Tennessee Vols fans have a new reason to be stressed and anxious
Josh Heupel is one of the hottest head coaches in the country after leading the Tennessee Vols to a 5-0 start this season (with wins over Florida at home and LSU on the road). A couple of years ago, when Heupel was hired by Tennessee, he was blasted by folks for getting fired at Oklahoma […]
Josh Heupel is one of the hottest head coaches in the country after leading the Tennessee Vols to a 5-0 start this season (with wins over Florida at home and LSU on the road).
A couple of years ago, when Heupel was hired by Tennessee, he was blasted by folks for getting fired at Oklahoma and going 6-4 in his final season at UCF.
Fast forward nearly two years and Heupel has the Vols in the College Football Playoff conversation. And those folks who were slamming Heupel are suddenly taking a step back and realizing that not only can he coach, but he appears to be a top 5 or top 10 coach in college football.
As a result of Heupel's ascent up the coaching ranks, fans at Oklahoma, and some national talking heads, are starting to wonder about what a reunion with the Sooners would look like.
Oklahoma message boards, in fact, are already lighting up with rumors/speculation about Heupel, who led the Sooners to a national championship as a player in 2000.
SEC Network host Paul Finebaum even alluded to Oklahoma maybe being interested in Heupel at some point.
This discussion was always going to happen if Heupel started finding success at Tennessee.
But I don't see any reason for Vols fans to be concerned about what's happening in Norman.
For starters, I seriously doubt the Sooners are going to fire Brent Venables after one season. Even though he's 3-3 this season and coming off an embarrassing 49-0 loss to Texas, he's still somewhat of an "Oklahoma guy". I think they'll give him at least another year (especially since he's a first-year coach) before making a change.
Now, if/when Oklahoma decides to make a change, Heupel's name (as long as he continues on this same path at Tennessee) will be mentioned. There will be tons of rumors. Some of those rumors from the Oklahoma side of things might even make it seem like Heupel leaving the Vols for the Sooners is a real possibility. Fans need to be prepared for these rumors.
But I don't think Heupel will be leaving Tennessee. Obviously, we don't know for sure what will or won't happen. However, considering the way Heupel was fired by Bob Stoops after the 2014 season (Heupel was Stoops' OC), I just don't see him returning to Norman.
That decision by Stoops obviously hurt Heupel (especially since Heupel was doing a good job). And I think Heupel has moved on. I think he's accepted his time at Oklahoma for what it was and he's happy in Knoxville.
I have no doubt that Oklahoma means a lot to Heupel. But I think he's closed that chapter. You can sense that in the way he constantly talks about the environment at Tennessee being the best he's ever seen in college football.
That certainly sounds like a man that's at home in Knoxville.
I'd be extremely surprised if decided to bolt from Rocky Top for Oklahoma. In fact, I think if/when Venables is fired, Heupel will shut down any rumors fairly quickly.
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
