Josh Heupel explains why he's glad the Vols are opening season on a Thursday instead of a Saturday
The Tennessee Vols are set to open the season on Thursday night in Neyland Stadium against Ball State at 7:00 PM ET. This will be the second straight season that Tennessee has opened the season on a Thursday night. As you can imagine, there are plenty of fans who aren't fans of the Thursday night […]
The Tennessee Vols are set to open the season on Thursday night in Neyland Stadium against Ball State at 7:00 PM ET.
This will be the second straight season that Tennessee has opened the season on a Thursday night.
As you can imagine, there are plenty of fans who aren't fans of the Thursday night season opener. Traditionalists would seemingly prefer for the Vols to open the season on a Saturday.
I'm somewhat indifferent — football is football regardless of when it's played. But I also understand that college football on Saturdays in the fall is sacred. You only get 12 of them per team, so it can be tough to lose one of those Saturdays. I get it.
There's a reason, however, why Vols head coach Josh Heupel likes opening on a Thursday night.
It gives him more time to recruit.
"Excited to go play and compete with these guys and our fans that are in the stands, as well," said Heupel on Monday. "Thursday night ballgame, one benefit for us as a staff is we have the opportunity to go recruit on the backend of it. A lot of our staff will be out on Friday and have the chance to go watch some high school kids play football in the state and across our region, excited about that as well."
Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. And so it makes sense that Heupel is looking at the weekend off as an opportunity to put in more work on the recruiting trail.
It may not seem like a big deal, but while other coaches are preparing for a game on Friday night and then playing on Saturday, Heupel will be chatting with recruits and trying to bring more talent to Rocky Top. Those conversations could certainly pay off in the form of commitments.
The Thursday night game also puts Tennessee in front of a national audience, which will also be huge for recruiting.
Heupel, as usual, is playing chess while everyone else plays checkers.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
