Josh Heupel shares what he will remember from Tennessee senior class

Tennessee has been through a lot over the last couple years. Ahead of senior day, Volunteers coach Josh Heupel talked about the impact this senior class has had — not only on the program, but on him.

Heupel walked into a tough situation in Knoxville. Tennessee went 3-7 in 2020 under Jeremy Pruitt and plenty of players entered the transfer portal. But the Volunteers turned things around this year, taking a 6-5 record into their final regular season game against Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The first-year coach was asked about what this senior class will mean to him. He gave a great answer.

“Facing adversity, running right into it and never losing faith and just continuing to just compete and grow,” Heupel told reporters this week. “I think all the uncertainty of last offseason, December [and] January, to a new coaching staff arriving to them buying into it. A lot of them being great leaders inside of our program [have] been instrumental in how we’ve grown. To me, when I think about this group, it’s their ability to face adversity and step right through the fire.”

Tennessee will take on Vanderbilt, which hasn’t won a game in SEC play this year, Saturday at 3:45 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

Kirk Herbstreit heaps praise on Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Josh Heupel and Tennessee are going bowling. The Volunteers got their sixth win last week to become bowl eligible, and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit is most impressed with their turnaround this season.

After going 3-7 under Jeremy Pruitt last year, Heupel came in from UCF and turned things around in Knoxville. Some important pieces transferred and Tennessee was picked to finish fifth out of seven teams in the SEC East.

Now, the Volunteers are 6-5 — and Herbstreit talked about the job Heupel has done in year one at the helm.

“Raise your hand. How many people had Josh Heupel getting to six, more likely seven wins, and going to a bowl game in his first year?” Herbstreit said on the ESPN College Football Podcast on Monday. “After everything, the transfer portal, it was a one-way street out of Knoxville, and this dude goes in there with a new AD in Danny White out of UCF and these boys, they’re creating a little bit of buzz, man. With that offense, Hendon Hooker, scoring on a lot of people, including Alabama, they’ve become a fun team to watch and they’re going to recruit very well.

“Tennessee is a stock that’s … going up. You’re going to want to buy that stock. Good for ‘Heup’ getting his team to a bowl game, as well.”