Story from former Heisman winner shows Josh Heupel is no pushover despite being labeled as a 'players' coach'
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel has quickly earned a reputation as a players' coach. It's something that former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe noted earlier this summer during an interview at SEC Media days with Off the Hook Sports. "Coach Heupel is an all around really good football coach," said Cutcliffe. "The other thing […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel has quickly earned a reputation as a players' coach.
It's something that former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe noted earlier this summer during an interview at SEC Media days with Off the Hook Sports.
"Coach Heupel is an all around really good football coach," said Cutcliffe. "The other thing I think he does really well is he reads his teams….he gets a sense of what his team needs and how they're going to respond. I was over there last August for a preseason practice. He hit them with a surprise, basically a night off. I've never heard an eruption like I heard from that team. But he knew that the team and coaches had hit maybe a zero return or a negative return on time (they had hit a wall, in other words). That can happen. That's a sixth sense that the great ones have."
Some fans, especially opposing fans, might see that comment from Cutcliffe (letting players have a night off…which is ironic considering the story below) and think that Heupel is "soft", but that couldn't be further from the truth.
And a story from former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, illustrates how "tough" Heupel can be as a coach.
Bradford told a story earlier this spring, while being inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, about a time when he was a player at Oklahoma and he wanted to take a night off to celebrate his birthday.
Heupel caught wind of Bradford's plans and was having none of it.
Here's the story via The Oklahoman:
“The days were long and there wasn’t much time,” Bradford said. “My birthday offered a glimmer of hope. I was thrilled to escape the cafeteria and study hall for a night.”
Bradford had convinced himself he could skip the Heupel workout and go have a nice dinner with his parents.
“So practice ends, and I made it five steps,” Bradford said. Then he heard Heupel. “Where the bleep do you think you’re going?”
Bradford tried to explain.
“He said he didn’t give a blank what day it was, we were working that day.
“I never took another day off.”
That was a real "welcome to college football" moment for Bradford who was a true freshman at the time.
Heupel probably wasn't Bradford's favorite person at the particular moment, but it's all love between the two now. In fact, Bradford gave Heupel a lot of credit for his development as a quarterback right before telling that story.
“Coach Heupel taught me how to play quarterback,” explained Bradford. “And he taught me how to work. It would be an understatement to say I was raw when I walked onto campus."
“I was a pretty good athlete, but Coach Heupel saw something in me," added Bradford. "He helped me every step of the way during my time in Norman. I am grateful for what he saw in me.”
Heupel is going to get the best out of his players and he's going to create a fun atmosphere while doing it, but that doesn't mean things will be easy. If a recruit is going to sign with Tennessee, they better be ready to put the work in.
Vols fans won’t like Steve Spurrier’s take on Saturday’s Tennessee vs Florida game
Vols fans probably won’t like former Gatos head coach Steve Spurrier’s take on Saturday’s Tennessee vs Florida game
Featured image via Caitie McMekin / News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
