I’ve noticed something recently about Tennessee’s football program. For some reason, it just hasn’t been reported. Perhaps it’s because it’s not technically news. However, it’s becoming a hallmark of the Vols’ football program. Despite the history and what you might expect out of young football players, Tennessee’s football team is exceptionally well behaved.
Now, let’s start with Chris Rock’s fantastic take about men. We’re not supposed to get in trouble. We’re supposed to take care of ourselves and our families, not get arrested and contribute to society. Well, that sounds good, but it’s often not the case when 100 young men are assembled that, as of the NIL era, have a bit more cash in their pocket. In fact, that may actually be one of the reasons that Tennessee’s players haven’t gone astray nearly as often as in the past. There has to be less resentment among a group of players that has some extra cash to spend on dinner or a movie from time to time.
With some free hours in the day during summer break, this is the time that college football players can find trouble. I don’t think that will happen at Tennessee, but we’ll soon see.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel deserves credit for recruiting the right kind of person as well as the right kind of football player. Certainly, his players aren’t expected to be choir boys, but there’s a common bond of goodness amongst them. At least that has been my experience working on various projects alongside players like former Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren and All-SEC center Cooper Mays.
Heupel also apparently knows how to motivate his players to do the right thing, which does still include going to class and being a student at the time of this publishing. Curious about jersey numbers for newcomers? Those will be released later this month after first-year players can be judged on their class attendance, amongst other things. The top players in the offseason will be allowed to choose their jersey numbers before others that have stumbled in academia.
Tennessee hasn’t had a player run afoul of the law, publicly at least, since star EDGE rusher James Pearce was arrested in December 2023 for a variety of traffic violations and general malfeasance, which can be chalked up to youth – as long as it doesn’t happen again.
This might surprise some younger fans, but Tennessee used to have a not-so-great reputation when it came to off-field discipline issues. In fact, there was a fictitious Fulmer Cup, which was named after former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer and referenced his team’s various off-field issues. Now, the Heupel Cup can go to the college football program with the fewest arrests? Let’s not go that far quite yet.
Some might think I’m jinxing the Vols with this column. That’s fair. However, that’s certainly not my intention. Simply pointing out an anomaly was my initial argument. Now, I wonder if discipline is just a part of Heupel’s way of doing business.
I’m well aware that Heupel won’t get much credit by running a tight ship. He’ll be judged on what his teams do in December and January. However, great teams often have great discipline. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban showed the entire college football world that discipline is the key to winning as well. Now, Heupel seems to be following suit.
