Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel wasn’t immediately concerned about football during his press conference on Wednesday. He wanted to talk golf.
“Just want to start by congratulating coach (Brennan) Webb and the golf team, obviously winning match-play championship yesterday,” Heupel said. “Awesome to see their success and great to see a lot of success here on campus by all of our sports teams, so excited for them.”
Such is the nature of Heupel’s press conferences, not that it should be criticized. Heupel’s willingness to endear himself to fans and media is always evident, even when he congratulated talk-show host/reporter Jimmy Hyams on being inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame last month. Can you imagine Jeremy Pruitt even knowing what the golf team is doing or acknowledging any member of the media?
Of course, none of this takes away from Heupel’s coaching. He’s proven himself as a solid head coach. However, a break in the schedule allowed him to insert a shout out to another coach.
“Obviously we’re in a bye week,” Heupel said with after tipping his golf cap to Webb. “Got some work today. Got an opportunity to heal some guys up, but get back to some fundamental work and start turning our attention toward LSU a little bit here as the week goes on.”
Tennessee fans would love for Heupel to tell them more about the guys that are healing up, namely receiver Cedric Tillman, who missed the Florida game on Saturday with an ankle injury. You’ll have to keep waiting on that injury report. It’s never going to come.
“Not right now,” Heupel said of an update on Tillman. “Obviously, we’re a long ways away from game time. We’re hopeful that he’ll continue to make progress and be available when we go down there.”
Heupel is much more comfortable talking about the healthy players on Tennessee’s roster, such as Javontez Spraggins, who was named the SEC offensive lineman of the week on Monday.
“First of all, he always plays with great energy and passion and plays to the echo of the whistle,” Heupel said of the junior from St. Louis. “I love his football energy, excitement and demeanor every single day. He cares in a really, really good way. He’s just gotten better in being fundamentally better in pass protection and his growth through spring ball and through training camp has allowed him to play more efficiently in the pass-protection world. Obviously we’re going to continue to need that here.”
Spraggins being awarded by the SEC is nothing to take lightly. The Vols aren’t considered a physical team by any means. They rely more on finesse more than power. Thats worked well to this point. However, it would be nice if the Vols could have both. Spraggins has that sort of ability that the Vols have been lacking.
Tennessee would certainly like to be more physical up front defensively as well. That makes defensive tackle Omari Thomas a player to keep an eye on.
“O has been probably as consistent as anybody has been in the interior,” Heupel said. “Continuing to change his body has allowed him to be more explosive, play in a better football position, play with better fundamentals and technique (for) the duration of a football game. His continued growth as a leader has been important inside of our defensive line room and he’s continually getting.”
Thomas’ recent play would suggest as much. Thomas tied a career high with four tackles and a pass breakup while recovering his first fumble as a Vol against Pitt in Tennessee’s second game. Against Florida, Thomas registered five tackles, forced a fumble, broke up a pass and tacked on two quarterback hurries.
Developing Thomas into a great player, however, wasn’t solely what Heupel wanted to talk about. Like the golf team, he’s always sure to remind fans that he’s happy to be a part of the UT family. So far, that’s a very good thing for long-suffering Tennessee fans.
“This brand as an athletic department and as a university, I think this is a great time to be in Knoxville,” Heupel said. “The passion of our fan base is felt by obviously our football program, but it’s felt by everybody and there’s a ton of excitement that surrounds Knoxville, the state of Tennessee and Vol nation.
“That creates an energy that helps us recruit great players, and I’m talking every program. When it’s going good, your logo is in front of everybody all year long, 365 days out of the year, and success breeds success across the board.”
Fore.
