Tennessee HC Josh Heupel addresses major issue that will impact college football in 2024
On Sunday morning, Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel met with the media for the final time before his team's matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl (New Year's Day at 1:00 PM ET). There was very little talk about the actual game. Instead, most of the questions focused on the current state […]
On Sunday morning, Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel met with the media for the final time before his team's matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl (New Year's Day at 1:00 PM ET).
There was very little talk about the actual game. Instead, most of the questions focused on the current state of college football.
At one point, Heupel was asked about a major issue that will impact the sport in 2024.
Next season, the College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams. Tennessee is hoping to be one of the 12 teams playing for a championship next December. And if that ends up being the case, it means that Heupel and his staff will have to find a way to prepare for a playoff game while also dealing with the early signing period and the NCAA transfer portal.
The potential difficulties of balancing all of those tasks next December isn't lost on Heupel.
"If you look at the placement of the first round of playoffs, everything that is going on in those first couple weeks of December, how do you add in preparation for a game of that size and magnitude during the course of what is happening," said Heupel. "It was not like I was not on the phone or flying somewhere or in somebody's house or at a school every minute of the day (in December)."
"There is not enough time to accomplish everything that you need to at this point in the season or at this point in the calendar," added Heupel. "Let alone if you are preparing for a game like that. That is where, again, the calendar of how everything unfolds, the game has changed so quickly, so dramatically. I do think it is something that we have to look at."
(Note: The first round of playoff games in 2024 will take place on December 20 and December 21. The early signing period typically begins on the third Wednesday in December. In 2024, that would fall on December 18 — which would be during the week of game prep for the first round of the playoff.)
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz echoed Heupel's sentiments and even pointed out that recruiting and the transfer portal takes away from the experience of athletes that are already in the program.
"The irony, in my opinion, it is like a lot of things that are going on right now. We always lead with what is best for the student athletes, but we do not always practice that with some of the decisions we make," said Ferentz during the joint press conference with Heupel
"When you are involved in game prep, when you are involved in competition, in my mind, our focus needs to be on our place, the guys that are on campus," added Ferentz. "That is what we promised them in recruiting and meanwhile, like Josh, we are flying over here and seeing this guy and all that kind of stuff."
Unfortunately for Heupel, Ferentz, and the rest of the coaches hoping to reach the expanded playoff in 2024, it seems unlikely that any drastic changes will take place. The early signing period allows recruits to get on campus faster (which is something that most programs want for developmental reasons). And the transfer portal window in December allows for transfers to join their new programs for spring practice. It's not like you can put a transfer window in the middle of the winter (because it would be in the middle of the semester).
There are no easy solutions (outside of eliminating the December transfer window). And unless the NCAA can get creative and figure out a way to ease the burden that's placed on college coaches in December, I fear we're going to see more and more prominent coaches either leave for the NFL or retire early. It's just not a sustainable way to live — especially for coaches with families.
Arch Manning explains big reason why he didn’t commit to Ole Miss, Georgia, or Alabama
Many expected Arch to land with an SEC program
