‘Some guy wrote is Josh Heupel the next James Franklin’ – Steve Spurrier comments on Tennessee’s loss to Alabama
Some fans are really asking if Josh Heupel is the next James Franklin after Tennessee’s loss to Alabama this past weekend. Franklin was fired by Penn State earlier this month.
It won’t be a surprise to Tennessee Vols fans that longtime nemesis Steve Spurrier had some thoughts on UT’s 37-20 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
What might be surprising, though, is that Spurrier seemed to be a little more forgiving of the loss than Vols fans.
“Bama beat Tennessee,” said Spurrier during his weekly appearance on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “Some guy wrote that is Josh Heupel the next James Franklin. Josh has done a super job there. Everybody can’t win all of them, but he’s certainly [done well]. You don’t win all of them.”
Franklin was recently fired by Penn State after losing three straight games. Franklin won 13 games with the Nittany Lions last season while coming up one win short of an appearance in the national championship game.
Steve Spurrier is right — Josh Heupel’s done a “super job” at Tennessee
The Heupel/Franklin comparison isn’t really fair. It’s two completely different situations. Heupel’s won some big SEC games for the Vols over the last several years, including two wins against Florida, two wins against Alabama, and a win against LSU. Plus he hasn’t lost to Kentucky or Vanderbilt, and he took the Vols to the College Football Playoff last season (Tennessee’s previous three coaches all lost to Vanderbilt and Kentucky at some point).
No one is going to win every game — especially in this current era of college football (it’s worth noting that Heupel is undefeated against Alabama in Knoxville — Kirby Smart and Georgia, meanwhile, lost to Alabama in Athens this season).
It’s way past time for fans and media to stop overreacting to the result of one game. Sometimes, players don’t play well and coaches don’t coach well — no team is immune from those kinds of Saturdays.
Heupel and the Vols need to be better moving forward, but no one is preaching that more than the folks inside of Tennessee’s building.
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