Everything Josh Heupel said on Friday in Nashville after Music City Bowl practice

NASHVILLE — Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with members of the media Friday afternoon in Nashville at Montgomery Bell Academy following practice ahead of Tuesday’s Music City Bowl on Tuesday against Illinois.

The following is a written transcript of the Josh Heupel press conference.

Opening Statement…

“Good to see everybody. Great to be here in Nashville. I want to thank Montgomery Bell for hosting us here. Great practice facility for us. During the course of the week, guys had a great couple days off for Christmas. The staff too. Get a chance to be a dad and be with their families. Excited to get back here and start competing and get ready for kickoff against a really good Illinois team.”

On what this bowl game opportunity means for the team…

“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow, get better fundamentals, technique inside of the scheme. Bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation, but also on game day too. Obviously, it’s the last chance for us to compete with this team together in this 2025 season. In some ways it’s, it’s built up to the following year.”

On what the secondary will look lie with no Jermod McCoy, Gibson and now Colton Hood…

“We’ve been practicing that way through December with Colton leaning towards making that decision. Excited for him and his journey and what comes next. Some of our young guys are going to get an opportunity to go play on game day. (The) young guys have had good preparation and expect them to go play in a really, really good way.”

On where freshman Tre Poteat is in his progression…

“Tre has done a phenomenal job during the course of the season of continuing to grow. Made plays on special teams and got some action on the defensive side of the ball early in the year. His preparation here in December has been really good. Expect him to be ready to go play at a really high level.”

On if getting to see young guys play more in the bowl game affects how they view them moving forward to next year…

“I think a lot of times in December you get a glimpse of where they’re continuing to grow. Last time we were here, Jalin Hyatt was a great example and that’s a story we actually talked to our team about pretty much every single year. One that I share with our young guys. That guy that had a little bit of up and down during the course of the (2021) season and his focus, his preparation, his work habits during the month of December – dramatically different. Expected him to play really well when we got here. He obviously did and that was the springboard to his following season.”

On what he expects from Radarious Jackson…

“Radarious and Travis (Smith), both of those guys getting action. Expect both of them to play at a really high level. Those were guys that we had a lot of trust heading into the season based on what they had done during spring ball. Their maturity, their summer prep. Both of them got nicked up at different points during the season but had finished in a great way. Expect them to play really well.”

On if opt-outs have enhanced the importance of these bowl games for the guys who play…

“I think December feels dramatically different than it used to and it’s inside the landscape of college football, but it’s trended and kind of been that way for a handful of years now. It feels different, I said that, but when you get out on the grass and you get closer to kickoff, you get the urgency and the focus from the guys and their excitement to go play.”

On if a season like this is a building block towards the ultimate goal of a national championship…

“Well, each year your roster changes in that you got to kind of start as a team. The foundational growth that you have to go through as a program, you got to restart that every January when you get everybody together this season. This season, there’s been some disappointment obviously, but it’s a group that continue to compete and get better. We’re not where we want to be. That’s not the standard at Tennessee. It is about going and chasing and winning championships. But I’m excited about the guys that we have inside of our program and as we head into the portal, you’ll add some pieces. You got a great signing class and we’ll be ready to roll in in 2026.”

With Joshua Josephs opting out, if there’s anticipation for other guys like Lance Heard, Miles Kitselman, Jalen McMurray to make an announcement regarding future NFL preparations and this game…

“Some of the guys waited to announce their intentions. We’ve been practicing with the same group of guys for a while now. Planned on those guys making that announcement. We feel good about where we’re at and guys that are here ready to go play.”

On where he thinks the defense has been the past few weeks under interim defensive coordinator William Inge…

“Well initially I think everybody hurts because you know there’s change. But as we started our preparation getting back on the grass, guys have had excitement. Coach Inge has subtly tweaked some things from his past and we’ve had really good work and guys are ready to go play and compete and excited for the opportunity.”