Mike Leach comments on Vols head coach Josh Heupel
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is who he is today in part because of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach. Heupel transferred from Snow College in Utah to Oklahoma in the late 90s because of his visit with Leach. Leach, who was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999, and Heupel were only together […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is who he is today in part because of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach.
Heupel transferred from Snow College in Utah to Oklahoma in the late 90s because of his visit with Leach.
Leach, who was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999, and Heupel were only together for one year in Norman, but Leach made an impact on Heupel during that time.
While Heupel doesn't run the same type of air raid offense that Leach runs, there are some similar elements in what both coaches do.
Because of the connection between the two, and the success Heupel is having at Tennessee, Leach was recently asked about his former player.
"He's definitely got some things that look familiar," said Leach when asked about Heupel earlier this month. "There's some things that look familiar. I can think of a play in particular that we ran back in the day. He's got his quarterback (Hendon Hooker) running that play better than he ran it."
Classic Leach, right?
Hooker, by the way, is playing at an extremely high level right now. But he still has a long way to go to catch up to Heupel's resume as a player.
Heupel won a national championship at Oklahoma and he was the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting. For Hooker to surpass Heupel, he'd have to win a natty and win the Heisman Trophy.
Fortunately for Hooker, he's on pace to do both of those things if he plays the second half of the season as he did the first half of the season.
Featured image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
