Former Oklahoma player tells unbelievable story about Josh Heupel's toughness and leadership as a player
Former Oklahoma Sooners tight end Josh Norman joined Red Dirt Rambles earlier this offseason and he shared some amazing stories about Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and the leadership/toughness that the former Heisman Trophy runner-up showed during his playing days. Norman and Heupel were teammates at Oklahoma in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, just […]
Former Oklahoma Sooners tight end Josh Norman joined Red Dirt Rambles earlier this offseason and he shared some amazing stories about Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and the leadership/toughness that the former Heisman Trophy runner-up showed during his playing days.
Norman and Heupel were teammates at Oklahoma in 1999 and 2000.
In 2000, just a year after going 7-6, the Sooners beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl to win a national championship and cap a perfect 13-0 season.
During Norman's appearance on Red Dirt Rambles, he discussed the incredible impact that Heupel had on Oklahoma during the Sooners' championship season.
Norman's stories about Heupel touch on his elite leadership abilities and his incredibly underrated toughness.
According to Norman, before the 2000 season started, Heupel stood in front of the team, with tears in his eyes, and made it clear that Oklahoma could run the table.
"I remember the first meeting back in fall camp," said Norman. "Coach (Bob) Stoops said his thing and Josh Heupel got up and spoke. And he was in tears. He actually pulled up the schedule for the year. He started one by one going down [the schedule]. Some of those teams we played the year before, some we hadn't played yet. But he was like, 'I don't see anybody on this schedule that we can't beat, we can win every single one of these games' and that just kind of set the pace for the season."
Heupel didn't just inspire belief among his teammates, he also made them better via his work habits and his demeanor — which is something that Norman used a personal example to illustrate.
"Honestly, my junior year (2000) was my best season here," explained Norman. "My senior year, it was disappointing for me. I didn't have the type of year that I really wanted to — especially after having the year I had my junior year. And I attribute my success, the difference in those years, to Josh Heupel. He was my roommate. So when he was here — in the summers, during the season, whatever — he was watching film in the living room and I'd watch it with him. There are certain things that he ate that, like I said, I didn't really know. So he had a better understanding of nutrition than I did. And so I would eat a lot of the things that he ate. That's the reason I was able to get down to 218. My senior year, I think I played at like 228 to 230. And so for me, personally, he was a great leader. And I attribute a lot of my success to the relationship that I had with him and actually being his roommate. And the standard that he set within the household."
"And then just as as a team leader, he was a guy you could just count on him," added Norman. "Because you saw what he went [through]. When I tell you that run to the national championship, those last three or four games, honestly, it was hard for him to throw the ball from me to that trash can. If you go watch the games, he always wore long sleeves. And it was because literally from his wrist all the way up to his armpit — black and blue. He was jacked up."
"If you go back and watch the first game against Kansas State, shoot both games against Kansas State that year, they ran that 4-6 defense. They were bringing cover zero like 80 percent of the time. And the air raid ain't known for seven/eight man protections. You got five or six at the most. They were coming after him. And they were getting to him. He was getting the ball out, but they were lighting his tail up. And you see that — literally like peeling him off the ground. And he'd just get up and you could just see the hurt and the pain in his face. But he'd look to the sideline, get the play, walk in the huddle, he'd call it, he'd make the play. He'd deliver every time. And just hearing that, it does something to you. So he was a great leader, man. We have so much respect for that dude. And that's the reason all of the guys that played with him just love seeing what he's doing even to this day."
It's pretty easy to see how Heupel, even two decades after leading Oklahoma to a national championship, is able to inspire confidence among his players. He's done nearly everything that every player on Tennessee's roster is trying to accomplish at the collegiate level. And he did it by displaying unreal leadership and toughness.
Does that mean that Heupel will lead the Vols to a similar season in the not-so-distant future?
It's impossible to know, but he certainly has a track record that suggests he's capable of taking Tennessee to that level.
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Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
