure we don't waver from those.
Once we got that all figured out, being able to sit down with him, we all had an occasional meal with the quarterbacks and linebackers and special teams, just having a guy like that in your room and having a guy like that in the building is such a great opportunity that we have.
He's such a smart guy, very poised, very calm, collected dude, that I wouldn't change anything for the world to have him on our team, alongside with my other two young quarterbacks that he's able to go coach up with George and Jake.
Q. What would be some of the skill set you'd like to tell the Tennessee people Joey Aguilar, and what do you tell a young linebacker that's going to be part of an SEC defense at Tennessee, what's some advice you give them?
ARION CARTER: Just a few things about Joey. Like I say, he's a very great, decisive decision maker, very good with the ball in his hands, takes care of the ball. Very good game manager, from what I've seen, as far as the few practices we've had with him.
He's very good with using his legs on the run. I feel like he can make time and create space outside the pocket with his feet and expand throws.
And I feel like just him overall as a leader and the experience he brings is just once-in-a-lifetime that we're able to have. And I'm grateful to have a guy like that in the room, an older guy to be able to corral the young guys like Jake and George.
What I would say for a young linebacker going into the SEC is have confidence, be prepared and trust what you're seeing and see what you know. And be slow until you go. And make sure that your preparation, your level of preparation is so high that when you're able to go out for game time, it's like you played the game a thousand times before just because of your level of preparation, you have so much confidence, you can go out there, play fast and free.
Q. Seems like we've seen a lot of SEC rankings and national rankings that don't have you guys ranked all that high for a team that made the college playoff last year. What do you think of that? Is that something you've discussed internally, do you feel the bar's been lowered a bit too much?
ARION CARTER: I feel like I don't really pay too much close to rankings. I feel like that's what we have the season for. I feel like I know what we have in that room and I know we have on our 105-man roster, and I know what our expectations and what our goals are set to go do.
I know that we have full ability and capability to go out there and achieve the goals we set.
ARION CARTER: We have a whole new bunch of guys to add to our repertoire, I feel that bring assets in different ways. You have a guy like Colton Hood who brings a lot of speed, a lot of quick decisiveness in run/pass, who I feel is very good in run-pass defense.
And you bring guys in at corner and a lot of our young DBs who are willing to learn, who come to work every day that have the right mentality, who came and adopted our culture and who are fitting in very, very well.
Q. What have you guys been doing in the offseason to make that next step and get into that conversation, not only conversation, but that opportunity to play for an SEC Championship? It always has to be something that you have to do differently to make that next step. What has the team been doing in the offseason to get themselves ready for that?
ARION CARTER: I feel like we've just approached the offseason with a different level of preparation. We realize that we belong here, playing at a championship level in the SEC. And just as a whole, I feel like we just needed to set ourselves apart by working very intentionally through our preparation and our work habits to set ourselves apart from everybody else in the SEC, in our conference and in the league.
Q. What are the most pleasing aspects of last season and how much do you have to put in the past to get ready for the future?
ARION CARTER: A lot of pleasing aspects is seeing the growth we made as a team. I feel like we had a lot of young guys step up last year, offensively and defensively, that are ready to take on leadership roles this year.
And I feel like there's guys defensively who have already been in leadership roles, including myself, that were able to expand upon their leadership roles and be able to take it to a whole other level, bringing our new guys in, our newcomers in to go compete at a championship level.
Q. Just given everything that happened in the spring, with Nico, how different and how, for lack of a better term, weird was this offseason, especially coming off a playoff trip?
ARION CARTER: Having a guy like that leave with such character and such poise was a hard thing to do, but nobody's bigger than the program. We wish him the best where he is at. And I hope he has a great career and goes on to do great things.
I feel it didn't waiver from the agenda we had to step forward and do, especially with the new guys we have set, with the three quarterbacks in our room, with George, Jake and Joey. I feel we were able to crowd around those guys early and get those guys ready and prepare them over this course of these last few weeks.
And these next few weeks going into fall and training camp for this 2026 season I feel very well where we're standing, but we have a lot to do and a lot to prove still.
Q. When you play the linebacker position in this pass era, what's the most difficult for you at the linebacker position? You're one of the leaders tackling last year for Tennessee, but what is the most difficult responsibility playing the linebacker position for you?
ARION CARTER: You are the quarterback of the defense, per se. We are the glue that holds all three phases of the defense together, with tying in the front and having great communication with the back seven.
You want to always be able to have a clear, concise communication. That's something that's hard within this game, that offenses have made it hard to do with a lot of fly motion and shift and treys.
But have you to be able to adapt on the run and be able to roll with the punches. I feel I've been able to do it very well and make decisive and quick decisions. I have to build on it going into this season to make sure we have a great standing for this SEC play and for this 12-game schedule.
Q. We saw glimpses of how dynamic Boo Carter was last year. What impresses you the most about him and what kind of growth have you seen from him, specifically in the offseason?
ARION CARTER: A young guy like that who is so explosive that's able to be dynamic on all three phases of the game of defense, special teams and offense. Just being able to have a guy like that that's like a Swiss Army knife, in my opinion, that you can put him anywhere in the field, that's a playmaker, it's such a great blessing to have a guy like that that's going to be young, talented and still growing as a player, as a young man who is going to have a great future for us, who is able to make big-time plays for us in big-time games for us.
I'm so pleased where he's headed and the growth of our younger guys and young playmakers. And I'm ready for the season.
Q. It seems like Tennessee has more rivals than probably any other team in the Southeastern Conference -- Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Georgia, Florida. There's talk about circling games. Do you circle a game or games?
ARION CARTER: I circle the next game, per se. And that might be cliché to say, but I feel like in this league, with such high talent and one of the best conferences in America, playing at this level I feel you've got to be on your Ps and Qs at all times going into each game week and each SEC play week.
I feel there's nothing like it. It's nothing more than the competition. There's nothing like the competition. There's nothing like the excitement. There's nothing like the fans. And just the overall level of play that I'm grateful to be a part of and go out and do every single day.
Q. You touched on him earlier. What do you think about Colton Hood so far, and what stands out most about his game?
ARION CARTER: A guy like Colton, very smart, a guy with experience. Him coming from Auburn and coming from Colorado. A guy who has been in big-time games who has played in the SEC before who has games-like experience.
It's great to have an addition like him to our secondary. A very young talented secondary group that he is able to come in and bring his experience and talent level to expand upon the talent and the knowledge that we have to go out and win ball games for us. I can't wait to go out there and play with him.
Q. You mentioned rivals, Vanderbilt is obviously one of them. Diego Pavia recently said they're going to run the state of Tennessee. As a Tennessee kid, do you have a reaction to that?
ARION CARTER: I don't play too much attention to offseason comments. I feel that's why we have the season for. We're going to be prepared when that time comes to go seize the opportunity. That's what you look forward to the season for.
Q. You mentioned Joey. I know he came in sort of late in the process this summer. How much interaction have you had? And just as a defensive player, what did you see from him, maybe whatever practices are throwing, activities that he's been a part of?
ARION CARTER: When he first got here, I made sure, as being the leader, one of the leaders on the team, I wanted to get with him and make sure we had a clear understanding of the expectations set for him, but the expectations he should have for us, and to make sure we don't waver from those.
Once we got that all figured out, being able to sit down with him, we all had an occasional meal with the quarterbacks and linebackers and special teams, just having a guy like that in your room and having a guy like that in the building is such a great opportunity that we have.
He's such a smart guy, very poised, very calm, collected dude, that I wouldn't change anything for the world to have him on our team, alongside with my other two young quarterbacks that he's able to go coach up with George and Jake.
Q. What would be some of the skill set you'd like to tell the Tennessee people Joey Aguilar, and what do you tell a young linebacker that's going to be part of an SEC defense at Tennessee, what's some advice you give them?
ARION CARTER: Just a few things about Joey. Like I say, he's a very great, decisive decision maker, very good with the ball in his hands, takes care of the ball. Very good game manager, from what I've seen, as far as the few practices we've had with him.
He's very good with using his legs on the run. I feel like he can make time and create space outside the pocket with his feet and expand throws.
And I feel like just him overall as a leader and the experience he brings is just once-in-a-lifetime that we're able to have. And I'm grateful to have a guy like that in the room, an older guy to be able to corral the young guys like Jake and George.
What I would say for a young linebacker going into the SEC is have confidence, be prepared and trust what you're seeing and see what you know. And be slow until you go. And make sure that your preparation, your level of preparation is so high that when you're able to go out for game time, it's like you played the game a thousand times before just because of your level of preparation, you have so much confidence, you can go out there, play fast and free.
Q. Seems like we've seen a lot of SEC rankings and national rankings that don't have you guys ranked all that high for a team that made the college playoff last year. What do you think of that? Is that something you've discussed internally, do you feel the bar's been lowered a bit too much?
ARION CARTER: I feel like I don't really pay too much close to rankings. I feel like that's what we have the season for. I feel like I know what we have in that room and I know we have on our 105-man roster, and I know what our expectations and what our goals are set to go do.
I know that we have full ability and capability to go out there and achieve the goals we set.