What Josh Heupel said at Tennessee's Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga

What Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel said during his media availability before the Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga on Tuesday:

Opening Statement

“Great to be here in Chattanooga, a beautiful venue. This is a great city. For us obviously it’s been very fruitful too. I think we got five guys currently on our roster from this area. But we got a lot of great families that are part of our football family from here, too, and a lot of donors. And this has been an important part of Tennessee football, Tennessee athletics for a really long time. So excited about being here tonight.”

If Tennessee feels more comfortable after spring practice, with so many new players and a new-look coaching staff 

“Yeah. I love like just everybody being on the same page, understanding how we operate on a day-to-day basis. There’s a lot of work that goes into that with your staff and your players, hammering out the details on the football side of it with your staff and players as well. And we got another couple weeks here before our guys get a little break, before we start summer workouts. But love where we’re at culturally and coming together. When you have 46 new players, new staff, building that connection, camaraderie, it takes time.

“The more experiences that you have together, the tighter you continue to get. I think we’ve really grown in that area from when we started in January, with 46 new players in our team room and, going through spring ball and what we’re doing right now. So I love where we’re at. There’s still a lot of growth for us collectively as a football program before we get to training camp.”

If it’s easier to adjust with more new players after experiencing the transfer portal for a few years now

“Yeah, five years ago it was really important too. A lot of guys that were in that team room that knew each other, but a brand new staff that was coming in and you had to build those connections, try to do it really quickly. This is the most turnover on a roster that we’ve had. And for us, we’re intentional in that every year. But this year it’s vitally important. And little things like finishing up our facility players lounge. Been a lot of guys just organically having fun and competing against each other in there. And you got to continue to do that. And we did that after spring ball (with the) softball tournament. We’ll continue to do that here as we finish up the semester and go into the summer.” 

How refreshing it is that there’s no spring transfer portal window to deal with

“Yeah, a big difference. How you wrap up spring ball and finish out the semester, being able to go all the way back to January, know who your football team is, build it together. And then compete through the course of spring ball. And still a lot of competition left as we get into training camp.”

If he feels like Tennessee’s QB competition is behind previous years because of the youth and inexperience at the position 

“This is going to be the, the fifth new starting quarterback at Tennessee in six years. We’ve been through it in different ways. Sometimes it’s been year one for a guy in our system. Sometimes they’ve had a year in it. But five and six, historically as a head coach, even back as a coordinator, you’ve had competitions like this. We have two young guys that are competing. Ryan (Staub is) there, he’s got a little bit more experience. But George is the only one that’s really had time on task inside of our system. 

“I love the growth that we’ve had. There’s still a lot left for them. Fundamentals, technique, mastering the understanding of our scheme, what they’re seeing from the defenses. They’ve continued to work on the back end of spring ball. And we got a lot of work left this summer. But I really do like the guys that we have in it. And they’ve got to continue to grow as players. They’ve got to find their voice. I think that’s really hard for a young player when you’re on the field with everything that’s going on. But through the course of the summer, in the weight room, with our team, they got to continue to grow that too.”

If there’s an update on Tennessee’s Chaz Coleman

“No. At the end of the day, he’s dealing with some things and has to work through some things. And when he’s able to do that, then he’ll be back with us.”

Five Tennessee players being picked in the 2026 NFL Draft, seven signings as undrafted free agents 

“Super excited for all of those guys to have the opportunity. Guys that got drafted, guys that signed have an opportunity to get to an NFL franchise. At the end of the day, I tell those guys it doesn’t matter when, it doesn’t matter who. You’re not in control of that. What you’re in control of is how you handle the process that day. You don’t control it And now your feet are on the grass and you got to go take it. And I’m excited that those guys have an opportunity. For us, I think it’s three of the last four years we’ve had four guys drafted in the top 150 picks. We’re one of maybe four teams in the league (to do that). I’m excited about what we’ve done and I want to continue to grow that part of it.”

If there’s any downtime in the college football calendar  

“It’s certainly not right now. I think for coaches, spring break and a couple weeks in July.”

If new Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has a scheme that is more complicated or more aggressive

“Well, it is aggressive but he is multiple as well. That’s front and presentations before the snap, and then rotations on the back end of it. I think for Jim, the last couple places he’s been, I think he had one off-the-field guy that he was able to take with him. So you’re trying to teach your entire staff and then your players as you start to install and get on the field. I think for him and for us, what was a benefit is having staff that’s been with him at every level of the defense that understands it. 

“With all those guys being there early in the process, you can look at subtly how you tweak it, what your verbiage is and how you install it, giving your players the chance to grab onto it as quickly as possible. I thought all three levels of the defense handled it extremely well. We grew extremely quickly. And I really like the growth that we saw during the course of spring ball.”