Josh Heupel reveals how close Tennessee is to beating rivals Alabama, Florida, Georgia

Josh Heupel led Tennessee to a 7-6 record in his first season as head coach in Knoxville. While a game over .500 isn’t groundbreaking, there’s real hope for their program moving forward. In order to get to that next level, it’ll be all about starting to compete in the SEC and beating the best names like Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Heupel knows that’s their path to success and he thinks his team getting closer.

ESPN senior writer Chris Low recently spoke to the head man at UT. While they didn’t have much room for error against their rivals in 2021 with losses to all three, he feels those margins are only getting bigger.

“We’re in a race to get there, to become our best as fast as we can. Inherently, those three programs are big, big measuring sticks for us. But every game is,” said Heupel. “A year ago, our margins for error were really, really small. We’re going to continue to recruit, continue to develop and increase those margins, and find a way to come out on the right side of it.”

Josh Heupel noted how recruiting is their best opportunity to make their way up the SEC standings. Tennessee’s 2023 class sits at 12th in On3’s 2023 Consensus Football Team Recruiting Rankings. They’re off to a good start on the trail in Heupel’s tenure and they plan to continue that momentum.

From there, it’s taking care of their business each day. He believes they’ll get back to the championship level they haven’t experienced since the 1990s. To get there, though, it’ll take a commitment starting from day one of the 2022 season.

“We determine where we’re at in the fall by how we go about our business every single day. I believe in what we’re doing,” said Heupel. “At the end of the day, this program is going to be built on chasing championships and winning those games, and I believe we’ll get there soon.”

The path to success in the SEC is fairly straightforward. Being the best requires beating the best like the Crimson Tide, Bulldogs and Gators. Luckily for the Volunteers they’ll get their shot at all three of those rivals along with LSU, Kentucky, and South Carolina amongst their conference schedule. Once they do that, Tennessee will have their chance to be back on top.