Vols head coach Josh Heupel has perfect response when asked about playing backups against Akron
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel isn't letting himself, his coaching staff or his team look past the Akron Zips this weekend to UT's game against the Florida Gators on September 24. Not even the tiniest bit. Heupel took a question from a fan during Vol Calls on Wednesday night about playing backup players — […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel isn't letting himself, his coaching staff or his team look past the Akron Zips this weekend to UT's game against the Florida Gators on September 24.
Not even the tiniest bit.
Heupel took a question from a fan during Vol Calls on Wednesday night about playing backup players — specifically backup quarterback Joe Milton — against Akron on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.
And Heupel had a perfect response.
“I looked at the scoreboard tonight as I was driving over here," said Heupel in response to playing backups against Akron. "It’s 0-0. So we’re going to line up and play that one. As it unfolds, we’ll make decisions based on that, but looking forward to this ball game. All you’ve got to do is look across the scoreboards of college football last weekend, and real quickly you can understand, man, your competitiveness and your preparation are going to show up on game day."
"This game doesn’t care what conference you’re in, where you’re ranked," added Heupel. "The only thing it cares about is what you poured into the week.”
Akron is one of the worst teams that Tennessee will play this season. But they're coached by former Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead and, as Heupel likes to say, they have players on scholarship, too.
And like Heupel mentioned, we've already seen a few teams this season lose games that they shouldn't have lost (hello Texas A&M).
The Vols aren't in any danger of losing this game. They could probably play their second string the entire game and still win by 40-plus points.
But if Heupel had that type of approach, it wouldn't bode well for the program in general. Instead, he's taking the Nick Saban approach and treating Akron like they're a fierce SEC rival. That might seem silly, but it's just what good coaches do.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
