Do you believe the Heupel? We don’t
Josh Heupel was hired by Tennessee last week - does he have what it takes to coach in the SEC?
By: The Waco Kid
At the corner of Volunteer Boulevard and Pat Head Summitt Street, there is a rock that was erected to promote artistic expression and help students find their voice. It is one of the only places that encourages creativity in the form of defamation, turning a blind eye towards societal norms. This rock not only gave life to the first amendment but also served as a supernatural entity the likes of which have not been seen since Will Smith arrived in the real-life adaptation of Aladdin. By that I mean the written words displayed on this University cornerstone have granted the demands of the masses, unbeknownst to them, but unlike a genie, all that you need is to write on the slab your deepest desire, and your wish is its command. That rock spoke to these requests in great volume during the past few months stating “Fire Pruitt” and “Bring Back Kiffin.” Half of the wish came true, the other half of these hopes would not rejoin Tennessee, even hypothetically, for a $14.25 million/year contract. As a Rocky Top fan in the modern-day era, half of a win should be more than you can ever dream of.
Photo: VolsWire USAToday
I would go to UT for the art degree.
After months of the Volunteer faithful calling for the firing of Jeremy Pruitt, the University of Tennessee decided not to invite the head coach back for another year. This could have been caused by the poor grades he received throughout the fall semester, or perhaps the McDonald’s bags cluttering his room and polluting those around him, or maybe the stank from all of this garbage seeping out into the hallways making all those with a promising future decide to transfer elsewhere. There were plenty of reasons for the expulsion of Pruitt but the biggest flaw always continued to be the lack of productivity in the classroom and on the field. Students recognized these weaknesses and voiced their opinions, not just through social media but by rubbing their beloved rock three times and writing their wish for the head coach to be fired.
Pretty messed up for the Vols administration to do this.
Once the Pruitt firing was final, there came a purge of the Tennessee program, layers upon layers of staff were laid off (let’s call it a McGangbang - a McDouble with a hot n’ spicy McChicken patty in the middle - also a decent analogy to what happened to the coaching staff, who all got screwed). A total of nine football related employees were asked to leave. Luckily for UT, they rely on Volunteers so when one is fired there are no terms requiring the university to pay out their remaining contract. The former head coach learned this lesson the hard way. With Pruitt and all-time great (coach) Phillip Fulmer out as AD, the Knoxville crew had to find a new direction to go in. That journey led them southeast, to Orlando, Florida to seek out UCF AD Danny White.
Tennessee lucked out with this hire, not because it is overly impressive, but for once the program managed not to screw things up and accidentally hire UFC President Dana White. It is very confusing...Danny White with UCF and Dana White with UFC, and even Danny White, the former Cowboys legend. One has to wonder how many times the Vol administration had to double-check and make sure the right person was called - my bet: over 5. Danny White did do a lot of good things for the University of Central Florida Knights, I guess. He brought national attention to a G5 team that had been irrelevant for years, outside of the Blake Bortles era that saw its best win against Baylor in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl (rolling of the eyes).
Yeah, okay. Sure, buddy.
White was also able to declare a “National Championship” for the program in 2017. The Knights went undefeated and capped off their season with a Peach Bowl victory over the Auburn Tigers. With wins over Florida International, Navy, SMU, and UConn how could you not make a sweeping declaration for the Natty? And then a bowl win over Auburn?! The Tigers are always a national contender and a win against them should validate greatness. You know who else plays them? Every single SEC West team and two East teams, every. Single. Year. A Championship should not be based on beating one decent team from a dominating conference and playing a bunch of cupcakes, but this is what a lot of conferences choose to do nowadays, cough *Big 12* cough. Credit to Danny White, though, because despite all of this he was able to hold a parade, raise a banner, distribute National Championship rings, and get the governor of Florida to sign a resolution declaring UCF as the #1 team in the nation. With this kind of power if Tennessee is able to beat Florida, Georgia, Alabama, or hell even Ole Miss, the Vols might just be raising a 2021 Championship banner.
4th in the SEC East, 2021 National Champions.
The importance of Danny White in the hiring of a new head football coach should not be overlooked. Not because of his lack of big-time conference experience, but because of the candidates who were still on the table and the man he ultimately chose to be the next leader of the Tennessee football team. Still in play were Clemson OC Tony Elliott, recently dismissed Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn (my personal favorite), long shot due to the whole lack of ethics thing Hugh Freeze, Louisiana Head Coach Billy Napier, Coastal Carolina HC Jamey Chadwell, and then the card that is always on the table, Art Briles. This was a group that amongst the six of them have proven track records of winning and all of which would have never given a second thought to coaching in the SEC. White decided that none of these candidates were viable options. No, the man for the job had to be his previous head coach at UCF, Josh Heupel.
Photo: Butch Dill, AP
WHAT!? HEUPEL??
Heupel is a proven winner. In high school, he was the best player on the field, but his play did not catch the eyes of many recruiters throughout the nation. So he went and played for a community college in Utah, Snow College, and afterward joined the Oklahoma Sooners as a quarterback. He became the starter and won just about every accolade a quarterback can while finishing second in the Heisman race that year. Heupel went on to lead the Sooners to a national championship with a win over Florida State.
Injuries ultimately derailed his pursuit of an NFL career so he returned to college football as a grad assistant at OU. It was with his alma mater, that Heupel really gained traction as a coach. As head of the quarterbacks in 2008, he helped Sam Bradford become the Heisman Trophy winner and a little less than two years later was promoted to co-offensive coordinator. He lasted for a respectable 5 years before being let go from the program and receiving jobs with both Utah State and then Missouri. Once Scott Frost left UCF for Nebraska, Danny White was in need of a new head coach and Josh Heupel was the apple of his eye. He was hired in December of 2017 to lead the Knights back to another national title.
The way Danny White looks at Josh Heupel is adorable.
Heupel started his UCF career strong utilizing the players Scott Frost had recruited to win 12 games and receive another Fiesta Bowl appearance, this time against LSU. Frost could lead French troops into battle believing for once they may win, while his successor would have had a difficult time leading the USA team into the opening ceremony at the Olympics. This showed as the Knights allowed the Tigers to spoil their back to back national championship aspirations. The loss began to reveal what Heupel could and could not do coaching at a collegiate level. Over the next two years, UCF went 16-7, a mediocre record for a team playing in a G5 conference.
Newly appointed Tennessee AD, Danny White, is the only individual that could look at this embarrassing G5 record and think “yes we can win the SEC with a coach like that.” I mean Heupel went from 12-1 to 10-3 to 6-4, you never jump on a stock trending down. You grab GameStop or $AMC by the horns and you ride that MFer to the moon🚀. White hitched his wagon to the Hype Train and will have to ride it into a dark abyss or hope that the train can keep momentum and somehow find a way to collect 6 wins on its way to inevitable failure.
Me, personally, I see White and Heupel being the scapegoats for a program that shrugged their shoulders at the rules of college football while not competing on the field. Sanctions will be handed down and these two will have their names associated with it for the foreseeable future. 4-win seasons are in UT’s immediate line of sight, followed by the firing of both the AD and head coach as soon as there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This was a no-win situation that the university brought in mediocre talent to handle.
Does anyone really think this will turn out well?