Dan Fleser
Josh Heupel stayed in the moment when first addressing the state of Tennessee’s football program on Saturday night.
During an SEC Network interview, the Vols’ coach referred to the fallout from the previous week’s rout at South Carolina and all the corresponding speculation. In the next breath, he redirected his response to the 56-0 thrashing of Vanderbilt that had just concluded. It was as if Heupel was trying to replace the question marks with a singular exclamation point by saying: “This is a culture win.”
Saturday’s victory – coupled with losses by LSU, Oregon and Clemson – elevated Tennessee three spots to No. 7 Tuesday night in the latest college football playoff Top 25 rankings. The final rankings will be released on Sunday.
As Heupel cycled through subsequent interviews with reporters and the Vol Network after the Vanderbilt victory, he was more reflective about culture. It’s become the preferred term for describing the process of infusing a team roster with a shared purpose. In his case, the work was made more challenging by the roster depletion that followed the firing of former coach Jeremy Pruitt over alleged NCAA recruiting violations.
The university chose Thanksgiving to release its official response to the 18 allegations put forth by the NCAA. Happy holiday everyone.
Two days later, the Vols refreshed the narrative by regaining their stride after stumbling the week before. Saturday’s victory concluded a 10-victory regular season for the first time since 2003.
“When I got here two years ago nobody thought we’d win 10 by this point,” Heupel said Saturday night. “There were 30-plus kids that left this program. This group chose to stay. They bought into me, they bought into our staff, they bought into the culture, the connection inside our locker room that we were going to build and they built it. They only did that by working hard, competing together and then competing for one other.
“We’ve been far from perfect, and that starts with me. I’ll tell you what, this group loves one another and that’s why we’ve turned this program in the right direction. The future is bright. I’ll go to battle with these guys any day, anywhere.”
Heupel amplified the sentiment to the Vol Network’s Bob Kesling by adding: “The only way that we’ve gotten to this point is the culture of our program.”
Joe Milton III has played an interesting part in this dynamic. He arrived after the mass exodus, attracted by a quarterback opening. He became the starter last season but then was sidelined by injury and lost the job to Hendon Hooker. Instead of leaving, Milton stayed. His relationship with Hooker was a big reason why.
“Blood couldn’t make us closer,” Milton said of his relationship with Hooker. “Our parents talk to each other. I don’t think blood could make us closer.”
With their roles reversed on Saturday night, Milton turned in a solid performance in filling in for his injured teammate. Hooker was his biggest fan on the sideline.
“I think it speaks to the culture in the building and the culture inside of our quarterback room (and) his understanding of how he can grow as a player,” Heupel said of Milton earlier last week. “. . . He has approached it the right way. I think it’s a great lesson for a lot of guys throughout college football.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a 2022 inductee to the Tennessee Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.