Josh Heupel goes in-depth on development of Tennessee culture

Tennessee was one of the biggest surprises during the 2022 college football season, but it’s no surprise if you ask Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel.

From the humble beginnings when he took over, to the doubters that lingered even after they were ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. Their success took them into the Orange Bowl, where they trounced No. 7 Clemson 31-14. To Heupel, it’s only the start of something greater.

“I just know that where we started, where we’ve gotten to, but there’s so much left out there for us,” Heupel said after the win. “It’s in individual habits, it’s in us continuing to improve in communication as coaches, refining what we’re doing inside of our building, as we continue to develop depth inside of our program, recruit.

“One of the great lessons, I said this to the football team after the game tonight, is two years ago there was so much outside noise that wasn’t necessarily positive, and none of those guys paid attention to it. They decided collectively and individually to go accomplish something, and they worked for it.”

The point of the lesson -if you set your mind to something and work hard, you can accomplish anything. That’s an excellent lesson for the Tennessee football program, but it’s a great lesson for Heupel’s players as people as they move into life, he said.

If Heupel is to be believed, Tennessee’s success in 2022 was only the beginning. He wants everybody inside that locker room to understand that “there’s a whole lot left out there for us,” that they can improve upon and help the Vols continue to climb as a program.

Tennessee finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff standings. One loss separated the Vols from the field of four – something that’ll stay in the back of their minds for the entire offseason. They can turn that into motivation as they look to continue this momentum into the 2023 season this fall.