The national media doesn't want you to forget that they hate giving Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel any credit
If you're a UT football fan who is hoping that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is going to start getting credit from the national media sometime soon, you probably shouldn't hold your breath. CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli revealed his top 25 Power-Four head coach rankings on Thursday and based on those rankings, I'm guessing […]
If you're a UT football fan who is hoping that Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is going to start getting credit from the national media sometime soon, you probably shouldn't hold your breath.
CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli revealed his top 25 Power-Four head coach rankings on Thursday and based on those rankings, I'm guessing it pained him to even mention Heupel.
Fornelli has Heupel ranked at No. 16. And it feels like he has him ranked there only because he couldn't justify ranking a coach who just led a team to the College Football Playoff any lower (by the way, Tennessee was projected by most media outlets last summer as a non-playoff team…which means Heupel overachieved).
From CBS Sports: I'm sure plenty of people are worried about how Tennessee will look after showing the door to Nico Iamaleava, but when it comes to QBs and offense, Heupel deserves some benefit of the doubt. He's certainly earned the adoration of many Vols fans who are thrilled to see their program return to national relevance. The Vols made the playoffs last year and are 37-15 in four seasons under Heupel, including 20-12 in the SEC.
Where Heupel is ranked isn't the problem here. The problem is the coaches listed above Heupel.
Kansas' Lance Leipold, Kansas State's Chris Klieman, Iowa State's Matt Campbell, and LSU's Brian Kelly (that one I can kind of see, but Kelly hasn't done much in the SEC since making the jump from Notre Dame) are questionably ranked ahead of Heupel.
Klieman, Campbell, and Leipold have combined for ZERO playoff appearances.
Leipold went 5-7 last season!!!!
5-7!
Fornelli really ranked a 5-7 coach over a guy who took Tennessee, a program that has been a coach firing factory since 2008, to the playoff after the program was essentially reduced to a heaping pile of garbage in early 2021 by Jeremy Pruitt.
If you don't like the guy just come out and say it, Tom.
I'm guessing that Heupel is consistently ranked low on these lists because he's not a media darling.
Whatever the reason, it's a complete joke. Heupel isn't perfect, there are plenty of areas where he needs to improve, but he's a better coach than a couple of guys who have yet to even coach a game at the top level of competition in college football (which is the SEC or the Big 10).
