Josh Heupel makes it clear he's against bringing one element to college football
It's not often that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel makes it clear that he's for or against a rule/policy shift in college football. Typically, Heupel will tell reporters that whatever debate is going on is out of his control and he'll have his team ready to handle the hands they're dealt regardless of the […]
It's not often that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel makes it clear that he's for or against a rule/policy shift in college football.
Typically, Heupel will tell reporters that whatever debate is going on is out of his control and he'll have his team ready to handle the hands they're dealt regardless of the outcome.
This week at the SEC meetings, however, Heupel was asked if there were any spirited debates between coaches.
The third-year Tennessee head coach mentioned that gambling in college sports was the conversation that had the most "dialogue".
"Gambling was one of the ones that probably had as much dialogue," said Heupel. "And probably as many questions from the coaches to the people that were presenting and to the conference itself on things that we can do to protect our players, protect our programs.”
“I think it’s ingrained into society, right?" added Heupel. "There’s so many things that you can bet on, right? A lot of states have casinos, right, and looking at the map that they presented to us, the majority of them are or are going to have the ability to do it using your mobile device, so we’ve got to continue to find ways to navigate it the right way.”
When asked if college football should loosen the rules to allow players to bet on games, Heupel quickly let it be known that he wasn't on board with that idea.
“I don’t think that’s the direction that we want to head," said Heupel.
Several college football programs, as well as some NFL teams, have dealt with scandals over the last year.
Tennessee has been proactive when it comes to gambling by speaking to players about the consequences of betting on games as they look to avoid similar scandals.
It seems pretty clear where Heupel and the Vols stand on gambling — they won't be pushing for it to be allowed via NCAA rules anytime soon.
Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
