ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit left no doubt how he feels about Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols following UT’s 33-27 loss in Knoxville to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Tennessee didn’t play well against the Sooners — self-inflicted mistakes and empty offensive possessions doomed the Vols in the loss — but Herbstreit, who called the game for ABC, is still extremely confident in Heupel.

The longtime ESPN analyst/announcer is flabbergasted that some Vols fans are calling for Heupel’s job.

“I heard some nonsense from Tennessee fans about Josh Heupel’s got to go,” said Herbstreit on his YouTube channel on Monday. “Whoever loses (between the Vols and the Sooners) has got to go. Man, bullshit. Have you thought about where Tennessee’s football program was before Josh Heupel got there? Have you thought about how many years you were irrelevant [with] off the field issues and drama?

“This is a good football team that lost maybe the two best corners on one team. They didn’t even get a chance to play together. And somehow (UT defensive coordinator) Tim Banks is holding on trying to put a defense out there. You should be like, lock Josh Heupel and his staff down for 100 years. You can’t win every game. It doesn’t mean you don’t have a good coach. It doesn’t mean you don’t have a good program. You’re lucky to have Josh Heupel. You’re lucky to have this program. You’re lucky to have the AD (Danny White) you have. You guys are heading in a great direction. Be grateful. It’s gonna come. You can’t win them all, and when you lose one, it doesn’t mean you need to fire a coach. I’m just tired of hearing all these fans, when they lose a game say, ‘We got to fire our coach.’ That’s not the answer.”

Kirk Herbstreit makes some great points about Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols

I think Hersbtreit’s comments about Heupel and the Vols are spot on.

Sure, there are plenty of areas where Tennessee and Heupel need to improve. But the UT football program is the healthiest it’s been in two decades with Heupel at the helm. Firing Heupel would potentially erase all of the positive momentum that’s been created over the last four years. (And really, who would Tennessee hire? There’s no such thing as a home run hire — those are a myth. Every hire is a gamble.)

It’s never perfect in sports. Sometimes, you just get beat. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way.

Some seasons are more challenging than others. And this season has been particularly challenging for the Vols. From losing their starting quarterback in April, to one of their best defensive players (Boo Carter) completely checking out, to dealing with an inordinate amount of injuries to star defensive players, it’s been a tough season for Tennessee.

Giving up on Heupel because Tennessee didn’t play well in a couple of conference games would be a huge mistake after everything that’s been accomplished on Rocky Top the last few seasons.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as ‘I heard some nonsense from Tennessee fans’ – ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit makes strong statement about Josh Heupel and the Vols.

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