Tennessee Football: Why reaching out to former Vols wasn't easy for Josh Heupel
When Josh Heupel was hired as the Tennessee Vols' head coach earlier this year, he made it clear that he wants former UT players to feel welcome on campus. "If you played football here, you're welcome back here," said Heupel at his introductory press conference. "I don't care if that's spring practice. I don't care […]
When Josh Heupel was hired as the Tennessee Vols' head coach earlier this year, he made it clear that he wants former UT players to feel welcome on campus.
"If you played football here, you're welcome back here," said Heupel at his introductory press conference. "I don't care if that's spring practice. I don't care if it’s observing a workout. I want them around our football program. That's important to me."
"I hope that when we get back to having spring games, I'm assuming there's an event that surrounds that weekend for former players (like) a golfing outing and coming to the game I want guys here," added Heupel. "Our guys that are currently playing (professionally), hopefully they come back and they're working out here during the offseason."
"Those are all things that I think are important. They give back to the players that are here. Hopefully, that does happen. Will I reach out to them? Absolutely."
Heupel has been reaching out to former players throughout the offseason.
But there was a major obstacle he had to navigate before he could start reaching out to VFLs.
Heupel told 104.5 The Zone earlier this week that Tennessee didn't have any contact info for former players when he arrived.
Former players were often around during the first part of the Butch Jones era. But things soured toward the end of Jones' tenure. Former UT standout Antone Davis stepped down as the program's VFL coordinator the month before Jones was fired.
According to Davis, he stepped down because of the "hostile work environment" he endured under Jones.
It would appear that Jones' successor, Jeremy Pruitt, simply didn't take the time to rebuild relationships with the vast majority of former Volunteers.
Heupel, however, is following through on his promise to make former Tennessee players — regardless of whether or not they were a "star player" — feel welcome back on Rocky Top.
Featured image via Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports
