Vols HC Josh Heupel makes very strong statement about playing Alabama in the future
Earlier this offseason, Alabama head coach Nick Saban appeared to suggest that he doesn't want to play the Tennessee Vols annually when the SEC moves to a new scheduling format. The expectation is that the SEC will move to a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2024. The feeling is that the SEC will go with […]
Earlier this offseason, Alabama head coach Nick Saban appeared to suggest that he doesn't want to play the Tennessee Vols annually when the SEC moves to a new scheduling format.
The expectation is that the SEC will move to a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2024. The feeling is that the SEC will go with a 3-6 format (three permanent opponents and six rotating opponents).
Saban specifically took issue with the idea of having the Vols on Alabama's schedule annually under the new format.
“They said they did a 10-year whatever,” said Saban earlier this offseason. “Well, some of those years, Tennessee wasn’t as good as they’ve been in the previous 10 years, but now they are as good as they used to be before that 10 years."
“We got three teams, and two of them are in the top 10, and the other is in the top 10 a lot,” added Saban. “Look historically over a 25-year history, the three best teams in the East are Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. You look historically at 25 years, Alabama, LSU, and Auburn are the three best teams in the West. So we’re playing them all.”
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel doesn't share the same mindset as Saban.
In fact, Heupel was adamant in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated that he wants the annual series against Alabama to continue.
“We’d love to play our historical rivals every single year,” said Heupel while discussing the Alabama game. “It’s important to our fan base. Players want to play those games when they come to Tennessee. I don’t know what the scheduling model is going to look like, but we want to play our historic rivals.”
“Football brings people together. Such a proud tradition,” added Heupel. “That game (against Alabama), we’re unique in that we have a lot of different rivals…that, for certain, for the older generation, is the game.”
Who would've thought that Tennessee would want to continue their annual rivalry against Alabama while Saban is expressing doubt that the rivalry should continue annually?
I guess that shows how the tide is changing in the SEC.
