Josh Heupel: The Tennessee fanbase ‘is better than even I anticipated’

The excitement surrounding the 2023 Tennessee football season was evident back in May, when the Vols announced that all of their 70,500 season tickets at Neyland Stadium had been sold. It was felt again earlier this week when it was announced that four home games are already sold out.

For Josh Heupel, it’s evident any time he’s outside of the Anderson Training Center.

“The excitement that surrounds Vol Nation is across the country,” Heupel said Sunday during an appearance on ‘The Nation’ radio show with Austin Price and Chris Low. “You can feel that in recruiting, too. That is a part of our recruiting success. 

“In Knoxville, everywhere you go, or everywhere I have been, there has been so much excitement around this football program.” 

Vols coming off first 11-win season since 2001

Heupel has quickly generated excitement around the program after winning 18 of his first 26 games as Tennessee’s head coach, following the seven-win season in 2021 with the 11-2 record last season.

It was the first 11-win season for the Vols since 2001 and included a perfect 8-0 home record, including wins over Alabama and Florida. 

Tennessee is just over two weeks away from kicking off the 2023 season against Virginia on September 2 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, a Noon Eastern Time kickoff on ABC, and will open the home schedule on September 9 against Austin Peay (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium.

The Vols on Monday announced home games against UTSA (September 23), South Carolina (September 30), Texas A&M (October 14) and Georgia (November 18) are sold out. Limited tickets remain for games against Austin Peay, UConn (November 4) and Vanderbilt (November 25). 

“I think (the fans) truly love the way they compete for each other,” Heupel said of his team. “They can tell there is a connection and bond there, and the fact they do things the right way. That has parlayed itself into high expectations and a real expectation that we have an opportunity to go win every Saturday and put ourself in a position at the end of the year to do what we want to.”

Tennessee ranked No. 10, No. 12 in preseason polls

Tennessee will start the season ranked No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25, the fourth highest-ranked SEC team in both polls. But the expectations inside the program, Heupel said, are just as high as any that are placed on the Vols from the outside. 

“Our players feel that way,” Heupel said of the winning expectation. “Our coaches do, too. It is awesome to have our fans feel the same way. I have said this before, as good as I thought it was here, this fan base is better than I even anticipated. 

“They care 365 days out of the year. They pay attention to everything that is going on in-season and out of season. I am excited to go kick it off in Nashville with them.”