Tennessee’s preseason camp opened with second-year Vols’ head coach Josh Heupel visiting with the media as coaches always do. The subject line of questioning, however, was a bit unique.
Instead of talking about Tennessee’s planned upgrade on defense or who might be added to improve an already great offense, Heupel was asked about the NCAA investigation that was announced earlier this month. It looked daunting with 18 Division-I violations, which are deemed the most serious. Heupel didn’t seem concerned.
“We’ve been very transparent and open with our roster and our recruits,” Heupel said. “That’s why I think we’ve positioned ourself extremely well.”
Heupel called the NCAA notice of allegations about the ongoing investigation into former coach Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure as a “speed bump” for Tennessee’s program. However, it was serious enough for Heupel to have a video conference call with several prospects.
“They can understand that things that are going to happen in the future won’t have an impact on how they’re being recruited or their experience as a student athlete and how they’re able to compete on the football field,” Heupel said.
For a translation, that means that Heupel isn’t expecting long-term, crippling punishment by the NCAA, or at least that’s what he’s telling prospects. Heupel is probably right. The NCAA complimented UT on how they had handled the investigation when the notice of allegations went publlc.
“I think we’ve positioned ourselves extremely well to swallow things up,” Heupel said.
Heupel said that addressing the potential NCAA issues with prospects is nothing new. He did that with the 2022 class, which is signed and ready to play this fall.
“Because of that, I think there’s great trust in them,” Heupel said. “We’ve been able to talk openly about the things that we’re doing inside of our program in year one and year two.”
