Tag: 2022 SEC Media Days

Tennessee’s 2022 numerical football roster

A look at Tennessee’s 2022 numerical football roster with jersey numbers, height and weight for student-athletes.

Tennessee will kick off its 2022 season Sept. 1 versus Ball State at Neyland Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and SEC Network will televise the season-opening matchup.

2022 marks Josh Heupel’s second season as the Vols’ head coach.

Tennessee went 7-6 in Heupel’s first season as head coach. The Vols appeared in the Music City Bowl in 2021.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Heupel took part in media days July 21.

The SEC issued media guides for all 14 league schools at media days.

Below is UT’s 2022 numerical roster from the University of Tennessee’s media guide issued by the SEC.

Josh Heupel discusses empowering opportunities through NIL

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discusses empowering opportunities through NIL.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel was asked how Tennessee’s program goes about managing name, image and likeness when it comes to possibly interacting with any sort of collective.

“I think there’s great opportunity in it,” Heupel said. “I mentioned Hendon (Hooker) and what he’s been able to do, have an impact on our community, on youth inside of our community in particular. It’s an opportunity to educate and empower our student-athletes, which is what college football and the collegiate experience is all about. I think it’s dramatically changed the way that young people come into your program, how thoughtful they are about every situation that they’re involved in, how they’re portrayed in what’s out there on social media, the decisions they’re making every night of the week. I think in those ways it’s such an empowering tool for our student-athletes.

“I just go back to myself as a player. Certainly the most powerful thing that I had was my teammates and the logo that I was playing for. At the same time, though, I think I was creating some value there, too. I would have liked to have had an opportunity to have been afforded to take part in NIL. Would have liked to have worn my starting left tackle jersey or worn his shirt. I look at my own kids, Jace and Hannah, that get a chance to run around the house or run with their friends and wear a Cedric Tillman and Hendon Hooker shirt or jersey. I think there’s empowering opportunities through NIL.”

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Josh Heupel details what Oklahoma is getting in Dillon Gabriel

Josh Heupel details what Oklahoma is getting in quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel was asked about his former quarterback Dillon Gabriel when he served as UCF’s head coach from 2018-20.

Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma from UCF. He played for Heupel from 2019-20 at UCF.

“Great, great leader, great work habits,” Heupel said of Gabriel. “Going to be so consistent inside the building. Guy that is a true freshman, true sophomore, led the country in passing over those two years. They’re getting a great quarterback, no doubt about it.”

Brent Venables discusses parallels between Josh Heupel, Dillon Gabriel

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Josh Heupel discusses being balanced as a head coach and play-caller

Josh Heupel discusses being balanced as a head coach and play-caller.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel was asked if the head coach in him is ever in conflict with the play-caller in him, maybe the head coach wants to call something more conservative, but the play-caller wants to do something a little more bold.

“I try to wear the head coach hat in all of those moments,” Heupel said. “I think you’re always constantly balancing what’s best for the football team in situational football.”

Tennessee will kick off its 2022 season Sept. 1 versus Ball State at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT (SEC Network).

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Josh Heupel discusses how Vols’ loss at Florida changed trajectory of program

Josh Heupel discusses how Tennessee’s loss at Florida in 2021 changed the trajectory of the Vols’ program.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel discussed Tennessee’s 38-14 loss at Florida last season on Sept. 25. The Vols won five of its final eight regular season contests following the Florida game.

“I just think in late third quarter there’s some things we did, self-inflicted wounds, that changed the way that game was played in the fourth quarter,” Heupel said of the Florida game last season. “As a program, a young program, you have an opportunity to learn from it, grow, and push forward and really climb, or it’s something that can be devastating.

“It’s one of the moments inside our staff and program that changed the trajectory of the program. Sat in the team meeting room, were able to dissect and show them not the entire game, but the key moments of things that we controlled that had nothing to do with anybody that was wearing a different colored jersey that impacted the game and the way it was played. Through that, I think they gained confidence in who they were, what we were doing. We were able to compete and grow throughout the course of the season.”

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Josh Heupel details Cedric Tillman having great command in Vols’ offense

Josh Heupel details Cedric Tillman having great command in Tennessee’s offense.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel discussed redshirt senior wide receiver Cedric Tillman entering year two in his offense.

“Last year this time, a good grasp for having only had 15 days on the practice field,” Heupel said of Tillman. “He’s a great example for everybody inside of our program that if you go about your business the right way every day and you compete, you’re going to grow. A year ago I talked about him, the first third of spring ball, second third of spring ball, last third of spring ball, how dramatically different of a player he was. Great work habits during the summer.

“For him in year two, compared to some of the great guys I’ve had, maybe a Gabe Davis that’s had a huge impact in the NFL with Buffalo, his ability to really sit back, watch cut-ups, digest what we’re doing offensively, but get into the intricacies of what he’s doing. I think it’s going to allow him to play faster, to be more decisive and create more opportunities and bigger windows for himself. Ultimately that should lead to us being successful offensively, but he’s done a great job all off-season. You talk about January, February before we got spring ball, he was in there watching film every single day on his own. He’s got great command of what we’re doing. That allows him to play within himself at a higher level.”

Tillman totaled 64 receptions, 1,081 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns last season in Heupel’s offense.

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Josh Heupel discusses Vols’ competition at slot, outside positions

Josh Heupel discusses Tennessee’s competition at slot and outside wide receivers positions ahead of fall training camp.

The Southeastern Conference media days took place July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in media days July 21.

Heupel discussed Tennessee’s offense in 2022 and competition at the slot and outside wide receiver positions.

“A year ago, who thought Ced (Cedric Tillman) was going to have the year he had or Velus (Jones Jr.) was going to become a high draft pick like he became, or JaVonta (Payton) was going to have the impact he had inside of our offense,” Heupel said. “That’s the great thing about college football, a quarter of your roster is turning over every year. A lot of great players leave, but with that there is great opportunity. Certainly Ced is going to get a ton of attention. It’s our role as offensive staff to put him in a position to create isolations, one on one, find a way to get him the football.

“It’s imperative for us, offensively, that the other guys step up and play at a championship level, too. Very proud of Jalin Hyatt and the steps he’s made. I think there’s great competition inside of our program at the slot position. On the outside, this training camp there will be great competition as well. We’re going to need somebody to step forward, multiple guys to step forward, at all those positions.”

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2022 SEC media days: Predicting order of finish in East, West divisions

2022 SEC football media days: Predicting the order of finish in the East and West divisions

SEC media days concluded Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The 2022 college football season will kick off Aug. 27 with Week 0.

Week 1 is set to kick off Sept. 1 and will conclude Sept. 5.

Win-loss record projections for every Power Five college football team in 2022

Media members voted on the order of finish in the SEC East and West divisions, as well as a conference champion for the 2022 season.

Below are voting results from media predicting a SEC champion and the order of finish in the SEC East and West.

Josh Heupel reflects on first season, stresses ability to finish games in 2022

Josh Heupel reflects on first season at Tennessee and stresses the ability to finish games in 2022.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took part in SEC media days Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Heupel reflected on Tennessee going 7-6 in 2021 and discussed the Vols’ entering its 2022 campaign.

“For us, looking ahead as we have prepared since January in each quarter of our off-season, one of the things we’ve been stressing is the ability to finish,” Heupel said. “That comes from a lot of different things. It comes from how you live your daily life, your ability to finish a rep inside your strength and conditioning programming, it comes in how you finish a semester academically. I’m really proud of what we’re doing.

“A year ago we had four or five games that we had an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, we didn’t end up on the right side of that. Finishing the right way I think is something we’ve taken a great stride in during our off-season. It’s been purposeful in who we are every single day. Our work habits had to greatly increase from a year ago. We talked about as a football team, teams that hope, teams that believe and then teams that expect. Teams that expect, they expect to win, they find a way to win because of the work they’ve put in during the off-season. That’s been one of our focuses. I’m really proud of the strides that our team has taken since last January. Excited about getting on the football field with them here in a week or so as we embark on training camp. Can’t wait for fall to kick off. We get a chance to open up on Thursday night in front of the entire country. Looking forward to Vol Walk and running out the T and getting ready to compete inside Neyland Stadium.”

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PHOTOS: Josh Heupel, Trevon Flowers, Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman at SEC media days

PHOTOS: Josh Heupel, Trevon Flowers, Hendon Hooker and Cedric Tillman at SEC media days

The Southeastern Conference media days are taking place at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Media days are taking place July 18-21 and SEC Network is televising the annual event ahead of the 2022 season.

The Vols will host Ball State at Neyland Stadium in Week 1 to kick off the 2022 campaign. Tennessee announced its season opener will be played Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. EDT. SEC Network will televise the season-opening matchup at Neyland Stadium.

Second-year head coach Josh Heupel, safety Trevon Flowers, quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Cedric Tillman represented Tennessee at media days Thursday.

Below are photos of Heupel, Flowers, Hooker and Tillman at media days.