What ETSU head coach Will Healy said about facing Tennessee at Neyland Stadium

What ETSU Football coach Will Healy said during his weekly press conference on Monday about going on the road to face Tennessee on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium in the home opener for the Vols:

ETSU going to Tennessee this week

“A little bit of a different test this week. When you get an opportunity to go play in Neyland Stadium, obviously, it’s an honor to go play in that arena. It’s a privilege. I grew up in the state of Tennessee, so this one is extra fun and extra special for me. Got a ton of respect for their staff, what Coach Heupel has done there. I got a couple friends on the staff. I think they do it the right way. When you flip on the film, they’re one of the top teams in the country with one of the top talent levels in the country, as well. In front of 107,000 people, a game that will be on national television, you get a chance to make sure that you put your best foot forward as a program. It’s hard to create this type of advertisement for your university. 

“I told the guys, this week for me is about the same as last week. It’s the same messaging. It’s about us. We’ve got to correct a lot of stuff before we start to have concerns about what Tennessee is doing. I want to put the best week of preparation that we can put on tape and put together. We’ll go down on Friday and compete our rear ends off. We got a bunch of guys who have been in that arena before. It’s exciting. You’re getting to play in the Mecca of college football against a great staff. It’s a great opportunity for us as a staff to compete and scheme some of the best coaches in the country. It’s a great opportunity for our players to play against some of the best players in the country.

“It’s a one-week season for us. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to play the University of Tennessee to win a national championship or to win a conference championship. So, we’re just taking this week as a week of its own and we’re going to find ways for us to get better and to give ourselves the best chance to have some success on Saturday.”

How reps were split with ETSU quarterbacks Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell against Murray State on Saturday

“Yeah, we communicated what our plan was for those guys on Monday or Tuesday of last week. And I thought it was important that they both knew (the rotation). Cade ends up throwing the pick, but our plan was to play Jacolby in the third series anyway. And I told them both, I said, whether Cade throws two touchdowns or throws two picks in the first series, this is our plan, we’re going to stick with it, and you guys need to feel confident in what the expectation is. I think the other thing about it with how we used Jacolby was he’s got to stay ready at all times. It may be the middle of Cade series that we’re going to throw him in and it could be the opposite direction as well. 

“So it’s a little bit unique. Both those guys need to make sure that they’re throwing and that they’re loose and that we can complete some of those balls that I thought we missed on Saturday, which will be really important in tight games. But I thought there were probably two series for each of them that I thought, man, we could have executed a little bit better. We missed this throw. We fumbled this ball. We threw this pick. I thought Jacolby came in right away and gave us a massive spark, you know, to score two straight touchdowns after the way we started with the missed field goal and the pick. 

“And then I thought after that, Cade settled down and played really well. And Jacolby had the fumble. So it worked out well for us and I think they’re both excellent players. And obviously for us, the plan is still to just, it should be as close to 50-50 as possible.” 

If he grew up a Tennessee fan growing up in Chattanooga

“I was the oddball. I grew up a Georgia Tech fan. My dad, uncle, and granddad all played football at Georgia Tech. So it was really difficult at the Dick’s Sporting Goods or any of the Chattanooga sports stores to find any Georgia Tech apparel. My best friend, Wes Hodges, he would take me to Tennessee games as a young child, and I would go see the Vol Walk for the first time. And I would see his parents, that when Tee Martin or Peyton Manning walked down the Vol Walk, it was like the largest celebrity on the face of the planet. And basically they’d have thrown their entire wad of cash at him if they would just shake his hand. So it was a unique experience. 

“And I got to see the love of football that this state has for Tennessee. And so just got a lot of respect for them. I understand how cool it is for us to be able to have the privilege of going to play there. I’ve got a lot of family and friends that grew up as Tennessee fans. So wearing an ETSU shirt on Saturday will be unique for them, being in that stadium cheering for somebody other than Tennessee will be unique for them. 

“But it’s just always been a program to me that I’ve just had a ton of respect for from Philip Fulmer to Coach Cutcliffe to Coach Sanders to, I mean, I grew up watching them, even though my family had a little bit more Georgia Tech in the blood.”

If a team like ETSU goes into a game like this thinking it can “shock the world”

“I think all of it is words on a Monday, you know what I mean? I think that that’s not the messaging to me right now, let’s go shock the world. The messaging to me is we’re still early in the week where we’ve got plenty to fix from this past Saturday. And then the messaging to me is how much better can this football team get from now until the end of November? And so the messaging from last week to this week stays exactly the same. 

“I think our guys understand the fact that we’re going to go play one of the best football teams in the country in their place. And we’ve got to do everything the right way. Create turnovers and win the special teams battle and all those type of things to give ourselves a shot. But we still got 60 minutes of football to go play before any of those conversations actually come up. 

“I think I’ve been in this situation plenty of times before. When I was at Austin Peay, we went and played the No. 1 team in the country at Georgia on opening weekend. When I was at Charlotte, we played No. 1 Clemson. I’ve been at Chattanooga and we played Alabama and Auburn and all those guys. I’ve been in this situation a bunch. I think the biggest thing is just how can we make sure that we take a deep breath and we go execute and we stay in the moment and win the down and not let the environment get too big for us. And that’s difficult to do. I mean, it’s happening to the best teams in the country when they go in that place. So I don’t think the messaging right now is go shock the world. I think it’s let’s fix us and then let’s give ourselves the best chance to go have success Saturday.”

Simulating the Neyland Stadium noise at ETSU practice this week 

“I’ve got like an extra boombox or two that we may bring. Maybe just put some headphones on all the guys. I mean, the noise is going to be a factor. There’s no question about it, which is a fun part about playing there. So we’ll figure out how many speakers we have around this place and turn it up as loud as we can to, as best we can, simulate the type of noise of 107,000 people.”

Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar playing ETSU last season while he was at Appalachian State

“I think he’s a really good player. And I think that kind of what I’ve seen just from the outside is that there’s a belief with that team of who he is as a person. I’ve never gone against him, but I’ve watched a ton of his film and just seems competitive. He’s a really good athlete. He makes you defend all 11 in the run game. I think he throws the ball really well. He’s had a lot of experience. He’s been in big stages. It’ll obviously be his first chance to play in Neyland Stadium, which I’m sure will be a lot of fun for him. But it seems to me like there’s kind of a confidence and a belief with that program that, that he’s the guy. So it’ll be important for us to get pressure. It’ll be important for us to — they create so many explosive plays with what they do offensively that making them snap the ball again will be really important for us. The explosive play battle will be massive. But I got a lot of respect for him. And our guys have seen him, but he’s with a different team. Our team’s a lot different. The environment will be a little different than when our guys played him the last time. A lot has changed since then, but still got a ton of respect for him. He’s a great player.”

Having two quarterbacks who transferred from power-conference programs, leaning on their experience in this kind of environment  

“Yeah. I told the guys this morning we have a lot of guys who have been in that venue. It doesn’t make it easier. And they’re obviously with a different group and it’s different time. But the challenge is still playing one of the best teams in the country at their place and in one of the first two weeks of football. I’m not concerned about the messaging for the players right now. I just think the situation has changed for everybody that’s involved. So it’s not like one of those things where, man, I feel a heck of a lot better about winning the game because we have had some guys who have been in that environment. It’s just like we got it’s a Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium in front of that many people playing against that type of talent. We got to play well. We got to take care of the football. We got to win the turnover battle lopsided. We’ve got to tackle well, make them snap the ball again. We’ve got to win the special teams battle. We’ve got to do all the little things the right way. 

“And so whether they were, Cade at Michigan or Iowa or Jacoby at North Carolina or Arkansas, they’ve been in that. Obviously Charlie (Browder has) played there and (UCF transfer) Kaven (Call), we’ve got a bunch of guys who have been in similar environments. But this is a different team, a different opportunity. And so we’ll need to establish our own identity in this situation.”

What he has seen from Tennessee on tape

“I’ve watched a lot more of their defense than I have their offense. I think they return maybe 10 of 11 starters on the defensive side of the ball. Man, their front is really good. I think they’re physical. I think they run really well. They’ve got great size. I think their back end is a place where all I heard about all off season was we’ve got to get better in the back end and they look great. They’ve got good length. They run really well. I think from a defensive perspective, they are one of the best teams in the country for sure. Maybe statistically, when it’s all said and done, one of the the best defense in the country. And so I’ve watched a lot more of that. 

“I think the thing that stands out to me more than anything, they’re talented, they play hard. When I say run to the football and have an edge about how they play, They do. And I think schematically they do, they know their personnel. They aren’t overly complex on first and second downs. When they get into the third down, their package is really, really difficult. And they’ll bring some pressure, some simulated pressures and some things that make it difficult to protect. So we’ve got to stay out of third-and-long situations, which you would say about any week. But I just think schematically they’re very sound and they play really hard. 

“He’s got four- and five-star talent playing really hard and playing together. And it’s kind of one of those things on Sunday night when you’re in there at 10 o’clock, you’re like, oh my gosh, like these dudes, I feel like I need to say yes, sir, to them. And then hopefully you get to the end of the week on Wednesday and Thursday and you can calm down a little bit and say, we got to go snap the ball and we got a chance to have some success.”