Vols senior who played for Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones gives thoughts on Josh Heupel as a head coach
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior tight end Princeton Fant has seen a lot during his time at UT. Fant originally signed with the Vols when Butch Jones was the program's head coach. The Nashville native didn't see any action in 2017, but he was on the roster for one season under Jones. The former three-star recruit […]
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior tight end Princeton Fant has seen a lot during his time at UT.
Fant originally signed with the Vols when Butch Jones was the program's head coach. The Nashville native didn't see any action in 2017, but he was on the roster for one season under Jones.
The former three-star recruit then spent the next three seasons playing for Jeremy Pruitt before an NCAA recruiting investigation forced another coaching change for Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Fant was asked about his thoughts on playing for Josh Heupel the last two seasons after spending time under Butch and Pruitt.
And Fant had plenty of great things to say.
"He's a great coach," said Fant when asked about Heupel. "He came in a changed the culture here at Tennessee. He took all of us in as family. We could be ourselves. We could out there and just have fun and compete. Just his competitiveness and the love for the game is something that's special. We fed off that. He's a great coach."
What Heupel has been able to do over the last two seasons has been nothing short of amazing. The Tennessee football program looked like it was about to be down for another decade. In early 2021, with a multitude of players hitting the transfer portal and an NCAA investigation hanging over the program, it felt as though it would be years before the Vols would be ready to compete for a spot in the playoff.
But in just two seasons, Heupel took the program to No. 1 in the nation and he had the Vols on the cusp of a playoff appearance.
None of that would've been possible without players like Fant buying into Heupel's vision for Tennessee.
So while Heupel deserves credit for changing the culture in Knoxville, the players deserve just as much credit for actually making the culture change a reality.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
