Josh Heupel Discusses Importance of NIL at Tennessee

Atlanta, Ga.-- Josh Heupel wasted no time in bringing up NIL during his Thursday session at SEC Media Days. In fact, he brought it up during his opening

Atlanta, Ga.-- Josh Heupel wasted no time in bringing up NIL during his Thursday session at SEC Media Days. In fact, he brought it up during his opening statement on the main stage. As the day went on, the subject was broached on multiple occasions, including during his final interview session of the day with local media. 

Yeah, absolutely. Are you kidding me?" Heupel responded when asked if the existence of NIL was good for Tennessee. "The Power T is one of the strongest brands in all of college sports. It is that because of the passion and pageantry and fan base. All things I thought from the outside looking in, but now I have a great appreciate for now that I have been here for 18 months. The state. Vol Nation. Across the country. Absolutely it is a positive for Tennessee Football."

Heupel, a former high-caliber player himself, has been an advocate for NIL since it went into effect on July 1, 2021. Over a year later, he has remained unchanged in his stance, while other coaches across the country bicker and complain about its existence. Instead, Heupel sees opportunity inside of the change. 

"Yeah, for us, I think there's great opportunity in it," I mentioned Hendon and what he's been able to do, have an impact on our community, on youth inside of our community in particular. It's an opportunity to educate and empower our student-athletes, which is what college football and the collegiate experience is all about. I think it's dramatically changed the way that young people come into your program, how thoughtful they are about every situation that they're involved in, how they're portrayed in what's out there on social media, the decisions they're making every night of the week.  I think in those ways it's such an empowering tool for our student-athletes. I just go back to myself as a player. Certainly the most powerful thing that I had was my teammates and the logo that I was playing for. At the same time, though, I think I was creating some value there, too. I would have liked to have had an opportunity to have been afforded to take part in NIL. Would have liked to have worn my starting left tackle jersey or worn his shirt. I look at my own kids, Jace and Hannah, that get a chance to run around the house or run with their friends and wear a Cedric Tillman and Hendon Hooker shirt or jersey. I think there's empowering opportunities through NIL."

The opportunities that NIL presents are endless, such as when Cedric Tillman and Hendon Hooker had the chance to go to New York City and meet with multiple national brands and learn about future opportunities earlier this week. 

"What a great opportunity, right?" Heupel said of his thoughts on the experience for his star offensive players. "Isn't that what the collegiate experience is about, is exposing and giving kids opportunities way outside of the realm of what they would normally have to grow professionally and personally. Over the last couple days, Hendon and Cedric had an opportunity to go up to New York City, take part in the Nasdaq, meet with local leaders of the great corporations and form and create relationships that should empower them whenever their playing days are done at UT, maybe currently while they're there. That's a great opportunity. Exactly what the collegiate experience should be all about.The landscape of recruiting for UT now, the Power T is so dramatically different. Uncertainty when we first got there. The steady ground that we're on. The trajectory that our program is currently at. The competitive nature. The energy. The connection that you can see in the way that our players play.  Now you're not talking about what you're going to do. Recruits have had an opportunity to see it. Now the greatest resource and tool that we have in recruiting is our current student-athletes. We're able to get recruits on campus. Those guys, having an opportunity to spend time and talk with them is the greatest tool that we have."

While NIL presents opportunity, there is also a common belief that it could eventually or potentially already has led to dissension inside locker rooms across the country. However, for Heupel, managing this comes down to ensuring you already have the proper culture inside of your locker room. 

"I think it's extremely important that you have a great culture inside of your locker room," Heupel said of handling this. "That you have strong leadership, that you're able to have an open dialogue, be transparent and be honest with them as you see things maybe that are coming up as an issue or things that they're struggling with, educating and empowering them, giving them an opportunity to have their voice heard, and to be real with them. As long as you do that, I think you're going to have consistent and constant buy-in from your players, trust from them, which are some of the key ingredients inside your program."