Vols HC Josh Heupel hilariously responds to good natured trash talk from one of his players
If you want proof of the elite culture that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel has created in Knoxville, then look no further than his "beef" with UT punter Jackson Ross. Over the weekend, Vols outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler praised the athleticism of Ross, a former Australian rugby player (Ross was also […]
If you want proof of the elite culture that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel has created in Knoxville, then look no further than his "beef" with UT punter Jackson Ross.
Over the weekend, Vols outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler praised the athleticism of Ross, a former Australian rugby player (Ross was also an excellent tennis player growing up).
Ekeler noted that Ross runs the 40-yard dash in the 4.5 range. He also pointed out that Ross claims to have the third strongest arm on the team behind redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton and true freshman Nico Iamaleava.
Ekeler, who is apparently full of wisdom after spending the last two decades as a college football assistant, suggested that his boss (Heupel) still has a stronger arm than Ross.
"He claims he has the third-strongest arm on this team behind Joe and Nico," said Ekeler. "For me, the guy who signs my paychecks, I am going to say the fourth (best arm) behind Heup, also. The guy can sling it."
When asked by the media about Ekeler's comments, Ross stood by his claim that he has the third strongest arm on the team.
"I think I'm better than Coach Heupel at his age now," said Ross. "I'm still in my prime I think."
On Monday, Heupel was asked about Ross' comments. And the Tennessee coach offered a hilarious response.
"Now we know that Jackson will lie," said Heupel with a smirk. "He may be fourth, but not third."
Two things stand out here:
For starters, you can just sense that the relationship between Heupel and his players is "easy". There doesn't seem to be any tension at all between the coaches and the players. And that's why a ton of trust has been built between players and coaches at Tennessee.
Secondly, while the back-and-forth between Heupel and Ross is all in good fun, I think we can see a bit of Heupel's competitiveness in his response. Heupel is just giving Ross a hard time. But I get the feeling that if the two went out on the field and had a competition, Heupel would give it all he had to beat Ross.
But hey, that's what Tennessee fans should want in their head coach. If the head coach isn't absurdly competitive, it's hard to expect the team to act in that manner.
