Josh Heupel previews Vols preparing for Music City Bowl

Josh Heupel previews Tennessee preparing for the Music City Bowl against Purdue.

Tennessee (7-5, 4-4 SEC) will play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against Purdue (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten).

The contest will take place Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. EST and ESPN will televise the matchup.

Tennessee is practicing at Vanderbilt Stadium in preparation for the Music City Bowl.

First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with media Sunday and discussed the Vols preparing for Purdue.

Below is a transcript of Heupel’s media availability provided by the University of Tennessee.

Opening Statement

“It’s great to be here and start our bowl preparation here on-site. (The student-athletes) traveled in yesterday and were able to get here, relatively, pretty well, just a few flight issues. It was a great practice today, good energy and looking forward to the rest of the week.”

On the meaning of the Nashville area in recruiting and fans

“It’s a huge part of our being able to recruit inside the state. I said it from the moment I got here, it’s a priority. For us, that just starts with building relationships — high school coaches, our VFLs that are here inside the region. We have a lot of good players that are from this area getting a chance to come back home and play in front of their families. It’s vital to us as a program that we do it the right way. This area, obviously, has a talent-rich environment, and we’ve got to continue to build those relationships.”

NEXT: Josh Heupel’s media availability continued