Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel speaks at SEC Media Day.
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00:00 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year,
00:02 he's a two-time national Coach of the Year finalist,
00:05 but only four active FBS head coaches
00:09 to lead multiple programs to New Year's Six Bowl appearances
00:12 during the college football playoff era.
00:16 Josh himself was a national championship winning quarterback
00:20 and Oklahoma runner-up to the Heisman Trophy.
00:22 I also learned after Mike Leach's passing,
00:25 kind of a bookend on my Mike Leach note,
00:28 I bought the book "Swing Your Sword" when Mike was coaching,
00:32 but didn't read it until after he passed,
00:34 learning much more about a connection
00:36 that I had read about in the media,
00:39 the connection between Mike and Josh,
00:42 Mike having recruited Josh to the University of Oklahoma
00:45 when Mike was its offensive coordinator.
00:47 Mike's an Aberdeen, South Dakota native,
00:49 is the third coach of our group today
00:51 to be the son of a college football coach.
00:54 His father, Ken, coached a division two
00:57 Northern State University for seven seasons.
01:00 University of Tennessee head football coach, Josh Heitman.
01:03 (upbeat music)
01:25 - Hello everybody, I know I'm closing up shop here,
01:29 but to everybody, I wanna welcome you to Midstate,
01:32 to the city of Nashville.
01:35 Hope you guys have had a great week here,
01:37 enjoying some music, enjoying Broadway,
01:40 and having some fun.
01:42 This city and this area of state, Midstate,
01:46 is extremely important to the success of Tennessee.
01:49 Big part of our past success as well,
01:53 and a lot of great ball fans,
01:55 and former players that call this place home,
01:58 and so excited to see them.
02:00 It's fitting that we're here today for SEC Media Days,
02:03 our program, because of 44 days,
02:05 we get an opportunity to kick off against Virginia
02:08 right here in Nissan Stadium.
02:10 Looking forward to seeing everybody in Ball Nation
02:12 show up in droves for that ball game.
02:15 As I was getting ready for today,
02:17 I started writing out some notes last night,
02:20 and really started to reflect just on the past two years,
02:24 and what has transpired inside of our program,
02:27 at our university, and where we've come
02:31 in such a short amount of time.
02:32 When I took over two years ago,
02:34 there was so much uncertainty that surrounded our program
02:38 in late January, and because of connection,
02:41 accountability, and love and trust
02:43 that we've built inside the building,
02:45 with our players and staff, we've been able to climb
02:48 really relatively quickly, but to go back to that time,
02:52 we were a program that entered that fall
02:54 with only 65 scholarships, the uncertainty
02:57 of an investigation that was taking place on our campus.
03:00 I said in a room just like this two years ago,
03:04 that it would be a speed bump for the program,
03:07 our football program, and a few days ago,
03:10 we found out that that certainly was the case.
03:12 We've navigated it in such a positive way,
03:15 because of the leadership that we have.
03:18 Phenomenal leadership on our campus,
03:21 from President Boyd to Chancellor Plowman
03:23 to our Athletic Director, we've been transparent and real,
03:27 and been able to close that narrative on our program,
03:31 and move forward, and I'm not sure
03:33 that there's a better time to be involved.
03:35 You look at the trajectory of this football program,
03:37 what's happened over the last two years,
03:39 and where we're going, the energy and excitement
03:41 that surrounds our building every day,
03:43 the energy that surrounds our fan base,
03:46 of all nations across the country,
03:48 but also the success that's happening
03:49 in each and every sport that resides
03:52 inside of our athletic department.
03:54 Phenomenal leadership with coaches,
03:55 and great student athletes that do things the right way.
04:00 Our program's been player-driven from the very beginning.
04:02 You guys have heard me say that before,
04:04 and always will be.
04:06 I think great seasons, championship seasons happen
04:08 because of the leadership and the accountability
04:10 and connection that happens inside of the locker room.
04:12 As I look back on our past success, that doesn't happen.
04:17 I talked about the 35 guys that left our program
04:20 through the transfer portal before,
04:22 or right after I took over.
04:24 We had a lot of guys that stayed,
04:26 that first year, 65 scholarship guys.
04:28 Those guys that chose to stay, that were connected
04:31 and cared about the power of T, that 21 and 22 class,
04:35 are gonna be revered and remembered
04:36 in an unbelievably unique way,
04:39 because they rebuilt the cornerstones
04:40 of Tennessee football for the future.
04:43 And that ends with an Orange Bowl win last year
04:45 that we're certainly excited about.
04:47 Parlayed itself into the success that we've had
04:49 in the NFL draft over the last two years.
04:52 10 draft picks over the last two years,
04:54 one of the highest numbers in the country.
04:56 Last year, five guys drafted in the top three rounds,
04:59 which is second in the country.
05:01 A lot of really neat things that are happening
05:03 with their future outside of the game,
05:05 but also what they're doing outside,
05:07 the impact that they've had inside of our community.
05:10 We've reset a team record every semester
05:12 that I've been there.
05:13 Last semester we finished with a 3.17 team GPA.
05:16 Our kids are doing it right,
05:18 and having a lot of fun competing together on a daily basis.
05:22 Fortunate to bring three tremendous ambassadors
05:25 for Tennessee football here today.
05:28 Joe Milton, Omari Thomas, and Jacob Warren.
05:32 Omari and Jacob are residents of this state.
05:36 They've grown up with the power of T
05:37 being assembled inside of this border.
05:40 Joe obviously is a great leader and ambassador
05:42 for our program.
05:45 You know, the tough thing about only choosing three guys
05:47 is you only get to choose three.
05:49 We have a lot of great guys that are great leaders
05:52 inside of our program,
05:53 that are part of our leadership council.
05:54 They weren't fortunate to be here.
05:56 I couldn't bring them with us,
05:57 but they are also great representatives of our program.
06:00 Really, a lot of special moments from a year ago.
06:06 As we look back on the '22 season,
06:09 a lot of special moments,
06:11 things that our fan base will remember forever,
06:13 the players inside the locker room will remember forever,
06:16 at the same time, fell short of a lot of the goals
06:19 that we had set for our program.
06:21 And I'm really excited and proud of what our players have
06:23 done since they've gotten back on campus in late January.
06:27 Their ability to reset and refocus,
06:29 and be ready to go accomplish a mission together.
06:34 Individually grow, but collectively get ready
06:36 to go accomplish a mission.
06:38 It's a group that's extremely hungry.
06:40 They want more, they expect more.
06:42 And we're certainly excited about embarking
06:44 on this '23 season.
06:46 Accountability and consistency in that
06:48 has been one of the main things
06:49 that we've focused on this year.
06:51 In this conference, you don't get any re-dos.
06:54 You better show up every single Saturday afternoon
06:56 or evening.
06:57 You're gonna play great players, great coaches,
06:59 and you gotta be ready for those moments
07:01 at home or on the road.
07:04 And through that, we've tried to increase our leadership
07:06 and ownership from within our program.
07:08 I talked about how important that is to me.
07:10 I think that's where championship seasons lie.
07:13 And the second thing is we've tried to become more physical.
07:15 And when I say that, everybody thinks
07:17 about the line of scrimmage.
07:19 But it's really at every position
07:21 and every person on each side of our program
07:24 continuing to grow in that way,
07:25 so that we have an opportunity to be
07:27 the most physical football team on the field every Saturday.
07:30 A ton of excitement surrounds our program.
07:32 71,000 season tickets sold.
07:35 The energy is real inside and outside of our program.
07:39 But as I said at the end of the ball game,
07:42 the best is yet to come for Tennessee football.
07:44 Excited about this journey with this group of guys
07:46 in this 23 season.
07:48 And I don't know that there's ever been
07:50 a better time to be involved.
07:51 So with that, I'm gonna open it up for questions.
07:54 - If you have a question, raise your hand.
07:55 Bryce, Arizona, or Alexis, we'll get a microphone to you.
07:58 Please keep your name and affiliation and stand up.
08:09 - Okay, we will start up here on the front row.
08:13 Right here to our right.
08:14 - Hey Coach, Brady Penn, volunteer country.
08:20 So with Hendon Hooker, you had a transfer that came in,
08:23 had some success at the quarterback position.
08:26 Now you've got Joe at quarterback
08:27 'cause of transferring himself.
08:29 And I know you saw that growth with Hendon.
08:31 Talk a little bit about what it's been like for you
08:34 to watch the growth from Joe.
08:35 - Yeah, I think one of the great stories
08:37 of college football in the era of the transfer portal
08:39 is his trust and ability to recognize
08:44 areas that he can continue to grow in
08:47 and trust the people around him.
08:49 We have his best interests at heart.
08:51 Understand that within our scheme,
08:53 he's gonna have an opportunity to do everything
08:55 that he wants to do,
08:56 obviously be one of the best players
08:58 inside of college football.
09:00 And through that process, over the last 18 to 24 months,
09:05 he's continued to grow.
09:06 In his comfort of who he is, what he's about,
09:08 how he wants to approach and attack every single day,
09:12 how he wants to grow as a football player,
09:14 meaning fundamentally at the quarterback position,
09:16 along with understanding offensive and defensive schemes
09:20 so that he can put his eyes in the right spot,
09:22 get his body in the right spot
09:23 to be consistently accurate in football.
09:25 And then how he wants to impact his teammates.
09:28 And nobody inside of our program was surprised
09:30 by the success that he had when he got his opportunity
09:33 last year as a starter.
09:35 He played extremely well when he got into football games
09:37 throughout the course of the season,
09:39 but his preparation, his urgency, how he practiced,
09:43 all those things led himself to everybody inside the building
09:46 believing that he was gonna play at that type of level.
09:49 And he's got a lot more out there.
09:50 He's had a great off season for 15 practices in the spring.
09:54 The ball did a great job of working,
09:56 navigating the pocket,
09:57 being extremely accurate with the football.
09:59 I'm really excited to get back on the grass with him
10:02 during the course of training camp.
10:03 I believe he's poised to have a great 23 season.
10:06 - Coach, we'll go over to my left and your left.
10:10 Second row, Eric.
10:11 - Eric Bailey with Tulsa World.
10:14 Josh, you've been around college football
10:15 your entire life.
10:16 I'm just curious, what does it mean to you
10:18 to be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot?
10:20 And what do you think your players know
10:21 about your playing career
10:23 and also the next world championship
10:24 that you won in Oklahoma?
10:26 - Yeah, they don't know enough about my playing career.
10:28 They wanna train at camp.
10:29 I'm gonna make sure we put a couple of highlights up there.
10:32 (audience laughing)
10:33 None of them of me running around either, by the way.
10:36 Nah, it's a great honor to be looked at in that way.
10:42 To be on the ballot,
10:46 to be potentially a part of the Hall of Fame.
10:50 A year ago, we got an opportunity to recognize
10:52 one of our teammates who got a chance to go in.
10:55 Special player, had such a huge impact on the game.
11:00 And certainly what we did there in Oklahoma.
11:02 Those things only happen though because of the players
11:05 that I got an opportunity to be in the locker room
11:07 with every single day.
11:08 Forever grateful to all of those guys.
11:11 Everybody on the offensive side of the ball,
11:12 the five-ball offensive lineman,
11:13 but everybody on that team, it was a special team.
11:16 And it's certainly made a huge impact in my life.
11:21 Part of why I'm up here today, to be honest.
11:24 And so forever indebted to those guys.
11:26 I'm very appreciative,
11:28 but humbled by that recognition as well.
11:30 - It will stay around that same side of the aisle.
11:33 Far out.
11:34 - Hey Josh, Tyler Palmettier with the Oklahoma.
11:37 A lot of Oklahoma fans,
11:39 they remember your time very fondly
11:41 and have followed you along as you become a head coach
11:43 and watched your career.
11:45 And I know that relationship with OU
11:48 was a little complicated,
11:49 but what was it like seeing Oklahoma on the schedule
11:52 in 2024?
11:53 - Yeah, I mean, the relationship with Oklahoma
11:56 really isn't complicated.
11:57 I got nothing but great memories of the people
11:59 and my time there.
12:02 I certainly do.
12:04 It's a huge, I got a chance to talk about Mike Leach
12:06 a few minutes ago backstage in an interview.
12:11 Everybody there helped shape who I am
12:15 and where I'm at today.
12:16 And still got a lot of great friends and teammates
12:19 that live back there.
12:20 So the opportunity to go back to Oklahoma,
12:24 yeah, I wish they were coming to Knoxville first,
12:26 but I say that jokingly,
12:29 but looking forward to that opportunity.
12:31 It's a long ways down the road.
12:32 I'm focused on 23,
12:34 but that'll be a unique day in my career,
12:36 obviously, to go back there.
12:38 - Coach, we'll go down to the center aisle
12:39 about three quarters of the way back.
12:42 - Hey, Coach, Christian Stelman with Fox Sports Knoxville.
12:44 You've been able to retain your entire coaching staff
12:46 aside from Cody Burns and Alex Gullish
12:48 since you've been on campus.
12:49 How big is stability in your coaching staff
12:52 for your program?
12:53 - Yeah, you try to create a culture
12:55 that coaches wanna be a part of.
12:58 They feel like they are a part of the process.
13:01 You wanna create a culture where families
13:04 get a chance to be a part of the process as well.
13:07 I grew up with the son of the coach,
13:09 and those are the greatest memories of my childhood.
13:12 So I think it's really important that they're a part of it.
13:16 If you do those things and you have the resources
13:18 that we have at Tennessee,
13:20 you're able to have some stability within your staff,
13:23 which is vitally critical to your players.
13:28 Them understanding what they're walking into
13:30 every single day, not having to rebuild
13:33 an entire relationship from the ground up.
13:36 We've been able to replace those guys.
13:38 You want staff to grow too, right?
13:40 Alex will do a great job down at South Florida.
13:43 I want guys to get head jobs from where we're at.
13:47 But guys aren't just leaving to take another job either.
13:49 And so we've actually been able to promote from within
13:52 because they were the right guys.
13:54 There's so much consistency.
13:55 All the things that we were navigating
13:57 as you take over a program in year one and year two,
14:01 I think it was vitally important
14:02 that we've been able to have that.
14:03 And it's a big part of our continued growth
14:06 this off-season here in '23.
14:08 - We're gonna go in front of me,
14:11 about three quarters of the way back.
14:13 - Yeah, Coach, Joey Knight with the Tampa Bay Times.
14:17 Could you expand on what you said?
14:19 You feel out to be a great head coach.
14:20 What are his traits?
14:21 Why do you think he'll be a great head coach?
14:24 - Competitive, willing to work.
14:26 I think those are two traits that drive you
14:29 every minute of the day to continue
14:31 to help your program grow.
14:34 And you look at that,
14:37 that's where the starting blocks are, in my opinion.
14:39 And then he's got a great ability to communicate.
14:42 He's hired a lot of really good people.
14:45 Some of them were in our building a year ago,
14:46 some young staff that will be great coaches.
14:49 So I'm really excited about
14:51 where he's gonna take that program.
14:54 - Coach will go straight in front of me.
14:56 First row.
14:56 - Teresa Walker with the Associated Press.
14:59 Josh, the champ, in these days,
15:02 you're almost in a rare situation
15:04 where you've got a quarterback you've had now
15:06 going into your third season.
15:07 He's been here.
15:09 With the transfer portal,
15:10 is it challenging and how grateful are you
15:14 that you're not having to deal with
15:16 getting a quarterback up to speed out of the portal
15:19 and get them up to speed in your offense
15:21 all before the season starts?
15:23 And how nice is it to have Joe in this situation?
15:27 - Yeah, it is rare that you're able to keep quarterbacks
15:31 inside of your quarterback room
15:33 the days of having four or five quarterbacks consistently.
15:37 I think those are probably not real anymore.
15:40 Guys wanna have the opportunity to play and compete early.
15:43 I think it's rare that a young man like Joe
15:46 is able to sit back and trust the people around him
15:51 that we have his best interest at heart,
15:53 recognize the areas that he can and needs to grow
15:56 and to become a player that he's capable of,
15:58 and also know that if I stick this thing out
16:01 and I compete hard every single day,
16:03 I'm going to grow in what we do offensively.
16:06 Gonna be able to do the things that I wanted to
16:08 inside of the college football landscape.
16:10 Those are rare things.
16:12 It takes a really mature dad, which Joe has proven to be.
16:15 - Which will go here or right here
16:16 in the middle of the front row.
16:18 Coach Brooks-Holson with Dawgs.
16:20 Being an offense that prioritizes pace,
16:23 I'm curious your thoughts on the new rule change
16:25 with the clock no longer stopping on first downs.
16:28 And additionally, there's a potential rule
16:29 with the hash points maybe aligning themselves with the NFL.
16:33 You also prioritize space.
16:34 I'm interested in your thoughts on that potential change.
16:38 - The clock rule at the end of the first half,
16:42 I think everybody's gonna be playing in it the same way.
16:44 I don't think it's gonna have a dramatic different effect
16:47 on us versus another offense.
16:50 How you manage your timeouts might be a little bit different
16:54 at the end of regulation or at the end of the half.
16:57 All in all, we'll see what the numbers play out to be,
17:01 but there's a series of the game
17:03 that's probably taken away in general for every team
17:07 because of some of the clock rules.
17:08 But we'll see how that plays out during the course of the year.
17:12 - Coach will go on the straight in front of me,
17:14 about three quarters of the way back.
17:16 Coach, Tim Buckley with the Daily Magine in Memphis.
17:19 What does it mean to the interior of your defense
17:23 to have Omari Thomas not consider going into the draft?
17:27 And what does his personality bring to your locker room?
17:31 - Omari is a guy that loves to have fun.
17:33 He's got great energy every single day.
17:35 He's becoming a really strong leader
17:37 in being able to command guys.
17:40 And that can be constantly,
17:41 it can be trying to get them to go
17:43 accomplish the things that they need to
17:46 in the weight room or on the practice field.
17:48 He's got a great voice inside of our locker room.
17:51 As I said, a tremendous leader.
17:53 Vitally important for us is we continue to try
17:56 to take steps on the defensive side of football.
17:58 A year ago, we took a massive, massive jump
18:01 in our ability to defend the run.
18:03 Omari and the guys that we brought back a year ago
18:06 were a huge part of that.
18:08 Expect all those guys to make another jump.
18:10 They did a great job in spring ball fundamentals,
18:13 technically consistent and see it from play to play,
18:16 day to day.
18:17 And one of the other areas that we've had to improve upon
18:20 is the ability to affect the passers
18:22 with our front four guys, bringing pressure.
18:24 We need that because of situational relief.
18:26 Situational football, we gotta get better up or down,
18:29 third and long in particular.
18:30 And I thought those guys did a great job this spring.
18:33 Coach Garner, Coach Eckler,
18:35 what those guys have done up front,
18:36 I'm really happy and pleased and excited
18:38 to get to training camp with them.
18:40 - Coach, we'll go back over here to the middle section
18:42 on the right along the.
18:43 - Hi Coach, right here.
18:47 - Over here.
18:48 - Travis Gatlin with orangebloods.com.
18:50 With Texas coming into the league now,
18:52 which school has the real claim
18:54 to being able to call itself UT?
18:57 - There's only one real UT.
18:58 One right shade orange.
19:02 - We'll go all the way to the back,
19:06 all the way to the left hand side, Eckler.
19:10 - Yeah Coach, Eckler Thompson, the Orlando Sentinel.
19:13 How much of a catalyst was the Florida game,
19:20 given the history of the series,
19:21 recent history that is in the rivalry,
19:24 to you guys' season last year?
19:25 - Catalyst, yes, at that point in the season,
19:30 but every season there's steps that you have to take.
19:33 And in some ways there's benchmarks,
19:36 but there's opportunities for growth.
19:38 I thought throughout the course of the football season
19:42 last year, we continued to get better
19:45 a majority of the season.
19:46 And that's what good teams do.
19:48 The Florida win was a big win, absolutely.
19:51 For our fan base, as much as anything,
19:53 many recent years we haven't had the same amount
19:55 of success as we would like to.
19:58 But for our players, there's great confidence going into it.
20:01 And yes, great confidence coming out of it as well.
20:04 - Okay, we'll go to the middle section,
20:06 right in front of the camera, all the way towards the back.
20:09 - Rob Brown, Southern Sports Memphis.
20:11 What's moving the needle more in college football now
20:13 from when you played coming out of South Dakota?
20:16 Offensive or defensive coordinators,
20:18 and what are the expectations of a defense
20:22 against an offense like yours?
20:24 - Well, my expectation for the defense that we're playing
20:29 is that for them to have a whole lot of success.
20:31 That's my viewpoint.
20:32 In football, you gotta play all three phases together.
20:37 Offense, defense, and special teams.
20:39 At the end of the day, we're always trying to find a way
20:42 to be plus one.
20:43 That can be three to two, or whatever it needs to be.
20:46 And at the end of the day, every side's gotta grow together.
20:49 - Coach, we'll go over here to our right-hand side
20:53 over here on the far right section.
20:55 - Hey, Coach.
20:56 Steve Moulton, WZZN out of Huntsville,
20:59 and I hope you're doing well.
21:01 Wanted to ask about tampering.
21:03 That has certainly been a subject
21:04 that's been brought up quite a bit here lately.
21:07 What is, how big of an issue is it,
21:10 and what would be a good starting point
21:12 to alleviate this issue?
21:14 - How big of an issue it is, I don't know.
21:18 I think there's so many people that are involved
21:20 in the recruitment of players.
21:22 Could be high school coaches, could be workout facilities,
21:26 seven-on-seven coaches, whatever.
21:28 There's so many different dynamics that go into it.
21:31 I don't know how you stop the communication completely
21:34 at any one point.
21:35 So I don't have a silver bullet for that issue.
21:38 Similar to a lot of other issues
21:41 that maybe we're trying to navigate
21:42 inside of college football,
21:43 but there's a lot of smart people
21:45 that are working on finding answers to those issues.
21:48 - Coach, we'll stay on the same side over
21:50 on the right-hand side in front of the SEC logo.
21:53 - Jacob Gowen, DSBA 1067 in Auburn.
21:55 Besides wins on the football field,
21:57 what's a goal or goals for you as a head coach
21:59 in the University of Tennessee?
22:02 - Standard at Tennessee is to win championships.
22:04 It's pretty clear.
22:05 I think we're top 10 in the history of college football
22:09 wins, first-round draft picks,
22:12 bowls, bowl wins.
22:14 The standard is to compete at the highest level
22:16 and win championships.
22:18 For us, that starts in the Eastern Division,
22:21 which everybody knows that there's a lot of good footballers
22:24 playing in that division.
22:25 - Okay, coach, we'll stay on that same side
22:28 in the front row right here.
22:32 - Coach Dan Harrelson, Volswine.
22:34 Speaking of recruiting, obviously it's a big part
22:37 of the game.
22:38 Ron Kelly mentioned this week that in the future,
22:41 he thinks AI will be a driving force
22:44 for attributing options.
22:46 Trying to see what playgroup profiles out there
22:49 that don't fit what you want to do
22:51 offensively and defensively.
22:53 What's your opinion on that going forward?
22:56 - AI's infiltrated in so many different areas
22:59 from business, I'm sure in sport, too.
23:02 It eventually becomes a resource, probably,
23:06 for everybody inside of college football.
23:09 You know how quickly that part takes inside of our program,
23:12 I can't even answer it all,
23:13 but I'm sure that that's how play will work.
23:17 - Standing in the second section,
23:18 two rows back, Mr. Redknapp.
23:21 - Hey Josh, Andy Weiss, Reader with Andre.
23:23 The Knoxville News Sentinel reported
23:24 that the Tennessee Attorney General
23:26 may have used the NIL law in the state
23:29 to threaten to sue the NCAA
23:30 and prevent a bullpen.
23:32 I know there's a different regime,
23:33 but what is it like to have the state AG
23:36 behind the program you're going to support
23:38 with student athletes?
23:40 - Well, I said it earlier when I opened up
23:42 in my opening remarks,
23:44 just our administration and their willingness
23:49 to fight for innocent student athletes.
23:51 I mentioned the 65 scholarships players
23:56 walking in that first season
23:57 because there was huge hurdles in our first two years
24:01 to get to this point that we've had to climb out of.
24:04 And the easiest thing would have been
24:09 for our administration and for me
24:11 to just take the bullpen in year one,
24:14 but that wasn't right.
24:15 The guys that were left were innocent guys,
24:19 new staff, there was nobody left
24:21 from the administration in our athletic department
24:23 to the football side of it,
24:25 football staff to our players
24:27 that was really involved in it.
24:29 And so it was right to compete
24:32 and give those guys an opportunity to fulfill
24:35 or have an opportunity to fulfill
24:37 all the things that they wanted to
24:38 inside of a college football season
24:40 for those guys that were going out.
24:42 Appreciate our administration
24:45 and everybody fighting for those guys.
24:47 - Okay, we have one right up here, Arizona.
24:52 Come up right here on the front aisle,
24:53 second row, Bob.
24:55 - Hey Josh, Bob from the Democratic Gazette.
24:59 How you doing?
25:00 I had a pin part, if you forget,
25:02 second part, Kevin, I hope you remember,
25:04 he's good at that.
25:05 I know you talked a lot about Joe already,
25:07 but I know that he was experienced
25:09 before the Orange Bowl,
25:10 but how big was it for him to have
25:11 that kind of gave you that for him,
25:13 for the team, everybody?
25:14 And then you mentioned the investigation,
25:17 the opener in the arms,
25:18 how good is it to just have that,
25:20 some closure to that, have it behind you?
25:23 - Yeah, for Joe, I think it was solidified
25:28 all the work that he had put in
25:30 that he would go out and perform and play.
25:33 It was proving himself right as much as anything.
25:36 It wasn't proving anybody wrong,
25:37 it was about proving himself right.
25:40 And it was great for him,
25:41 it was great for the guys around him
25:43 to see that hard work does pay off
25:46 and take advantage of your opportunities
25:48 and be prepared when it comes.
25:50 The second part of your question
25:52 was what I'm gonna ask.
25:54 - How it felt after it's been resolved.
25:57 - Yeah, the NCAA stuff.
25:59 For our current roster,
26:03 they really hadn't thought about it
26:04 or focused on it very much.
26:07 I can tell that in the way that the team meeting went
26:09 after the news came out.
26:11 I was out of town,
26:12 so we had to do it virtually after their workouts,
26:16 which was right after the news came out.
26:19 But for how we handled recruiting,
26:22 the guys that signed with us in the last 18 to 24 months
26:28 that trusted what we were saying to them,
26:30 the transparency of the dialogue that we had with them,
26:34 it was unbelievably satisfying to get over that hump.
26:39 You're not dealing with unknowns now,
26:41 you're not dealing with other programs
26:44 that are beating you up in some ways,
26:46 sensationalizing what's going to happen.
26:49 I was able to have great trust
26:50 in what our administration was talking to us about.
26:53 We're consistent in clearing that messaging
26:56 to our recruits.
26:58 And that's why we've been able to recruit
27:00 at a really high level.
27:01 But it's great to have it in the rear view mirror.
27:03 Not something that you're driving by all the time.
27:06 - Coach, we'll go right in front of my table
27:08 and be your second row on the aisle.
27:09 - Coach, John, from Groovy Army,
27:12 WCC Radio and Hostile Alabama.
27:14 I wanted to ask you about Squirrel Wyatt from my state.
27:17 He had a big orange bowl,
27:18 and you guys have done a great job
27:19 developing Cedric Tillman going on to the NFL.
27:22 Now Jaylen Hyatt.
27:23 Talk about his future.
27:25 He really kind of stepped up in that bowl game
27:27 with both those guys that didn't win.
27:29 - Yeah, young player that we knew was gonna play
27:31 at a really high level when given the opportunity.
27:34 It's been great to see him grow from a quiet young kid
27:38 that came from the campus
27:39 into somebody that's got a ton of personality and energy
27:42 and affects his teammates in a positive way.
27:44 Great work habits, as tough as they come.
27:48 From day one, he's willing to spit his face into anything
27:51 and be extremely physical and compete where they are.
27:54 He's got elite speed, great ball skills,
27:58 has the ability to be a great rock runner.
28:01 Anticipate him having a great year.
28:03 You guys saw him perform extremely well in the orange bowl.
28:07 - Coach, we'll take one final question
28:08 to the section in front of me,
28:10 about halfway back on the aisle.
28:11 My coach, Thorne Brooks, on three,
28:13 and this is his stack hat.
28:14 What were the sexiest aspects of your offense,
28:17 is that vertical choice?
28:19 I think a really underrated aspect
28:21 is the eclectic approach you have in that run game.
28:25 Only 12 reps separated your most run concept
28:29 from your sixth.
28:30 Would you mind elaborating on how having
28:32 that type of balance approach on the ground
28:34 really does help facilitate things on the back end,
28:37 help things come open?
28:38 - I love your passion and energy for our offense.
28:41 (audience laughing)
28:43 Might need you to bring me in on the cream pitch.
28:47 I think people get caught up in the perimeter numbers
28:50 and the quarterback development
28:53 and the quarterback numbers that have been out there.
28:56 Everybody that studies it understands
28:58 that the secret to our sauce
29:00 is the ability to run the football.
29:02 Coach Elaby and I have been together,
29:05 I think we're going on year eight now
29:06 on three different stops.
29:08 He does an unbelievable job.
29:11 From game plan to fundamentals
29:13 to teaching overall scheme and concepts
29:16 on the other side of the football.
29:18 Our five guys continue to grow year one and year two.
29:21 We took a huge step, they play synchronized.
29:23 The tempo that we play at, the ability to communicate
29:28 and get everybody on the same page,
29:30 does an unbelievable job.
29:31 So I appreciate you recognizing all those things.
29:34 - Coach Hockfield, thank you for your time this afternoon.
29:37 - I appreciate it.