What We've Learned Over the First Few Days of the Heupel Era

What We've Learned Over the First Few Days of the Heupel Era

Josh Heupel was officially announced as Tennessee's Head Coach on Wednesday morning. The Volunteers' 27th head coach has not wasted any time hitting the ground running. Heupel is building a staff while working the phones to reach out to top 2022 recruits. We take a look at what we've learned in the article below.

Recruiting

During his introductory press conference, Heupel stated he wants to 'lock down the state of Tennessee's borders. That is easier said than done, especially in a year like this one. One thing working in Heupel's favor is the dead period could soon be lifted, which means guys want to take visits before making a decision, allowing him the opportunity to build a relationship.

We have connected with several in-state prospects, including Dallan Hayden, Cam Miller, Destin Wade, etc., and they are impressed with Heupel. Heupel has made it clear he wants to keep them in-state, but he is pitching them on an electrifying offense. It will be hard to sell these guys on something they have yet to see, but Heupel has plenty of selling points from his tenure, so we expect him to have some success in-state in 2022.

Miller was impressed with Heupel reaching out to him so soon and felt the two had a great conversation. He believes he can make an impact in his system early on.

Hayden already had a relationship with Heupel from his brother's recruitment. Hayden is a fan of Heupel's offense, and while he has other major suitors, we believe Heupel's offensive scheme gives Tennessee more of an advantage than the previous staff.

Walter Nolen has heard from Heupel, but he is one of few words. He is going to be at or near the top of all recruiting rankings for the duration. He is taking things in stride and keep things moving slowly. He built a relationship with Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley, but he plans to build the same relationship with Heupel's staff.

Heupel is still working in the 2021 class, as he has some options out there to fill needs, but so far, the only offer sent out is to Austin Uke, a 6'4, 265 pounds offensive lineman from Dallas, Texas. There are concerns from many over Uke's size, but we would not read into it too much. We do not expect Heupel to go as lean as Butch Jones. His average line size at UCF was roughly 310 pounds, which makes sense given his offense. We do believe Tennessee has a chance to make a run at Uke if they choose to.

Dylan Brooks and Cody Brown have not received their NLI releases yet, but we do not expect Tennessee to be able to sway Brooks back. While Brown has yet to announce his intentions on requesting the NLI release officially, it d been trending in that direction for a while, we are told. At one point leading into the early signing period, he was not sure he was getting a letter of intent from Tennessee, a source close to the situation indicated to us. Brown tweeted out #freeme yesterday. His style in Heupel's offense would not be an ideal fit for either side. 

Team

As we mentioned via social media on the day of Heupel's hire, the Tennessee players were fired up about the news. If you watched the workout videos yesterday, it was evident. There was comradery, enthusiasm, and what appeared to be a desire to work. From the minute the Heupel news broke, we heard behind-the-scenes excitement, and we do not expect that buzz to leave for a while. Everything is going to be new to these players moving forward into the season. Offensive and defensive players are both excited about the fresh opportunity.

On the transfer portal, Eric Gray was back and forth for a while; just hours before he announced his commitment to OU, it looked like he may end up back at Tennessee. He was all over the place in a decision, with OU and Texas being the leading suitors. 

On Friday, we were told things are trending positively with Henry To'o To'o and Tennessee. The defensive coordinator and linebacker hire will be instrumental in his decision. To'o To'o wants to be at Tennessee, but continued development is the biggest concern at this point. It is tough to predict what he will do, but we hear a positive buzz from our end.

Several Early Enrollees are passing the eye test. Jaylen Wright being one of them. We are told Wright has impressed with his size and speed. Andison Coby was a late junior college addition for Tennessee, and we are told he has some serious wheels and has turned some heads early in workouts. We have mentioned Miles Campbell's athleticism frequently. We are told he is off to a good start as well. New leaders are emerging for Tennessee, which is something Tennessee lacked at times last year.

Staff News

Jim Chaney and Chris Weinke are officially out at Tennessee. This is not breaking news, given that Heupel will call his own plays, and he is bringing key staff members with him from UCF to take their spot.

Tee Martin's contract expires on January 31, and we are told the two sides have had conversations and are going to have more. We will see what happens there, as it has been hard to navigate which direction it might go.

News around Kevin Steele seems to change by the hour. We have heard a variety of different things on that front. Tennessee has continued to have conversations with him, and it seems they would like to keep him in some role, but is that going to be DC if things do work out? That is the part that remains unclear. Steele definitely has a lot of value for Tennessee, given his connections and obvious SEC recruiting ability. Rodney Garner still remains an option to join Tennessee's staff. We do not believe he is dependent on Steele remaining, but it would not hurt.

It appears Glen Elarbee will join Alex Golesh and Joey Halzle in Knoxville. Elarbee was offensive line coach and assistant head coach at UCF with Heupel. He sent out the offer to 2021 offensive lineman Austin Uke. Nothing is official on any of these three at this point, but it seems like a matter of time.

Corey Bell is UCF's cornerback's coach, and a source close to Bell indicated he is open to joining Tennessee's staff and remains an option to help in the secondary. He has experience at the SEC level and deep ties in the state of Florida. Willie Martinez is another name we are keeping an eye on. 

Continue to follow VR2 on SI for more updates as information becomes available.