How Josh Heupel showed who he is as a person after Vols' win against Pittsburgh
The Tennessee Vols' road win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night was easily one of the biggest wins of Josh Heupel's career. Tennessee badly needed to make a statement. And despite not playing well at times, the Vols were able to leave Pittsburgh with a 34-27 overtime win. After the win, Heupel showed some rare emotion. […]
The Tennessee Vols' road win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night was easily one of the biggest wins of Josh Heupel's career.
Tennessee badly needed to make a statement. And despite not playing well at times, the Vols were able to leave Pittsburgh with a 34-27 overtime win.
After the win, Heupel showed some rare emotion.
But that emotion wasn't self-serving.
The second-year Vols head coach heaped praise on the defensive staff after the win. Heupel, a man known for his offensive acumen, made it clear after the game that the defense won the game for Tennessee.
"How about that effort from our defense," said Heupel in the post-game interview with ABC's Molly McGrath. "Third quarter offensively, we didn't do anything. Dominant performance from them (the defense) for most of the second half."
Heupel made sure to shout out his defensive staff after the game, too.
“I celebrated with our defensive staff in a big-time way, too, man," said Heupel after the win. "Coach G (Rodney Garner), Coach (Tim) Banks, Coach Ek (Mike Ekeler), Coach BJ (Brian Jean-Mary), Coach (Willie) Martinez. I guarantee you I haven’t said it enough in this press conference, but they did an unbelievable job in preparing and getting our guys ready."
"For our whole staff, man, this is a program win," added Heupel. "It takes everybody, from me to our full-time coaches down to the equipment staff and everybody that’s here on this trip, man. It’s a program win.”
Everything about Heupel's demeanor after the game — from finding his players on the field to celebrate with (the opposite of Butch Jones' solo falling-to-his-knees celebration after the Vols' win against Georgia in 2016), to giving credit to everyone but himself — showed us that this is a coach who isn't worried about getting credit from anyone. Instead, Heupel is focused on making improvements to the program and winning games. He knows the other stuff will take of itself.
Heupel showed us a lot about his character after the big win against Pitt. And that character is a big part of why he's having early success at Tennessee. It's also why there's a lot of optimism about the Vols moving forward.
Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
