UT continued bowl practice after three days off for the holidays. Head coach Josh Heupel said the break provided valuable time away before shifting focus back to competition.
“The guys had a great couple days off for Christmas, staff too,” Heupel said. “Get a chance to be a dad and be with the families. Excited to get back here and start competing, and get ready for kickoff against a really good Illinois team.”
Heupel discussed how bowl preparation allows for added reps and opportunities, particularly for younger players, while the Vols look to finish the 2025 season strong.
“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow and get better with fundamentals, technique inside of the scheme,” Heupel said. “You know with bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation but also on gameday too. Obviously, it’s the last chance for us to compete with this team together in this 2025 season, and in some ways it’s a build up to the following year.”
The Vols will be without starting cornerback Colton Hood and edge rusher Joshua Josephs in the Music City Bowl, as the two recently announced their intentions to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft – joining Chris Brazzell II, Arion Carter and Jermod McCoy.
“Some of those guys waited to announce their intentions,” Heupel said. “We’ve been practicing with the same group of guys for a while now. Planned on those guys making that announcement. We feel good about where we’re at, guys that are here are ready to go play.”
Tennessee will continue its bowl preparation in Nashville over the coming days leading up to Tuesday’s Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl showdown at Nissan Stadium.
Full comments from Heupel’s Friday media availability can be viewed below.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Dec. 26, 2025
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“The guys had a great couple days off for Christmas, staff too. Get a chance to be a dad and be with the families. Excited to get back here and start competing and get ready for kickoff against a really good Illinois team.”
On the opportunity to play in the Music City Bowl…
“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow and get better (with) fundamentals, technique inside of the scheme. You know (with) bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation but also on gameday too. Obviously, it’s the last chance for us to compete with this team together in this 2025 season, and in some ways it’s a build up to the following year.”
On what the secondary looks like after Colton Hood’s decision to opt out of the game…
“We’ve been practicing that way through December with Colton leaning towards making that decision (declaring for NFL Draft). Excited for him and his journey and what comes next. Some of our young guys are going to get an opportunity to go play on gameday. Young guys have had good preparation and (we) expect them to go play in a really good way.”
On freshman DB Tre Poteat’s development…
“Tre has done a phenomenal job during the course of the season of continuing to grow, make plays on special teams. Got some action on the defensive side of the ball early in the year, but his preparation here in December has been really good. Expect him to be ready to go play at a really high level.”
On how much the young guys can grow during bowl prep…
“Well, I think a lot of times in December, you get a glimpse of where they’re continuing to grow. Last time we were here, Jalin Hyatt was a great example. That’s a story we absolutely talk to our team about pretty much every single year, one that I share with our young guys. A guy that had a little bit of up and down during the course of the season and his focus, his preparation, his work habits during the month of December were dramatically different. Expected him to play really well when he got here, he obviously did, and that was a springboard to his following season.”
On young receivers getting more reps during bowl practice…
“Radarious (Jackson), Travis (Smith Jr.) both of those guys getting action. I expect both of them to play at a really high level. Those are guys we had a lot of trust heading into the season based on what they had done during spring ball. Their maturity, their summer prep. Both of them got nicked up at different points during the season but they finished in a great way and expect them to play really well.”
On the importance of bowl games…
“I think December feels dramatically different than it used to inside the landscape of college football. It’s trended and been that way for a handful of years now. It feels different, I said that, but when you get out on the grass and get closer to kickoff, you get the urgency and the focus from the guys and their excitement to go play together.”
On building a program in the current NIL era…
“Each year your roster changes and in that you have to kind of start as a team the foundational growth you have to go through as a program. You have to restart that every January when you get everybody together. This season, there has been some disappointment, obviously, but it’s a group that continued to compete and get better. We’re not where we want to be, that’s not the standard at Tennessee. It is about going and chasing and winning championships, but I am excited about the guys we have inside of our program and as we head into the portal you’ll add some pieces. Got a great signing class and we’ll be ready to roll in 26.”
On the timing of players announcing plans for the NFL Draft…
“Some of the guys waited to announce their intentions. We’ve been practicing with the same group of guys for a while now. Planned on those guys making that announcement. We feel good about where we’re at, guys that are here are ready to go play.”
On the work William Inge has done with the defensive unit…
“Initially, I think everybody hurts because, you know, there is change. But as we started our preparation to get back on the grass, guys have had excitement. Coach Inge has subtly tweaked somethings from his past. We’ve had really good work and guys are ready to go play and compete and excited for the opportunity.”