Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is typically one who doesn’t come at someone with the strongest or most pointed language during his press conferences.

But that all went out the window on Tuesday during his press conference to open up fall practice.

Heupel started off his press conference by almost immediately pivoting to the situation regarding Arion Carter, who was recently suspended by the NCAA for two games for accepting a $427 flight during the pre-draft process, even though he later paid it back and returned to school.

And the normally reserved Heupel classified the NCAA’s ruling in one word and in no uncertain terms: bullshit.

Josh Heupel calls NCAA ruling on Tennessee LB Arion Carter ‘bullshit’

“The ruling that came out from the NCAA, the two-game suspension, I truly believe is bullshit,” Heupel said. “You look at the landscape of college football. The rules from NIL, everything. I think the ruling is completely outdated. Disappointed for him and for us in the result of that ruling.

“AC, at the end of last year, had to make a choice. He chose to put his name in the NFL Draft process at the middle of January, late, right before the deadline, where you have to make a final declaration. He found out that he needed a medical procedure. It was going to require surgery. He made the choice, the right choice for him to come back to college football.

“He was up front and honest. The fact that he paid back the four-hundred dollar flight. He’s done everything, handled everything the right way. Very truthful and up front about everything. I think it’s unfortunate that a young man that, again, represents everything inside of this game the right way is faced with that ruling.”

The NCAA is missing the forest for the trees in the biggest way possible

The ruling is truly an abomination when you take the alleged violation in the context of where things really and truly are in college athletics nowadays. Call it NIL, but college athletics has become pay for play regardless of whatever procedure, mechanism, or nuance that’s used to slide through a loophole. Millions of dollars are going into players pockets to pick a side, and it happens each year. College sports are minor league free agency, and it’s impossible to deny it at this point.

And instead, the NCAA chooses to reserve its thunderstick for a player who went through the NFL pre-draft process to determine his potential opportunities, and ultimately chose to return and pay back every dime of the money and return to the only school he’s played for. Those dollars are an absolute drop in the bucket compared to the money floating around the sport right now, which threatens to tear at the deepest fibers of college athletics.

It’s refreshing to hear Heupel go to war for his player, even if those claims fall on deaf ears inside the NCAA offices. Because the more that the organization’s truly foolish decisions are pointed out, perhaps the sooner we can get to some level of change for the better in college athletics.