Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made some comments this week that are being taken the wrong way by Vols fans
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has the Vols in contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff entering the final month of the regular season.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made some comments this week that are being taken the wrong way by some fans.
The sixth-year Vols head coach was asked about the challenges of being a head coach in the NIL era.
Heupel, of course, mentioned the challenges of roster turnover each season — which is something that every coach is obviously dealing with to some extent.
It was the second part of Heupel’s answer that’s led to some misinterpretation.
“I think, in part because of that (roster turnover), keeping your team together during the duration of the season,” said Heupel on the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday. “The focus of your team week in and week out and, really, as much as anything, day in and day out to be your best by game day is the biggest thing that you’ve got to do a great job of.”
Some fans have taken that comment as Heupel saying that he’s having trouble keeping his team together in the sense that players are either threatening to leave or entertaining offers from other programs during the season.
There’s certainly some of that going on in college football, but I am confident that Heupel is simply talking about keeping his players focused on the process each week.
Coaches and players can say whatever they want. But the only thing that matters is staying focused in the moment and accomplishing what needs to be done that particular day. The past doesn’t matter and the future isn’t relevant yet. Just be present and do what has to be done that day.
Getting an entire roster to stay laser focused is what Nick Saban was so good at. It’s never been an easy thing to do, but it’s even more difficult in the NIL era with so many outside distractions. Even if a player has no intention of transferring, there are plenty of other things — including NIL responsibilities (autograph sessions, appearances, commercials, photoshoots, business opportunities, etc) — that can wreck a player’s focus.
Saban actually mentioned earlier this month that he thinks a lot of teams in college football are struggling to keep their intensity on a weekly basis.
I don’t think Heupel is talking about literally keeping his roster together in-season, I think he’s just talking about his team staying connected and focused on the same goal.
And I honestly think he’s doing a pretty good job of that. Tennessee is 6-2, but they’ve shown they’re a team that plays with relentless effort for 60 minutes. They’ve been in some tough games, but even in their losses, they never stopped fighting.
We’ll see if they can keep that same intensity over the final four games of the regular season. If they do, they have a great chance to go 4-0 in November and reach the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons.
