Josh Heupel 'wouldn't be' at Tennessee without playing, coaching for OU football team

When Tennessee coach Josh Heupel stood at the lectern for his weekly press conference Monday, he knew what he was about to spend the next 15 minutes discussing.

"Let's go ahead and get to it," a Tennessee reporter said.

"What are you going to talk about?" joked Heupel, former OU quarterback and offensive coordinator.

The week of Heupel's highly-anticipated return to Norman is finally here. The No. 7-ranked Volunteers face No. 13 OU at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC.

Here's some of what Heupel said about returning to OU, scouting the Sooners and head coach Brent Venables:

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Josh Heupel on the emotions he'll feel walking into OU's stadium

"It'll be unique. I had teammates and friends back there, they hit me up a little bit early. They were starting last week already. It'll be unique going back into that stadium. It'll be a viewpoint, I'm not sure I've ever spent a day on the opposing sideline inside of that stadium, not even for a scrimmage. So it'll be different but it's one I'm really looking forward to. There are so many people that have been a huge part of my journey that I get a chance to go back and, hopefully, get a chance to say hi to a bunch of them.

"It starts with teammates. It's coaches that I had, it's a lot of coaches that I coached with, there's a lot of personnel that is still there. Guys that I coached, a guy that was in my wedding, there's a lot of people back there that I'm familiar with and have a lot of respect for."

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Josh Heupel on what impresses him about Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold

"He takes great care of the football. He's got great command and presence in what they're doing offensively. He has the ability to use his feet to make things right. That can be when the pocket breaks down, design quarterback run, read game. He's a really talented young player."

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How comfortable Josh Heupel is with OU questions this week

"I thought I handled the first one really well. So I'm good with any question about Oklahoma. The opportunity that I got from (Bob Stoops) and (Mike Leach) to come there and play, what we were able to build there in a short amount of time as a player. But then my coaching career, from the guys that I played for, to all the coaches that were there during my career, all made a huge impact on me. I wouldn't be here today at Tennessee if I didn't have all of those experiences. So, I'm tremendously grateful for all of those people. And Brent is somebody who I learned and grew from as a young coach so much. A ton of respect for him."

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What Tennessee players should expect from the Sooners' crowd

"It should be a great crowd. It's a passionate fanbase. I'm expecting them to be extremely quiet for us out of respect for me and our program, too."

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What challenges does Tennessee face vs. OU this week?

"I don't think there's just one. First of all, I've talked about their defense, their offense. They're well-coached, they play extremely hard. They've been on the right side of the turnover margin. They've got really good personnel. This is a really great program."

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Josh Heupel on what he's seen from the Sooners' defense on tape

"Their front is really active. They play tight coverage on the back end with all the structure they show you on the back end. They play really assignment-sound. They understand where they're supposed to be in recognizing patterns and getting into windows. They tie all three phases of the defense extremely well. And when you have the ball in your hands, they're extremely active, punching, ripping, putting their hat on the ball. They've changed the way the game is played with a lot of those turnovers."

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Josh Heupel on if his kids will make the trip to Norman

"Not sure if my kids will be able to make it yet. But we're working on that."

Josh Heupel on coaching against Brent Venables

"A guy that, again, I've got so much respect for. Got a great family. Somebody that poured into me as a young coach and I learned so much from him. He's as good as they come when you look at what he's done historically as a defensive coordinator. Lot of respect, huge challenge for us this week."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Josh Heupel 'wouldn't be' at Tennessee without playing, coaching for OU football team