KNOXVILLE, Tenn –– Monday, Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel spoke with the media ahead of No. 15 Tennessee’s game on Saturday with Kennesaw State. Heupel, with a laser focused demeanor as usual, spoke on the task ahead against a good Kennesaw team. The Owls are coached by Jerry Mack, who is a former running backs coach at Tennessee.
Coach Heupel also touched on improvements needed after the Georgia Tech game, Faizon Brandon’s production, and the injury news of tight end Ethan Davis. Below is everything coach Heupel said.
Opening statement:
“Looking forward to getting back this week inside our stadium and seeing our fans. Again, thank all the fans that showed up in Atlanta for the game last Saturday. This will be our Salute to Service game as well. So I want to thank all the men and women that have served and are currently serving, to protect and give us the opportunity and the freedom that we certainly enjoy, and welcoming some of the families of the men and women that we’re recognizing this weekend as well.
“So Saturday, we get an opportunity to play a good Kennesaw State football team. A lot of familiarity with a lot of their staff. Jerry Mack and his staff have done a really good job. I think they’ve won 12 out of the last 14 ballgames that they’ve played, and it’s an opportunity for us this week to continue to grow and get better as a football team.”
On the injury report coming out of Saturday:
“A few guys, during the course of play, that may have been out for a little bit or didn’t finish, but hopeful for most of those guys. Obviously Ethan Davis, ACL injury, will be gone for the remainder of the year.”
On what’s next at that position after the Ethan Davis injury:
“This game requires the next guy up. You’ve heard me talk about that. Our team’s heard that too. You gotta be prepared for when your opportunity arises, and next guy, and multiple guys have to step up in that role.
“I hate it for Ethan. The work that he put into it, the growth of the person and the player, that the season’s cut short. But next guy’s gotta be prepared and take advantage of their opportunity, and so you’ve seen a lot of those guys play already this year. They just gotta continue to grow and step into that role.”
On how indicative early-season play is of what a team will be later in the year:
“Well, you can look at scores from week to week and tell that it’s a week by week test. And good teams continue to get better. So this game, in a global view, you look at scores, right? But the game’s won and lost in the very smallest of details, fundamentals and technique, and it’s what you’re constantly striving for, and that’s what the emphasis, or part of the emphasis, was today with our team. How do we get better, take ownership of the things that we’re in control of?”
On whether DaSaahn Brame slides into Ethan Davis’ role in 12 personnel:
“DaSaahn’s got the ability to play out in space and play in the core, very similar to Ethan. Some of our other guys do too. DaSaahn’s really grown in his ability to play in the core. You look at the last run by Dejuan, DaSaahn’s doing a great job inside the core on the second level. So we got a ton of trust in him, and that’s a credit to his development over the last year.”
On addressing the penalties during the game week:
“I addressed it today. I went through all of them. Our football team’s got the ability to grow into a good football team if we make the choices to do the right things, and presented the video of it today. And our players gotta make a choice to not hurt the football team.”
On the missed throw to Radarious Jackson:
“What goes into the missed throw? The timing of the plays, the timing of his throw. Well, it can be different things depending on the play. On that play it was fundamentals.”
On what he wants to see from Faizon Brandon this week before SEC play:
“Continued growth and fundamentals. That one was an RPO play. Continuing growth and communication, understanding situational football. But I really like a lot of what he’s done. I said it a week ago, I think he’s gonna get better every rep, every series, every game. He’s continuing to grow and catalog information, and he’s getting better from it.”
On what he’s seen from Radarious Jackson settling in:
“I thought he did a really good job the other night. Very consistent, good decision-making. Had a really good feel for man zone principles, and thought he played his best football, at least at the most consistent throughout the 60 minutes of play. Really good night from him.”
On the edge players getting to the quarterback:
“J Norm’s [Jordan Norman] done a really good job too, and the group collectively playing with really good fundamentals. That’s in the run game. There’s a lot of different things that go into that, but they’re playing physical and they’ve done a good job applying pressure to the quarterback. Mariyon Dye, last couple weeks, has played his best football, and a young guy that we still see a lot of growth left in him too, and that’s a compliment to him.”
On what Carson Gentle has done to earn more playing time:
“Tough, smart, relentless competitor. Knows his job, does his job, selfless, tough kid. He went through a little bit of injury during the summer, and so it was kind of a slow trickle in his growth over the course of training camp. And so he’s as healthy as he’s been and ready to handle more volume. That’s why he got more play the other week.”
On balancing the last game before SEC play as a tune-up:
“It’s not a tune-up. You better show up every Saturday. You look at the scores, media, your family, your girlfriend, whoever, they might wanna pigeonhole you as this. But you decide who you are, collectively as a team and as a program.”
On balancing reps for a younger quarterback if the game gets out of hand:
“You can look at the scores every week. You better get ready to go play. When the ball is teed up, you better be playing at your best. Game unfolds, it unfolds. But you better prepare to go play for 60 minutes.”
On what he saw in Jerry Mack as a coach and what Mack has built at Kennesaw State:
“He’s a great leader of men. He’s authentic. He’s a really good recruiter. And he’s able to hire a really good staff, and you put all those pieces of the puzzle together. He’s smart. He’s organized. That’s how you have consistency in your program. That’s how you build a program. And you can look at what he’s done at Kennesaw State, what he did as a head coach before that. He’s a really good coach.”
