What Josh Heupel said about Tennessee's quarterbacks at the Big Orange Caravan

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

How Tennessee’s returning defensive coaches have fit with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles 

“Yeah, extremely well. First of all, those are great coaches, great people. And we’ve brought in the same type of caliber of person and coach. And it was important to me that we had somebody at every level of the defense within our defensive staff that had some experience. And I think that speeds up the process, collectively coming together and then getting it to our players. But I thought our coaches that have been with us did a great job picking up on it, buying into the system. And that was one of the things that was critical for Jim as we talked, even before he got here.”

The SEC adding a ninth game on the football schedule, how the depth of the league compares to others

“Yeah, I just think from top to bottom, you look at NFL Draft picks, there’s a lot of different measuring sticks that point to the depth of this league, the difficulty of the league. Going on the road, you’re facing a real road test every single week. And the ninth game adds a lot of excitement. Great games for our fans and for our players and staff. But there’s a physical component of it, too. I think we play eight straight, got nine conference games. It’s a long journey in, uh, in that season.”

Jim Knowles defensive looks in practice and how they balance difficult situations vs. the work Tennessee’s offense is trying to get done

“Yeah, we don’t discourage them from not doing what’s in their arsenal on a scrimmage day. I do think it’s important that, offensively and defensively, you have a growth to what you’re doing and you’re able to work certain things versus certain coverages. Things that you’re going to be exposed to during the course of the season for checks reasons, at the quarterback position, whatever it might be. But those guys got to see it, get exposed to it, recognize it, and play ball. And I thought our quarterbacks did a really good job of that.”

If he has always had that mindset of the defense being wide open in Tennessee’s scrimmage situations

“Well, I think you’re intentional in certain parts of a practice, a period. Might be zero emphasis, whatever it might be, to make sure that things that you’re installing on both sides, offensively, you’re working things against that type of coverage, something that you may want to do that you haven’t done. But defensively you’re getting coverage beaters during that as well. But working together, offensively and defensively, is important. But I think it is important that your quarterback gets exposed and has to recognize things. So it’s important that you do both.”

If there’s a timetable in the fall for when he would want to determine Tennessee’s starting quarterback 

“Ultimately when a guy earns it. I think it’s important that they earn it in front of their peers. But I also think it’s important you finish up spring ball, and there’s been a lot of work in the winter through spring ball. But you got an opportunity to sit back, digest everything, continue to grow in May, June and July and come back a dramatically different player, too. So I think for all those reasons, it’s important that you have that competition going to training camp. That’s how we’ve handled it in our history and I think it forces competition through the summer and (brings) a lot of growth.”

The importance of winning the quarterback job ‘in front of their peers’

“Yeah, I think it’s important that they see that guy growing as a player, playing at a high level. And certainly within the locker room, typically, there’s a feel from those guys, by the time you get to that point where a guy’s earned it, that this is the right guy. And in this game — we were just talking about nine conference games — it’s true at quarterback, it’s true at every position, you got to have growth and you got to have depth. And we’ve seen it play out where you name a guy and ultimately, three weeks later, the next guy is up and he becomes the guy. Hendon (Hooker) and Joe (Milton in 2021 is) a great example of handling it the right way, competing against yourself. You’re competing against the other quarterbacks in the room, but doing it in the right way in a team setting, too.”