Tennessee football will open fall training camp on Wednesday at Haslam Field.

Ahead of the Vols' first practice, fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel met with media and discussed fall training camp.

"Great to have everybody back," Heupel said. "It's time to go play ball. Excited to get to work with these guys. Great energy, synergy and success on our campus. You can see that over the last calendar year what's transpired, really in every sport. You look at the facilities and what continues to be done here on campus, I'm not sure that there's ever been a better time to be a Vol. Really excited about what our staff and our players have done on the recruiting side of it. We just got done with another huge weekend. The success, the energy that surrounds our program and campus and the city of Knoxville are a huge part of it. Really proud of what we've done up until this point. As this month goes dead, still a lot of recruiting opportunities for us. "As we get ready to kick off training camp here, I'm really proud of what this team has done throughout the course of summer. Winning the third quarter, being intentional in the way they compete and work, changing their bodies and growing as players. The connection that we have, excited to take that, what they did this summer with coach (Kurt) Schmidt and our strength staff and parlay that into who we are when we get to the field here tomorrow. You look at it, we're a month away from opening up the season. There's a lot of work from coaches and players, who we are today when we get out on the field on day one to where we need to be by the time that we open up the season. For us, just our competitive makeup, our attention to the details, our growth from one play to the next one, one day to the next are really important as we go through the next month here and get ready for the opener."

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Everything Heupel said during his press conference is listed below.

On Nico Iamaleava's humility

"It's been a big part of how the players have responded to him, a guy that came in here, wanted to earn it and went to work every single day. He's developed great relationships with guys on his side of the ball but on the other side of the ball as well and will continue to grow as a leader. How he works, how he competes, coming out and earning it, his consistency in who he is every day inside of the building has been a huge part of the trust, love and belief that our players have in him."

On his trust in Gaston Moore

"Got great trust and belief in Gaston. He has great command and understanding of what we're doing and the ability to operate within it. I'll be able to answer that question better at the end of training camp. Everybody inside of our program has to go learn it, earn it and take the role that they have when we get to the end of training camp."

On what the new group of players has added to the team

"Physical skillsets, length and athletic ability. The ability to go make plays. For skill guys, when the ball is in the air. Size, athleticism and the ability to move people up front. Those guys have heard me say it throughout the course of the spring, all of you young players, but everybody inside of your building has an opportunity when we get on the field tomorrow to be a dramatically different player from where they were when they finished spring ball. That happens through how intentional you are during the summer. Continuing to grow and change your bodies, but then the understanding of our schemes as well. We get out there tomorrow, and I expect us to be much further individually and collectively, in particular those new guys that showed up in January."

On how important the state of North Carolina is for recruiting

"It is important for us. It's a border state. For us, we believe, look at it and view it as a part of our footprint. We are intentional in how we recruit that state. You look at our early signing classes, a guy like James Pearce Jr,, who has come into this program, grown and really developed himself as a player and as a person. Obviously, the opportunity and where he's projected. The state of North Carolina is really important to us. That's how we recruit it. The opportunity that we have in week two to be over there in front of them playing inside of that state is a real unique opportunity for us as a program as well."

On Nico Iamaleava earning the respect of the rest of the team

"I really think that's started from day one and how he came into the building, who he is and how he interacts and develops relationships with his teammates. I think that's really important. It's hard to lead somebody if you don't have a relationship with them. It's a lot easier to have good conversations or tough conversations with somebody in a one-on-one or in a group setting when you have a relationship with them. I think that's been instrumental from the very beginning. Just his growth and how he competes has been really important, too. The players have great trust and confidence in him because of those things and then obviously the talent, as well."

On what he is trying to see from his team during fall camp

"Play as hard as you can. Guys are going to make a bunch of mistakes. Don't make the same mistake twice, you individually and us collectively. Got a chance to climb really quickly if we do that. More than anything it's learning how to play from snap to whistle and how hard you have to compete."

On how important the reps for Cameron Seldon in the Citrus Bowl were for him

"The running back position, I like what they did in the spring. The opportunity for Cam and all of our young guys to play more meaningful snaps on offense or defense versus some of the roles that they had on special teams throughout the course of it was really important for them to understand what the game looks and feels like, the deficiencies that they have and how they had to grow. For Cam and the running back position, there are a couple of guys there who missed spring ball. Their growth here during training camp will be really important for that position to be as strong as it needs to inside of that room."

On if he manages a camp differently with more veterans on the team and the overall health of the team

"There's no shortcuts to it. You can look at an NFL training camp and see the vets out there. You have to prepare yourself and be ready to play. We're always looking at the loads of our players, the positions that you put your guys who played a bunch of football in during some of the situational stuff that we go and cycle through during the course of training camp. Those are things that as a staff that we'll monitor as we go through it. Feel pretty good about the health of our players. Some of the guys who missed spring ball that had been in rehab and may have been already gotten fully cleared during the course of the summer, we'll be intentional just like we are with the entire roster, but really intentional with those guys as far as how we build them early in training camp and their volumes."

On what gives him the most confidence in this team as a whole

"You rebuild your team every single year. It starts with how connected they are, their want and ability to be consistent in their competitive makeup. They've done a great job of that throughout the course of spring ball through the course of summer, but now you're in the last phase of your offseason. Even though it's preparation for the season, we have to go win every rep every day during the course of this training camp. There's a lot of growth that needs to take place during this time again."

On where the team is at in the process of determining a kicker

"Just like every spot, you learn it, earn it and go take the job. Throughout the course of training camp, there will be great competition really at every spot but certainly our specialists are going to have to compete. That's kickoff guys, point scorers, punt team and snappers as well."

On what the focus for improvements will be for the offense going into camp

"A lot of that was red zone efficiency and penalties in the red zone. We got to be better. We've been intentional in our work through that throughout the course of spring ball, but we have to come back and be a smarter team and be more efficient and effective in that area."

On the status of Cameron Seldon for camp

"Cam has done a great job during the rehab process. He works extremely hard. He's on pace right now, as we go throughout training camp his ability to be a part of everything that we're doing will increase from the beginning to the end of training camp. I hope to have him healthy early in the season."

How Lance Heard has handled the transition to the team

"Lance did a great job during the course of spring ball. I thought he really grew throughout the course of it, just in his fundamentals and technique. He's a really young player and has a great ceiling in front of him. Looking forward to seeing him during the course of training camp."

On what makes this year's wide receiver group the deepest for him at Tennessee

"Just pure numbers. We got here and there were some things we had to navigate with our scholarships on our roster. When recruiting bigs, they're going to take a little bit more time to develop potentially. You end up being a little bit short at some skill spots, wide receiver has been one of those. We're the deepest that we've been on our roster from a number of scholarship players, but the playmaking ability of those guys, some of the young guys being in our program multiple years, got a lot of trust in those guys. I can't wait to see it when we get to training camp. We have guys who have a great understanding of what we are doing offensively and also have the ability to make plays and go up and attack the football and be consistent winners."

On the confidence it gives him knowing he has James Pearce Jr. on defense

"James is a great playmaker, and you guys saw that throughout the course of last year with his growth from his freshman year to his second year being here. I love what he's done during the course of this offseason. He has the ability to affect a football game with his skillset. The growth and development of the guys around him is going to be extremely important. If you just have one person, have the chance to chip, slide or max protect and try and limit that guy's ability to affect the game. James' development has been really important, and there are things inside of his game that he's been intentional on trying to grow in. Looking forward to training camp with him and the continued growth of the guys around him, as well."

On if the success and excitement from baseball rolled over to football during the offseason

"When it's going good on a college campus, it's going good 365 days out of the year, your logo is in front of the entire country. You have great gameday environments to take your recruits to. The success that we had in baseball, basketball, all of that, helps us on the recruiting side for sure."

On the recent rule changes with on-field coaching numbers and ability to send more coaches out recruiting in the fall as a result

"Those are things we'll work through before we get out on the road, but for your quality controls to be a part of your practice, be able to put their eyes on somebody and be instant feedback. The breaking up some of your drills to be able to be more intentional with a position group. It just gives you more flexibility and freedom and more guys that are making an impact on your players."

On the tight end group's offseason and what is next for their development

"A lot of new faces. A young face in Ethan Davis is a guy who missed his senior year because of injury and then came in and got nicked up, so there wasn't a lot of physical development with him before last fall. A dramatically different player, body right now than what you guys have seen. That's another position that we are deeper at than we have been since we got here. For us, there's great competition in that group, they care about each other, they cheer each other on, but they compete extremely hard too. I feel like they have a great understanding of what we're doing offensively. That's a position group, as young as they were in their first spring, this past spring with some of the transfers and Ethan being young, I feel like through the course of summer, they've really grown and gained confidence and comfort in what we're doing. I'm looking forward to seeing that as we go through training camp."

On where Nico Iamaleava is at in terms of command of the offense and what he needs to improve upon

"I thought during the bowl game, for him to take it from the practice field to the game, for the game to really slow down for him during the course of the game, he had great command during that. I think that speaks volumes about him as a player and understanding what we're doing. He's been very urgent and worked hard to understand what we're doing offensively, defensive schemes, the ability to control everything from the run game to protections to checks that we have inside of our offense. He's got a great understanding of that.  He's a young player, he's got one start underneath him. We expect him to play at a really high level right from the jump, but there's going to be growth and maturation for him as a player inside of what we are doing as well."

On his thoughts on the increase in scholarships but having a cap in total players on a roster

"There have been a lot of things that have transpired late in the summer from rules to what you just talked about. For us, personnel, myself and our staff, being able to work through and navigate where the best spot for us to end at as far as the 105 that'll be different than what we currently carry to how operate as an athletic department as well are all things that we're working through."

On the role that roster management has played to getting the program where it is now

"I think it starts with the athletic department administration being able to have a good idea of where think things may have landed early in the process to be able and take and swallow up some of those numbers initially. Being smart and having a plan for the current year, but where we need to be in a year or two, as well. Then you look at what we have been able to do on the recruiting side of it from personnel to our coaches. At the end of the day, the brand continuing to get stronger and what our success has been out on the road. You put all of that together, and that's allowed us to continue to build the roster that we need to go win."

On the urgency with getting new guys acclimated to the program

"The guys who came in January, and we got eight or nine that showed up in June as well, this is the most mature group of newcomers – that's transfers and high school kids – that we've had inside our program. That stems from us being intentional further along in the recruiting process as coaches, recruiting to our culture and knowing what we are bringing in. I think it also stems from the leadership inside our locker room, being able to grab those guys and make sure they understand the standards of what it means to be a Tennessee Vol."

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Everything Josh Heupel said to kick off fall training camp