Volquest goes 1-on-1 with Josh Heupel

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel enters year five this week as Tennessee opens up the 2025 season in Atlanta against Syracuse. The top Vol sat down with Volquest to kickoff game week and preview the season ahead.

“Last year seems like it was so long ago,” Heupel said. “There is so much work that goes into it. Our staff has done a great job with our players. We have really strong leadership inside our position groups and units. We have had a great training camp. You put all that work into winter spring and summer and you can’t wait for kickoff. It’s finally here and I’m ready to go compete with these guys.”

Tennessee has been picked to finish in the middle of the pack of the SEC after the loss of key playmakers from last season and then the last minute transfer of Nico Iamaleava during the spring. It would be easy to say they have a chip on their shoulder.

“I think this football throughout the entire offseason building connection through some of the adversity they have had to face as an entire group leads to them being hyper connected with each other,” Heupel said. “It’s a really accountable group and they care about each other and compete hard. Certainly you can’t block out the outside noise in today’s world. They see it and are aware of it. Being intentional about the things you can control is something we talk about a lot in our program and certainly there is an edge to this group. Outside expectations may change but our expectations inside this program don’t and continue to grow.”

Heupel’s 65 victories since the start of the 2018 season ranks sixth nationally, and he is one of only three active FBS head coaches to lead multiple programs to New Year’s Six Bowl appearances in the College Football Playoff era. He is coming off taking Tennessee to the college football playoff in its first year of the 12 team format.

Watch the full exclusive 1-on-1 interview with Heupel on the Volquest YouTube channel.