Josh Heupel enters his third season as Tennessee’s head coach in 2023.
The Vols reported for fall training camp on Tuesday ahead of its first practice.
Heupel met with media and discussed the state of Tennessee’s program now compared to two years ago when he was hired.
“First of all, we have the cornerstone pieces of who we are,” Heupel said. “The foundation has been laid. Great trust and accountability inside of our walls. Our players, just their daily habits, who they are, what they’re about, how they compete individually with themselves and collectively as a group, too. We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.
“Our roster, I’ve said it before, that first fall we had 65 scholarship players. We’re close to 85. We have real depth, real competition, really at every position. That’s true of our veterans that are here. There’s a lot of young guys, 18 of them that were with us during the course of spring ball. I expect them to be a much more mature and complete players when we step on the field tomorrow, but certainly as we grow during the course of training camp. There’s just great competition everywhere. Our athleticism, strength, all those things have continued to improve. Our functional movement, we’re continuing to take strides, but this is the time of year where you have to go out and earn it every day.”
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