Brian Kelly believes Tennessee football fans should feel "pretty good" about where they're at after the Vols upset Alabama.
The former Notre Dame and LSU coach didn't just say that because of how Tennessee dominated the Crimson Tide in the 26-10 win on Oct. 17. He credited coach Josh Heupel for being "tactically smart."
"I really think what Coach Heupel has done a great job at is he knows his team and what they are good at," Kelly said at the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Oct. 19. "I think Josh has done a great job of utilizing – he's got a young quarterback. I mean, I love them both, I recruited both the quarterbacks. I love them both, but they're young. They're inexperienced. So what does (Heupel) do? He comes up with a way to find a way to run
the football and play disciplined football.
"It's all of General Neyland’s maxims in one, and we're seeing it play itself out. So if you're a UT fan, and I know you are, you've got to feel pretty good about where you're at right now."
Kelly, who received the club's award named in honor of iconic coach Gen. Robert Neyland, closed his remarks by wishing Tennessee the greatest of success the rest of the season.
"I'm pulling for you," he said. "I'm a Vol fan now."
Kelly had high praise for Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, both for his system and his ability to get the buy-in of his players. The players the Vols brought in have made most of the difference in the defense's improved performance this season, Kelly said, but Knowles' defensive structure and philosophy limit big plays and force offenses to "grind it out" and make mistakes. Tennessee's safeties and edge presence have been standouts to Kelly.
"Coach Knowles has done a great job of taking players that don't know each other and getting them to push each other and to trust each other. That's a hard thing to do between the walls ... but he's got that unit playing together. That means there's great leadership in there," Kelly said. "And you know what there is more than anything else? They believe every day that they come into that building, they're going to get better. They believe that.
"And so you check your wallet in the locker when you have that. Those kids don't care about what their NIL is, because they believe they're getting better every day. They built that and that's the secret sauce and they've got that going."
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Brian Kelly had high praise for Tennessee football, Josh Heupel, Jim Knowles
