Josh Heupel: Tennessee linebacker room has become consistent in offseason
Tennessee football has made great strides in just over one year under head coach Josh Heupel, who replaced many starters after a transfer portal exodus and rebuild from quarterback to linebacker and everywhere in between. Entering year two, he is looking for more consistency in the next steps of the rebuild.
During a spring practice press conference, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel spoke about the consistent play he has seen from the experienced linebacker group so far this season.
“A lot of guys who are back, that played a ton of football last year,” said Heupel. “I thought they had a really good offseason. That strength, size is showing up. I think they’re more comfortable and have their eyes in better places on keys. They’re being more efficient with their movement, they’re doing a better job of beating blocks – block destruction is something that’s critical for us defensively – got to continue to grow, that’s true for our second-level players.
“It’s a group that has become more consistent, just their behavior off the field and who they are and how they’re doing everything. That’s showing up in how they play too.”
The linebacker group at Tennessee is headlined by returning starters Jeremy Banks and Aaron Beasley, who finished first and second on the team in tackles in 2021 and combined for 212 total tackles. With many other contributors returning and the addition of Nebraska transfer Jackson Hannah, the veteran group continues to build.
Josh Heupel on position battles
Tennessee football is coming off a successful 2021 season and is looking to take another step forward under head coach Josh Heupel in 2022. After going 7-6 overall with a 4-4 mark in SEC play, the Volunteers return plenty of experience from last year’s team and also brought in new talent that should give them numerous weapons at many different positions.
“The opportunity’s big for everybody,” Heupel said. “Every position is up, man. You’ve got to go compete and got to earn it. It’s important – nobody in your program can rest on anything … what happened a year ago, what happened a day ago, what happened the previous play – none of that matters.
“So being able to reset and compete the right way is something we’re emphasizing with our entire roster. For our young guys, it’s a great opportunity to understand what the feel, the flow and the speed of the game is actually going to be like on game day. For them, I expect them to make huge strides from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage – just like they have as soon as we put pads on. Feel like they’ve continued to grow every single day.”