The start of preseason camp officially got underway Wednesday as the 2025 Tennessee Volunteers hit the practice field for the first time this season on a hot and humid morning on Rocky Top.
Wednesday's opening day of camp was a welcomed sight for everyone in the program as the excitement and urgency was ratcheted up a notch with the season opener just 31 days away.
Day one on the grass featured a lot of individual and group work as the team prepares for the rigors of another preseason training camp.
"Good first day, a bunch of individual and some group work focus," head coach Josh Heupel said after Wednesday's practice session.
"The key to this whole thing is not making the same mistake twice and continuing to get better."
Naturally, a lot of the talk during Heupel's post-practice press conference was centered around the ongoing quarterback battle between redshirt freshman returner
Jake Merklinger, senior transfer
Joey Aguilar and true freshman
George MacIntyre.
When asked what he's looking to see from that group, Heupel laid out what he expects from his signal callers throughout the early portion of fall camp.
"Constant growth. Don't make the same mistake twice and learn from the other guys that are at the position group," Heupel said. "I think that is important for everybody no matter what position you are playing. There's not enough reps for everybody to get every single look and every single install. You have to continue to learn from everything. That's all on the field and then of course practice."
Josh Heupel Press Conference (7.30.25)
Opening statement...
"Good first day, a bunch of individual and some group work focus. The key to this whole thing is not making the same mistake twice and continuing to get better."
On if he structures offensive practice differently when there is a quarterback battle...
"No, I mean we will make sure all of those guys get the crack at it. You try to balance your scheme of what you installed for the day. With all of your groups. Certainly your quarterbacks as well. I get them exposed to everything. There's a flow to it subtly. Yeah, you may tweak it where you end up with a little more team, but some of that happens during the course of training camp. You preplan it. Then, depending on where you are at as a football team, those things can subtly change to trying to make sure they get exposed to all the situational football that we need here during training camp and emphasis too."
On if he is ready to name a starting quarterback...
"Yeah, yeah, well surprise, surprise. Nah, not yet."
On what he wants the quarterbacks to accomplish in the first week...
"Constant growth. Don't make the same mistake twice and learn from the other guys that are at the position group. I think that is important for everybody no matter what position you are playing. There's not enough reps for everybody to get every single look and every single install. You have to continue to learn from everything. That's on the field and during the course of course practice. Quarterbacks mastering what we are doing offensively. That's controlling the run game, passing game, the checks that we have in, in all forms of it. There's a lot that's on their plate, so communication and then your fundamentals, which is preceded by your eyes. Then being able to deliver accuracy, accurate balls. All of those things are going to go into it."
On how big it is to have coaching staff that played in the NFL or has other head coaching experience during a quarterback competition...
"Guys that have been head coaches are certainly a help to me. I say that, they got a different perspective. As you bring them in, they get a chance to hear something for the first time. Maybe it's a subtle tweak to how you are doing it or how you are communicating something that has a chance inch by inch to get you a little better. You mentioned specifically Landry [Jones], his familiarity with some of our staff and some of the things we do. His experience, NFL, fundamentals and technique. Prepared during the course of game week with the lead up of where we are today and constant growth. He was a pro because of who he was and how he handled himself every single day and the process that he went through, the journey he went through, as a player to become that. I think those are all extremely valuable lessons to all of the guys we have inside that room."
On how he goes about choosing what groups he may watch at practice...
"Completely unplanned, fly by the seat of my pants. Nah, I think it's important that your defensive guys see you. Same with special teams, so I try during training camp, I'm in those special teams meetings. I think it's important the defensive guys see you too, so depending on the day, what the flow of practice is, what we have going on on offense. Early in the day, I try to get over there. I try to get over there for some pass rush as well at times."
On whether he's looking to add or observe when he watches certain groups...
"Combination of both, observe then add when I see fit."
On whether the timing of installs changes when he is coaching younger guys...
"I think the installs slows down earlier in the process than it does at this point in the process. Meaning, your winter block, which is limited time, your spring ball and then as you get into the summer you are rehashing all those installs. At this time, we have parameters of what we want to install by day and by the situations that we are going to encounter. There's a fairly consistent number of things that we are installing that are new to these guys. At night, as they get a chance to head back home, they get a chance to study it and redigest it. Most of what we will install this training camp, they have already been exposed to at some point."
On advantages of staff continuity...
"I think the continuity of our staff, you know, working through all the details, the kinks, and being on the same page is a huge benefit. It is a huge help. It allows us to break up into our position room and be seamless and be in sync. Young guys, I said it yesterday, our players have heard it a bunch, 'young guys don't have time to be young'. We started that in January. They got to continue to grow. As I mentioned earlier, don't make the same mistake twice. Learn from your buddies that made a mistake and constant growth when we get to the fall. Nobody cares what age guys are when they're playing. That's the end result."
On the phone call with Joey Aguilar during the transfer portal...
"I think the maturity that he demonstrated on the phone as we get a chance to go through his history and what matters to him and what he is looking for, what he cares about fit the culture piece of it. Obviously, I studied his film, as well. I felt like it had a chance to be a really good fit at that point."
On evaluating when players are ready and when they need more time...
"I think it's not who they are today. There is a journey that everyone is going through individually and collectively as a team we're going through during the course of training camp. How quickly they continue to grow from practice to practice is part of the projection of where they're going to be in and how they handle getting team periods, good play, bad play, whatever it might be. It is their ability to reset and go play the next play. It is the players responsibility to prove he is going to play at a championship level. Once he proves that, it is our responsibility to find a role and ask him to do the things he can do at a really high level."
On the emphasis of off-campus dinners between players...
"It is something that we have done throughout our history here. We did it more this offseason and did a better job of accomplishing that. It has always been super important that your team is connected. You want an O-line to walk by a DB and know who he is and what he is about, what his dreams, goals, and aspirations are. You have a common bond. You go back twenty years, everyone is living in the same dorm or the same apartment complex. It's a different era now. I said it yesterday, what it takes to win on Saturdays on the field hasn't changed. So, just carving out opportunities to just connect as a football team outside of football. That makes us better on the football side of it."
On achieving off-field bonds between players in this era...
"We certainly did a better job with more of an emphasis this offseason. It is different. It is harder. Again, what it takes to win on Saturdays hasn't changed. So, it's important that our staff and our players are all-in on that. I think that is one of the unique things at this point. When we did our exit interviews, one of the things they wanted was more opportunities to do those things. I think that speaks to who they are and what they want the culture to be."
On the importance of Joey Aguilar going through installs and long days leading up to camp...
"The timing of when he got here is unique. It is not something that we haven't had before. It applies an urgency. It is always there, but as late as he is getting here, it is super urgent for him to be able to get exposed, digest and become comfortable with what we are doing. If you're playing quarterback and you're back there thinking you got no chance, it has to become second nature. It has to become your primary language. He has worked really hard at that."