How 2 big moments from this season show the trust that Josh Heupel has in his players
One of the reasons the Tennessee Vols are off to a 4-0 start this season is because of the trust that Josh Heupel has shown in his players. Under previous head coach Jeremy Pruitt, there was a feeling that if players screwed up, they'd be benched. We saw it with the way Pruitt constantly made […]
One of the reasons the Tennessee Vols are off to a 4-0 start this season is because of the trust that Josh Heupel has shown in his players.
Under previous head coach Jeremy Pruitt, there was a feeling that if players screwed up, they'd be benched.
We saw it with the way Pruitt constantly made changes at quarterback. It was a revolving door during his last season at Tennessee with four different quarterbacks seeing action at various times throughout the year.
That's no longer the case under Heupel. If a player makes a mistake, Heupel isn't afraid to go right back to them in a big moment. And we've already seen that a couple of times this season.
In the Vols' win against Pittsburgh, safety Trevon Flowers made a massive mistake by muffing a punt and giving the Panthers excellent field position.
Flowers was also hurdled by Panthers tight end Gavin Bartholomew.
Heupel didn't get down on Flowers. He trusted that his mental state would be just fine and he left him on the field to play defense.
And Flowers made up for his errors by coming up with the sack that essentially sealed the game for Tennessee.
Another example of the trust Heupel shows in his players came during the win against Florida.
Tight end Princeton Fant fumbled in the red zone on the Vols' first possession of the game, wasting a golden scoring opportunity.
Heupel, though, continued to trust Fant. And later in the game, Fant came up with a couple of key receptions, including this one on third down that extended a huge drive just before halftime for Tennessee.
Players tend to play with a lot more confidence when they know their coach trusts them and isn't going to yank them from the game after a mistake.
Heupel was asked this week about that trust during a media session with reporters.
"One, I think it does show trust by our entire coaching staff because they earn that trust," said Heupel. "Two, I think it is a mentality attitude to have the ability to reset, and I think that speaks to some of the growth inside our program and the growth of our players individually, that they have the ability to reset. This game is going to have a bunch of ups and downs in it, and it isn't going to be perfect."
"Our players have understood that and have been able to reset and go compete," added Heupel. "The look in their eye on Saturday when it wasn't going well or against Pittsburgh, it doesn't waver. It doesn't change, and that speaks to some of the maturity of our football team."
There are a lot of reasons why the Vols are experiencing success under Heupel. But one of the main reasons is the culture that Heupel and his staff have created. There's a "we're all in this together" mentality in Tennessee's locker room and it's leading to players playing with a ton of confidence.
And that confidence makes the Vols a dangerous team.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
