Josh Heupel Talks Tennessee Entertainment Culture

There aren’t many jobs in the world more stressful than being an SEC head football coach.

The hours they have to work are incomprehensible to the average person. They have to work themselves to death during the week to prepare for Saturday’s game, and then they have to live up to expectations or they’ll be ridiculed by thousands of people. That’s the predicament Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel finds himself in every week. But his approach to the job is different than some coaches.

Rather than being stoic and gentle, Heupel is known for showing emotion on the sidelines when things are going his team’s way, and when they’re not. There are plenty of head coaches who react negatively to their players’ mistakes or when a play goes wrong, but there are fewer who openly celebrate a good play by their team.

Here’s Heupel’s reaction to a stunning playmaking fake that led to a wide-open touchdown against NC State on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Heupel spoke about his reaction to the play and his general attitude about coming to work every day in Tennessee.

“I’m still a kid at heart,” Heupel said. “You go out there and enjoy the game. It’s a tough game. They have great coaches, they have scholarships. Every Saturday you look at the scores across America, every Saturday it’s different. That’s why you have to prepare and practice the same way. Be consistent in that area. Be an elite competitor every day, not just on game day. We talked about that in our team room today.”

In the first part of his quote, Heupel talks about his team’s preparation and the difficulty of competing every week at this level of college football. But he then goes on to talk about what he says is an equally important part of his job: celebrating victories.

“But man, if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities that you’re given and you’re successful, we think you’re missing the boat,” Heupel said. “So we try to have fun in our building after a game in the locker room, but it’s also every day that we have to appreciate what we do, who we do it with and what we do in this building.”

That attitude is part of what makes Tennessee so appealing to recruits during Heupel’s tenure. Tennessee’s program isn’t run like a military operation that’s not allowed to enjoy big moments or show emotion during games. When your head coach is willing to show emotion in that way, it’s easier to have fun as a player.

Heupel says he’s “still a kid at heart.” That’s part of the reason the kids he recruits and coaches love playing for him so much.

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