Would Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel ever leave Rocky Top to become the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, his alma mater? 

That's a question that could be relevant later this year if Oklahoma struggles in 2025. 

Sooners head coach Brent Venables is entering his fourth season at Oklahoma. Two of his first three seasons resulted in losing records (6-7 in 2022 and 6-7 in 2024) for the Sooners (OU went 10-3 in 2023). 

Another losing season could result in Venables losing his job. And if that happens, Heupel's name will inevitably be tossed around as a potential candidate to replace Venables. 

Heupel, a former OU quarterback who led the Sooners to a national championship in 2000, served as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma until he was fired by then head coach Bob Stoops following the 2014 season. Heupel's relationship with Oklahoma has been strained since his unceremonious exit from Norman in early 2015. 

ESPN college football insider Chris Low appeared this week on The Next Round and he was asked if he thinks Heupel would ever consider leaving Tennessee for Oklahoma. 

"I don't think so," said Low when asked directly if he thinks Heupel could leave UT for OU. "You know, Josh is a pretty private guy. He doesn't talk a lot about that type of thing. But I think there's a clear disconnect between he and his alma mater.

"Now, [with] that said, he's still very close to a lot of the guys he played with there. In fact, several of them were there last year (in Norman when Tennessee played Oklahoma), and some of them [were] on the Tennessee sideline. So he still has a real deep appreciation and connection with a lot of guys he played with. I don't know, though, that he would go back there and be the head coach. You never say never, right? You know, you look at some of the things around college sports that have happened. I mean, would you have ever thought Bobby Petrino would be back at Arkansas….So I've just learned to never say never. But based on what I know, I don't think that's very likely at all."

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No one can say for sure what Heupel will or won't do in the future. And I truly don't think Heupel has given it any thought. I think his complete focus right now is on winning a national championship at Tennessee. 

The biggest reason, though, that I agree with Low that it's unlikely that Heupel would take the head coaching job at Oklahoma (if offered) is because he's already been burned by the Sooners once — and it obviously hurt him deeply. Would Heupel really put himself in a position to be hurt by Oklahoma for a second time? 

I seriously doubt that he would. 

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again". – George W. Bush, September 17, 2002

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