Everything Josh Heupel Said At Music City Bowl Press Conference

Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel joined Purdue Head Coach Jeff Brohm at the podium in the Opryland Convention Center today for a joint press conference. Below

Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel joined Purdue Head Coach Jeff Brohm at the podium in the Opryland Convention Center today for a joint press conference. Below is the full transcript of everything Heupel had to say. 

The TransPerfect Music City Bowl official press conference was held on Wednesday at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Quotes from the press conference are below:

Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel

Opening Statement

“I want to thank everybody here at the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. The hospitality has been absolutely fantastic. Our players and our staff had a great week here in the lead up to kickoff. (We’re) so appreciative of the hospitality of the bowl, truly first class in every single way. Excited that we get an opportunity to finish our season here inside of our home state. (We’re) looking forward to a great football game. Purdue is a tremendous football team. It will be a great, competitive arena tomorrow, looking forward to a sold-out stadium and having a lot of fun here as we finish off the season. But, just wanted again to say thank you to everybody that’s associated with the bowl. You guys have been fantastic.”

On if winning bowl games means as much to players now as it used to…

“I think if you’re a great competitor – and those are traits that we try and build on and recruit to and have inside of our building every single day in what we do – it does matter. It matters in how you perform. It matters to you – individually and collectively as a team – so certainly this is a game that our players have pushed towards, and it matters a great deal inside of our program. A bowl game is unique in that I think it’s important that they enjoy the experience when you’re at home in your preparation (and) when you get to the bowl site early in the week, but the carrot of the whole week and the thing that you’ll remember most about the experience is the game itself.”

On the Tennessee administration’s decision to play in a bowl game this year…

“I appreciate that (decision) from our administration. They’re going to support and give our players every tool and every resource, but also just support them in their mission and make sure we have a great player experience in every facet of our program. I said when I took the job, all those things that happened before I got there, really felt like they were going to be a speed bump. It’s been proven to really kind of play out. The kids inside of our program have bought into the culture, bought into competing every single day, and that’s why we’re here and have this opportunity to play inside this bowl game.”

On his brand of up-tempo offense and why it works for him…

“At the end of the day, it’s an exciting brand of football. I think young people, young players, playmakers (with) big skill, want to be a part of it. At the end of the day offensively, you’re trying to find ways to put your kids in a position to be successful. Our tempo is a portion of how we try to apply pressure to the defense and dictate the flow of the football game.”

On the availability of Cade Mays…

“Cade will not be playing in this football game. He will not be able to play.”

On using other team’s poor bowl performances as examples to emphasize focus…

“It doesn’t matter what league you’re playing in, I think your preparation leads to how you play on gameday. From the time we started bowl preparation, you’ve heard me say that when it’s not football time, you have to enjoy the two, three-week build-up to the bowl game. Enjoy the opportunity to have comradery and create memorable moments. But when it’s time to be in the building, I don’t care if it’s lifting, if it’s football, if it’s meetings or walkthroughs, you’ve got to be focused on that. This group has been good in their preparation when it’s been time to be focused on the football side of it. Now, the last 48 hours will be huge for us too here, as we finish up today and get ready for tomorrow.”

On his team’s success in the first quarter of games this season…

“Doing the ordinary things at a really high level. That’s a really simple explanation. Kids understand what we’re going to do. They’ve played smart football early in the football game. In all three phases of the game, they’ve been able to line up and execute.”