Though the NCAA hit Tennessee football hard last week, Volunteers coach Josh Heupel said Thursday he’s relieved to have the situation resolved.

Tennessee was placed on five years’ probation, fined $8 million and stripped of 28 scholarships — but not hit with a bowl ban — for violations that occurred under former coach Jeremy Pruitt from 2018-20. Speaking at SEC Media Days in Nashville on Thursday, Heupel said he’s happy to no longer be dealing with unknowns in recruiting.

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“For our current roster, they really hadn’t thought about it or focused on it very much,” Heupel said. “I could tell that from the team meeting we had … after the news came out. But for how we handle recruiting, the guys that signed with us in the last 18-24 months trusted what we were saying to them, the transparency of the dialogue that we had with them. It was unbelievably satisfying to get over that hump. You’re not dealing with other programs that are beating you up, in some ways sensationalizing what’s going to happen.

“I was able to have great trust in what our administration was talking to us about and (giving) consistent and clear messaging to our recruits. And that’s why we’ve been able to recruit at a really high level. It’s great to have it in the rearview mirror, not something you’re having to drive by all the time.”

Heupel said that when he was hired at Tennessee in January 2021, the Volunteers had just 65 players on scholarship (20 below the NCAA limit for FBS schools). Some 35 players have left Knoxville through the transfer portal since news of the NCAA investigation broke.

Tennessee went 7-6 in Heupel’s debut season, then 11-2 with an Orange Bowl victory in 2022. The Tennessee administration successfully fought a potential bowl ban throughout the investigation, meaning the sky is the limit for the Volunteers going forward, Heupel said.

“The easiest thing would’ve been for our administration — and for me, too — to take a bowl ban in Year 1,” Heupel said. “But that wasn’t right. The guys that were left were innocent guys and it was a new staff. There’s nobody left from administration in our athletic department on the football side of it (from the time the violations occurred). … So it was right to compete and give those guys an opportunity to fulfill all the things that they wanted to inside of a college football season, and for those guys that were going out. I appreciate our administration and everybody fighting for those guys.

“… We’ve been transparent and real and been able to close that narrative on our program and move forward. And I’m not sure that there’s a better time to be a Vol.”