Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is annoyed with the SEC and he has a really good reason to be
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel isn’t happy with the SEC and he may have a good reason for it.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel didn’t sound happy with the SEC on Monday.
And he may have a good reason why.
Heupel was about 10 minutes late to his weekly press conference on Monday and it was because he was on the phone with the SEC about the Vols’ onside kick at the end of Tennessee’s loss to Texas.
The SEC announced on Monday that the drop kick from Jackson Ross should’ve been a penalty.
“That kick was actually run previously inside of this league,” said Heupel on Monday. “We had had earlier communication with the league, as well…we’ll adjust to the new rule.”
“The ruling we got today as I was walking down here,” added Heupel when asked to specify what he meant by “new rule.”
The kick that Heupel referenced that was previously used in the SEC came during South Carolina’s 27-25 loss to Alabama in 2024.
One difference between the kicks is that Ross made a move to his right before kicking it to his left. The South Carolina kicker didn’t make that same move.
The reason for Heupel’s gripe is that Tennessee had communication with the SEC about the kick to make sure it was legal. And apparently that communication wasn’t clear.
Either way, it worked out for Tennessee — the Vols just weren’t able to capitalize and score points.
But moving forward, the Vols will have to change their execution or they’ll risk a five-yard penalty and a failed onside kick attempt.
