Current Vols player who played under Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones details how Tennessee is different under Josh Heupel
Tennessee Vols wide receiver Grant Frerking recently sat down with The Athletic's Andy Staples on "The Andy Staples Show" to discuss a variety of topics. One of the things that Frerking discussed is the environment under current Vols head coach Josh Heupel as opposed to his predecessors, Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones. Frerking, who is also the […]
Tennessee Vols wide receiver Grant Frerking recently sat down with The Athletic's Andy Staples on "The Andy Staples Show" to discuss a variety of topics.
One of the things that Frerking discussed is the environment under current Vols head coach Josh Heupel as opposed to his predecessors, Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones.
Frerking, who is also the CEO of a multi-million dollar landscaping company, played under Jones and Pruitt so he has unique insight into what's different about Tennessee under Heupel.
And there's plenty that different about UT with Heupel in charge according to the Atlanta native.
Frerking explained to Staples how players actually enjoy coming into the building under Heupel.
Before Heupel, Frerking said players weren't in the building unless they had to be.
“It makes me so proud to say that I play for him (Heupel) because truly every single day when I walk in that building…going through the dog days of training camp, all the times when it would be really easy to say ‘man this sucks why am I doing it’, like I truly enjoy going into that building," said Frerking. "And so do 124 other guys on the roster. Because they love who they play for, they love their position coaches, they love the culture."
"It doesn’t feel like you’re going and playing college football every day. It truly feels like — it’s so cliché — you feel at home. You feel like you could get in the car and go home with your position coach and go eat dinner there and truly feel at home. Because it’s not a transactional just football-type environment. You can talk to your coach about anything other than football. I do it all the time. I’ll walk up there and just sit on the desk and watch the news with guys on staff and just get your mind off of football. And that’s never been done before."
"You have guys coming on Saturday mornings, probably after they have gone out on Friday night in the offseason, and wanting to truly go in there and get extra work in and be in the facility," explained Frerking. "Years prior, you wouldn’t find a soul in there if it wasn’t on the calendar and we had to be there. It was cold. They didn’t feel like they were welcome. They didn’t feel like they wanted to be there. They’re kicking guys out of the building now just because they love being there so much. That’s just what Coach Heupel has built."
Frerking also detailed how Heupel listens to players and takes their thoughts into consideration.
"He listens to us," said Frerking of Heupel. "Our opinions are always welcome. He thinks on it…if we don’t like something, the head coach’s door is always open."
We've talked a lot about how it appears that Heupel has changed the culture at Tennessee. To hear this from a current player just confirms a lot of what we already thought.
Heupel is building UT's program the right way. He's getting players to buy in and he's not forcing it. And because of the environment he's created, players are excited about practicing. They're excited about being around their teammates and even their coaches.
It's been a long time since the vibes were this good on Rocky Top.
And if Tennessee takes a big step forward in 2022, those vibes will be even better.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
