Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the media Monday before the Volunteers open the 2026 season against Furman on Sept. 5 at Neyland Stadium. Heupel spoke on the potential of the season, the difference in DeSean Bishop over the last year, confirmed tight end Ethan Davis will be available, and opened with a tribute to the late Dolly Parton. Here is everything he said.
Opening Statement
Game week in Tennessee. Ready to go play some ball. Look forward to seeing our fans. For a bunch of our players’ first experience inside of Neyland Stadium. Everybody inside the program is excited about kicking this thing off here on Saturday. Culmination of a lot of work that goes into it, dating all the way back to last January as we started our offseason program. Excited to go play and compete with these guys, and ultimately we’ll find out where we’re at and where we’ve got to continue to grow, but looking forward to the weekend.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t also talk about the passing of Dolly Parton, all that she’s meant across the world, this country, and certainly the Queen of East Tennessee and a lady that was extremely proud of her roots. You look at her impact, her ability to give back, make an impact to people, certainly here in East Tennessee. She means a lot to people across this country, but certainly here inside the state of Tennessee too. So we’ll be wearing a sticker patch on the back of our helmet to recognize her accomplishments and everything that she’s meant and had an impact here on Tennessee.
I also want to wish Coach Webb and our golf team good luck as they tee it up and start their season here today. So with that, I’ll open it up to questions.
Q: Josh, I don’t know how long they’ve been saying this, but some coach maybe 100 years ago said teams improve the most from the first to second game in college football. Do you buy into that, and do you think it’s still true the way today’s game is?
I think you can improve the most from week one to week two. Ultimately, your team’s going to improve when your players focus on the improvements that they need to make and incorporate that into how they practice and ultimately the following week. But good teams continue to get better throughout the course of the season, not just week one to week two.
Q: You said you’re excited to see where this team’s at. Where do you think you are?
Yeah, I think we have a chance to be a good team. Ultimately, our preparation’s got to be right this week. Dial into the details of our game plans in all three phases of it. Go compete extremely hard. This game’s never perfect. Don’t expect Saturday, too. But we want to play with great soundness and play our alignments, our keys, and play with great technique and take care of the football when we have it and create some turnovers when we don’t have it.
Q: How much has Ethan Davis been able to practice the last week, and do you anticipate him being available on Saturday?
Yeah, he’ll be available on Saturday, ramped up this past week, and looks really good.
Q: About your team in training camp, but over the ground of a 12 game season, what will you learn about a team that you don’t know in training camp?
Yeah, you’ll continue to find more out about mental and physical toughness, emotional toughness, resiliency, next play mindset. So we’re going to find out a lot through this 12 game journey, but Saturday is our first opportunity.
Q: How has Jim Knowles made you and Joey [Halzle] better on the offensive side of the ball seeing what he throws at you guys every day in practice through spring and fall camp? How have you all improved?
Yeah, I think as much as anything, as multiple as they are, front, coverage, presentations, rotations, gives you the ability to work through a lot of the things that you’re going to see throughout the course of the year. So as much as anything, it’s the exposure our players get to some of those things.
Q: You guys have had a ton of success on offense, but you’re seeing a lot of head coaches give up play calling, even if they’ve been really successful coaches. You’re always looking to tweak and get better. Why has it been best for your program for you to continue to call plays?
Yeah, Joey does a lot of it. My background, offense, I’m going to stay engaged in that. Part of the details of all of our preparation for me. Staying a part of what’s gotten you to this point, hiring great people that you trust and some of those other things. But certainly it’s still my responsibility to tie all three of it together.
Q: How have you seen Mike [Matthews] and Braylon [Staley] this fall camp help those younger guys in the midst of that competition for the third receiver spot and just help lead that room?
Yeah, well, they’re smart, tough, competitive. They’ve really grown in their approach, how they handle every day from year one, how they take care of their bodies. You see it out on the practice field, coaching guys up, subtle details. Could be fundamentals, technique, could be recognizing schemes. You see it, them talking to their peers, some of the young guys that, hey man, these are mistakes that I made when I was young, here’s how I’ve grown and here’s how it’s impacted me. And those are two guys that do it at a really high level.
Q: And physically, how different does DeSean Bishop look this game week one as compared to last year’s game one, where he could be more physical, be a running back that’s continued to grow?
Yeah, had a great offseason, physically stronger, more muscle mass, more speed and acceleration. A year ago, had some opportunities in games, but hadn’t carried the bulk of it. He’s got a year under his belt. He’s done a great job with the ball in his hands. He does a great job without the ball in his hands, too. I think he’s really grown in that way. So, experienced player that’s played at a really high level that we expect to have a great year.
Q: You’re about eight minutes in. You haven’t had a quarterback question yet. How about that? It was pretty good. I’m curious, in your history, you’ve played your starter, and then obviously games dictated whatever else has happened. Going into this game, do you have a plan to go that route, or do you have a plan to play two quarterbacks?
You’ll find out on Saturday.
Q: You had mentioned after one of your scrimmages that you guys did more than 50% live tackling, trying to get better in that area. How have you seen that? I know games ultimately will determine, but how have you seen that improve your team’s tackling, both on offense and then how has it impacted both on defense, but how has it impacted the offense too?
Well, some of that live work is important for, yes, your offensive guys, skilled players that have the ball in their hands. That can be live work and scrimmage. There’s some of our tackling drills that we do that are live. At the end of the day, tackling is body position, fundamentals, and technique. We’ve stretched that extremely hard during the offseason, done it during the course of spring ball training camp, and I like how we have grown. We’ll find out when we get out there on Saturday.
Q: How have you seen George [MacIntyre] respond over the last week or so since you announced that Faison was going to be the starter?
Yeah, disappointed at first. If they’re not that, then you’ve got a real problem. But he’s been great in the quarterback room, been great on the practice field, great energy. He’s in here today with everybody. He’s continuing to grow and work and compete, and he understands he’s going to get an opportunity at some point and better be prepared when your opportunity comes.
Q: Just any observations on Furman. They obviously already got their season underway. What do you see from them?
Yeah, it gives you ability to understand where they’re playing people in all three phases of the game. Defensively, they return a bunch on their front, have a really good edge player. It’s preseason player of the year in their conference. Ultimately, every week is this, but it’s about us and our preparation and continuing to grow and then go play our best ball on Saturday.
