Why Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols could be the team that gets one SEC coach fired in 2023
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols could be the program that gets one SEC head coach fired in 2023. When Tennessee plays Missouri on November 11 next season, Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz could be coaching for his job. Drinkwitz, who received an extension this season, is 17-18 over his first three seasons at Missouri. […]
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols could be the program that gets one SEC head coach fired in 2023.
When Tennessee plays Missouri on November 11 next season, Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz could be coaching for his job.
Drinkwitz, who received an extension this season, is 17-18 over his first three seasons at Missouri. By comparison, former Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt went 16-19 during his three seasons at Tennessee.
Pruitt was fired after receiving an extension so Drinkwitz shouldn't view his extension as "job security".
Missouri's schedule in 2023 sets up perfectly for Drinkwitz to get the axe after playing the Vols in November (assuming, of course, that Tennessee beats the Tigers in Columbia next season).
The Tigers should start 2-0 after playing South Dakota and Middle Tennessee. Then they get a tough matchup against Kansas State before playing an improving Vanderbilt team on the road.
Let's say Mizzou is 2-2 after four games. The Tigers then have a stretch where they play LSU, at Kentucky, South Carolina, at Georgia and then the game at home against Tennessee.
I could easily see the Tigers going 1-3 in that four-game stretch before playing the Vols (maybe even 0-4). That would put Mizzou at 4-5 heading into the showdown with Tennessee.
A loss to the Vols would have the Tigers' bowl game hopes on life support. It would also mean that Missouri would fail to win more than six regular season games for the fourth season in a row under Drinkwitz.
At that point, I think the leadership at Missouri would accept that Drinkwitz is never going to be a guy that wins more than six games in the SEC. I'm not sure they'd need to see anything else to know that Drinkwitz isn't the answer. Firing him with two games left would allow an interim head coach (probably defensive coordinator Blake Baker if he doesn't leave this offseason) to give the team a spark against Florida and Arkansas to get to six wins.
More importantly, firing Drinkwitz with two games left in the season would give the Tigers a headstart on a coaching search.
We'll see how it plays out next season, but it certainly feels like Heupel and the Vols will have a chance to change the trajectory of one of their SEC East rivals.
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
