Former Florida coach Billy Napier just dropped a quote that Tennessee’s Josh Heupel needs to hear before it’s too late
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel needs to hear what former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier had to say this week — before it’s too late.
Despite the narratives that some folks in the media like to push — like the one in the video below — I fully believe the Tennessee Vols have the right guy in Josh Heupel.
The Vols could go 8-5 again this fall and I wouldn’t change my mind.
We’re in an era of college football where it’s unwise to judge a coach based solely on results. There are too many changing variables each year — many of which are out of a coach’s control — that impact whether a team goes 12-0 or 8-4 in the regular season (once you get into the tournament, anything can happen — college football is a tournament sport now, like it or not).
Rosters are dramatically reshaped from year to year, and depth is nearly impossible to build. A few key injuries or a couple of portal additions who don’t gel with the team the way the coach expected can derail an entire season.
Still, results are ultimately what matter.
And even though I believe in Heupel, he can’t reel off four or five 8-5 seasons in a row and expect to keep his job. That’s just the business of college football.
Josh Heupel needs to hear recent comments from Billy Napier
Heupel, like every coach in the sport, will need to continue to adapt and evolve to help Tennessee become one of the top programs in the nation annually.
One area where Heupel can improve is in delegating. The Vols struggled at times last season with in-game details — such as clock management — and the feeling is that Heupel may need to fully give up play-calling duties so he can focus more on being a CEO on game days.
“I would say [Heupel’s] tweak this offseason needs to be in terms of game management,” said the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Adam Sparks late last year. “Because if you look at him on the sideline — usually you can’t see this on TV, but live you can — he’s obviously calling plays. He’s communicating a lot. Some of the game management and time management issues they’ve had in two or three games this year has been where he’s obviously trying to do three different jobs at one time.
“I do think this offseason, if not during the season, he needs to figure out some way to let some things go and be able to manage that a little better….or get rid of play calling duties. Which I don’t think he’s going to do — at least not with the guys he has on staff right now. But something’s got to give. Lane Kiffin gave up play-calling duties, and he has said that he can see so much more of the game. And [he can] look ahead rather than thinking about what his third-and-six play is. And that’s something that Josh Heupel’s got to figure out this offseason.”
Former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier, who was fired last season after a 3-4 start, spoke to On3 this week about where things went wrong in Gainesville.
Napier specifically mentioned the need to delegate better as an area where he could’ve improved.
From On3:
Napier recognized he should have given up offensive play calling, saying, “I think that I probably was a little stubborn.” His skill as an offensive coach helped him get there in the first place, but Florida’s offense struggled for the majority of his tenure, never finishing better than 57th nationally in scoring during his three-plus seasons. He held onto the responsibility even as he needed to spend more time on everything that came with roster management in the NIL era. “I think that that took away from the level of detail that I had provided in a lot of those areas in the past,” Napier said. “And then once my back was against the wall, I wasn’t confident or comfortable enough to hand that over to somebody else.”
College football coaches have more on their plate than ever thanks to the rise of NIL and the transfer portal. And while those are big offseason storylines, they don’t disappear in-season. There are always fires to put out. No college football program is on cruise control — there are problems that arise daily that have to be navigated.
Heupel is obviously an offensive mastermind, so I understand why he wants to hold on to play calling. But Tennessee needs him to be an elite overall coach more than an elite play caller if the program is going to play deep into January on a regular basis.
Being an elite play caller doesn’t matter much if the team is losing games because of the little details — as was the case last season for the Vols.