Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel Makes Extremely Bold Claim After Beating Mediocre Florida Team And It Totally Won't Backfire At All

Saturday was a big day for Tennessee football. Knoxville was absolutely rocking all weekend, College GameDay was in town and the Volunteers pulled off their biggest win since 2016.

It did not come easy.

After going ahead 31-21 at the end of the third quarter, Tennessee allowed Florida to climb back into the game and it came down to the final play. Once the clock hit zero, however, the home team remained victorious and it was absolute scenes at Neyland Stadium.

Following the Florida win, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made a very bold claim.

Heupel's claim may come back to haunt him if his team cannot keep up its current trend of success.

Josh Heupel will definitely not regret saying this about Tennessee. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Over the past 24 years, since Tennessee's last national championship in 1998, the Vols have not been the powerhouse that they once were. In fact, for a few years in between, they were a joke within the SEC.

Despite their struggles, each and every year without fail, it was going to be the season that Tennessee was "back" and it often earned Top-25 rankings in preseason polls. And then, once the season actually began, the Volunteers either crashed and burned or finished something like 8-4.

This year, however, feels different. Heupel is in his second year with the program, his team is 4-0, and there is a lot of buzz in east Tennessee.

As a result, following Saturday night's win and a hilarious Gatorade bath, he decided to make a declaration. Heupel announced in his postgame press conference that Rocky Top is back.

Surely, this will not come back to bite him. Surely, Tennessee will not lose to LSU in two weeks. It is definitely going to beat Alabama in three weeks and Georgia in early November.

While the Vols are cooking, it is a little early to declare them as "back," no? Remember this.