Proud Dad, Proud VFL: Shuler’s Take On The Heupel Era
Forest Jersey
As a sea of Big Orange faithful flooded Shields-Watkins Field and Neyland’s goal posts were deposited into the Tennessee River, a vibrant celebration of epic proportions was taking place inside the Tennessee football locker room.
The sixth-ranked Vols had just knocked off No. 3 Alabama in an instant classic, emerging victorious after Chase McGrath’s game-winning field goal knuckled through the uprights as time expired and cemented the final score, 52-49. A haze of cigar smoke filled the Vols’ locker room, as is tradition for the winning side on The Third Saturday In October, with student-athletes, coaches, support staff and former players soaking up one of Tennessee’s most significant regular-season wins in recent memory.
With a cigar trimmed in Orange & White checkerboard in hand, VFL quarterback Heath Shuler had a moment to step back and take it all in. As he watched the current players and coaches dancing, taking pictures with their cigars and creating lifelong memories, his eyes met with another legendary former Vol, College Football Hall of Famer Al Wilson—who had a simple, yet impactful reaction to the Vols’ glorious triumph over the Crimson Tide.
“We just kind of smiled,” Shuler recalled. “Al looks at me and goes, 'This is what we've been talking about. This is what we're talking about right here.’"
The two former Vols, who each had contributed to some monumental victories for the Big Orange in their heyday, connected earlier in the afternoon at a VFL tailgate on campus. With all the buzz building up to the top-six matchup in a clash of unbeatens, Shuler and Wilson discussed their thoughts on the program’s trajectory under second-year head coach Josh Heupel.
Al and I had a very long conversation about this coaching staff. That conversation was about all the positives. I looked around and I said, 'When have you ever seen an atmosphere like this?' And this was before the game. Al and I are talking, and I just asked him, 'What do you think about the coaching staff? Because man, I am just blown away, just absolutely blown away at how these players are just really buying into Coach Heupel’s program.’ He was talking about how positive it was, too.- Heath Shuler
Partaking in the postgame festivities in the locker room bearing his namesake was Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who had met with his fellow former Vol signal-caller on the pregame sideline and shared a similar conversation.
“I said to Peyton on the sideline, ‘Wow, what do you think about this? What do you think about Coach Heup?’
He said ‘Man, it’s unbelievable. He's doing a great job.’ And we both agreed, we couldn't have a better coach leading this football team than Coach Heupel.- Heath Shuler
Shuler has kept tabs on Tennessee football since his playing days on Rocky Top came to an end in 1993, but has seen his attachment to the program grow exponentially through his son, Navy, who transferred to the Vols in January as a preferred walk-on quarterback after two seasons at Appalachian State. Shuler’s nephew, West Shuler, is also a member of the squad, serving as a scout team linebacker for the Vols since 2019.
The Shuler family first came into contact with Coach Heupel during Navy’s recruitment process, as the three-star prospect and state finalist for Christ School, located just south of Asheville, North Carolina in Arden, drew interest from several programs across the Southeast. Heath and Navy visited UCF twice and came away impressed by Heupel’s philosophy and the program he was developing in Orlando.
I'll never forget after the very first meeting with him, having a conversation and watching practice, Navy and I both went away from there like, 'Man, this is the right guy. This is the right coach to be a part of.' ... That was a place that Navy wanted to play, UCF, and it was because of Coach Heup.
After weighing all of his options, Navy ultimately enrolled at App State on scholarship in 2020 and spent two seasons in Boone, appearing in one career game as a redshirt freshman last fall before entering his name into the transfer portal.
It would seem that fate brought the Shuler family back to Rocky Top, as ‘the right guy,’ Coach Heupel himself called Navy last winter and offered him a preferred walk-on opportunity to play quarterback at the University of Tennessee.
“It's just truly a dream come true for Navy. You want your son to be coached by good leaders and good mentors, and I cannot think of a better coaching staff in the country that I would feel more comfortable with having my son be a part of their program.”
Ahead of all the ranked wins and highlight plays this fall, Heath’s favorite moment of the season happened before the campaign had even kicked off.
“Watching him run through the T—and I saw him play in some incredible football games in high school—watching him run through that T for the very first time was probably the greatest feeling that a dad could have in being so proud of his son. He's getting to fulfill his childhood dream to play for the Tennessee Volunteers and to play for Coach Heupel. That was his dream, and now he's able to fulfill that. Just an incredible feeling that my wife and I got to share together and watch him run out onto the field. I mean, it was hard to hold back the tears."
With the Vols off to a 7-0 start for the first time since 1998 and heading into a five-week gauntlet of SEC play, every game just means more. Shuler is confident the Vols will rise to the occasion and impressed with the team’s maturity and relentless pursuit of improvement, an attitude that has been instilled from the top-down.
“One of the players last year talked about how much they love that coaching staff and how much the coaching staff loves the players. It's genuine, and to me, that makes a difference. You've never seen them lose their composure. You don't see the coaches lose their composure, and you don't see our players lose their composure. And I think that really all starts at the very top with the head coach.”
Coach Heupel has fostered a family-like atmosphere inside the Anderson Training Center. Players are genuinely excited to be around their coaches and teammates, working towards the goal of going 1-0 every week.
“This coaching staff has created an environment that players want to be a part of. They are so excited about what the coaching staff has given them. As Coach says all the time, they’re honing their craft. They’re getting better. They’re learning every single week. You’re seeing players that are given the opportunity getting better every single week, and that means that the coaching staff is doing an incredible job of taking good athletes and making them great football players.”