Tennessee's Josh Heupel oddly loves this about his team

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Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel is making sure no one on his team makes any missteps.

Heupel, who is entering his first season as the Volunteers’ head coach, praised the team’s energy in the first couple of practices ahead of the season but how he evaluated the criteria raised eyebrows.

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"I love this team’s effort and energy. The way they’ve learned how to approach walking up the stairs and going to meetings, being consistent in those competitive behaviors that you’ve got to have," he told reporters Monday, via 24/7 Sports.

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At least that’s one win for the Vols.

Tennessee finished the 2020 season with only three wins and missed getting into a bowl game for the third time in four seasons. Jeremy Pruitt, who took over for Butch Jones and Brady Hoke at the start of the 2018 season, was let go after recording only one winning season from 2018 to 2020.

Heupel was a top college quarterback for Oklahoma in 2000. He got his first head coaching gig with Central Florida in 2018. He led the Knights to a 12-1 record in his first season and 10-3 in his second season. In 2020, he was 6-4 and bounced to Tennessee to fill its opening.

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Tennessee starts its season Sept. 2 against Bowling Green.