Josh Heupel points out the moment the season changed for the Tennessee Vols in 2021
At the end of September last season, the Tennessee Vols were 2-2 with losses to Pittsburgh and Florida. The jury was still out on Josh Heupel at that point. Tennessee was coming off a disappointing 38-14 loss to the Gators. It was a familiar feeling for Vols fans who have seen far too many blowout […]
At the end of September last season, the Tennessee Vols were 2-2 with losses to Pittsburgh and Florida.
The jury was still out on Josh Heupel at that point. Tennessee was coming off a disappointing 38-14 loss to the Gators. It was a familiar feeling for Vols fans who have seen far too many blowout losses to SEC East rivals over the last 15 years.
But something changed after that Florida game. The offense clicked and Tennessee proceeded to score 107 points over their next two games (against Missouri and South Carolina).
Heupel pointed to that loss against Florida as the turning point in the season for the Vols.
“As a program, a young program, you have an opportunity to learn from it, grow, and push forward and really climb, or it's something that can be devastating," said Heupel of the loss to Florida during his appearance at SEC Media Days last week. "It's one of the moments inside our staff and program that changed the trajectory of the program."
“Sat in the team meeting room, [we] were able to dissect and show them not the entire game, but the key moments of things that we controlled that had nothing to do with anybody that was wearing a different colored jersey that impacted the game and the way it was played. Through that, I think they gained confidence in who they were, what we were doing. We were able to compete and grow throughout the course of the season.”
That might be one of the most encouraging quotes from Heupel that I've heard this offseason.
The loss to Florida was probably the worst moment of the year for the Vols. The Gators weren't a good team last season (they eventually fired Dan Mullen as their head coach). I'm not saying Tennessee should've won that game, but they shouldn't have lost by 24 points, either.
Heupel and his staff, however, were able to take a bad loss and turn it into a positive. Tennessee responded well to the loss and played at a much higher level the rest of the season.
Sure, Tennessee went just 5-4 after that game, but two of those four losses were to Alabama and Georgia. And the Vols gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle for 45 minutes. The other two losses were to Ole Miss and Purdue — two games that could've easily gone the Vols' way (an incomplete pass late against Ole Miss and a bad call on the goal line against Purdue changed the outcome of both games).
Heupel knows adversity is going to hit. He knows losses that kill a team's confidence are going to happen. And he showed last season that he knows how to perfectly handle those moments. That's the sign of a coach who is destined for success in the SEC. Heupel still has a lot to prove, but he's pushing all the right buttons so far.
Featured image via Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
