Tennessee entered the bye week on a down note thanks to their heartbreaking 27-24 loss to South Carolina in Columbia.

The Vols beat themselves in the loss to the Gamecocks. Penalties and mistakes cost Tennessee a game they had won. It was quite a gift for Shane Beamer and South Carolina.

Tennessee is 6-2 as a result of the loss. The Vols need to win out in November in order to make the College Football Playoff.

Quite a few fans were down on Vols head coach Josh Heupel after the loss to South Carolina. Fans mentioned the issues with penalties, which have often been a problem during the Heupel era, and mistakes by young players in key moments as reasons for their frustration.

I even saw some fans suggest that Heupel should be fired (which is absolutely insane to me).

Tennessee’s bye week provides clarity on the Vols’ football program

The South Carolina loss is one that’s going to stick with Tennessee fans for a long time.

But after the bye week allowed for some perspective, it seems quite clear how Heupel should be viewed by Vols fans.

Heupel is doing a tremendous job. He’s lost two games this season that came down to the final play. If you look across college football, that’s essentially the state of every program that’s in contention for a spot in the playoff.

I mean, outside of Miami and Utah, neither of which has played a tough SEC schedule, every team in the country has at least one loss. And most programs have at least two losses.

Some pretty good teams, such as South Carolina, have three losses (South Carolina just destroyed Oklahoma on the road…the Vols lost to a Gamecocks team with a lot of talent).

Look, no one likes to lose, but the margins are so thin in college football right now that some losses are going to happen (unless you have a magical season and some crazy plays go your way…like Indiana last season). The talent is spread out, rosters don’t have much depth, and teams are relying on youth as much as ever (and young players are going to make mistakes as they’re developing).

I don’t see how anyone can be upset with Heupel over a couple of losses that could’ve easily had different outcomes if a play or two is properly executed.

Beyond that, though, I think what we saw this past weekend in college football is a reminder of what an incredible job Heupel has done with the culture at Tennessee.

The Vols have two losses, but those losses aren’t because of a lack of effort. Tennessee fought hard to stay in the game against Texas, and they battled out of a 14-0 hole against South Carolina and took the lead before halftime. The Vols’ competitive mindset is elite, and that’s because of Heupel and his staff. Tennessee, for example, has players battling through injuries to get on the field, which isn’t common across the sport (just listen to Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s comments after the Bulldogs’ win over Florida).

Kirby Smart asked about SEC carnage this season

"Everybody is practicing less, but everyone is getting injured more, it doesn't make sense."

"(Players) were definitely hungrier (in the past)."

"A lot of these guys, honestly, make more than I made until I was 40." pic.twitter.com/RbGlDciwgM

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 1, 2026

Tennessee has a roster that costs somewhere around $40 million. And yet they play as hard as any team in the nation. They play for each other — which is the top characteristic of any championship team (and it’s becoming rare in college football). Tennessee isn’t dealing with a bunch of nonsense or outside noise under Heupel. It hasn’t been perfect, but it’s not a clown show like Vols fans saw in the past under Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt.

Ultimately, no one is guaranteed any result in college football. Nick Saban is the greatest college coach of all time. He lost 71 games in his career. No one is immune from losses.

Fans, especially in this era, have to stop losing their minds and demanding that a coach gets fired every time their favorite team loses a game. If you fire the coach, the next guy is going to lose games, too. Everyone loses games (obviously there are situations where a change is needed…those situations are usually quite evident).

If there are fans who want to see Heupel fired, then those fans are the type who are never ever going to be happy with any coach. They want things to be perfect, when that’s just not reality. Life isn’t perfect and competition certainly isn’t perfect. Adversity happens. Sometimes the outcome you want, or even deserve, doesn’t go your way.

I’m not saying fans shouldn’t be upset about losses (losing in anything is the worst!), but the whining and doomsday nonsense comes off like a spoiled teenager complaining about not getting their way when mom or dad won’t stop at Chick-Fil-A on the way home.

Have some perspective once in a while.