Former Vols OC David Cutcliffe makes strong statement about Josh Heupel
Former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe — one of the most popular assistants in UT football history — joined Off the Hook Sports this week at SEC Media Days in Nashville and he had plenty of great things to say about current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. Cutcliffe, who actually coached against Heupel in […]
Former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe — one of the most popular assistants in UT football history — joined Off the Hook Sports this week at SEC Media Days in Nashville and he had plenty of great things to say about current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.
Cutcliffe, who actually coached against Heupel in 1999 when Ole Miss played Oklahoma in the Independence Bowl (Ole Miss won, but Heupel passed for 390 yards and was named co-MVP), told Off the Hook Sports that Heupel is "no accident and he's not a flash in the pan".
The former Vols offensive coordinator also said he isn't just impressed with Heupel's offensive acumen, but also his abilities as a football coach in general.
"Now I get to go, obviously, more often to practice and hear him and have conversations with him," explained Cutcliffe. "It's not an accident that they're going to be good on defense and in the kicking game. He understands the game."
"Coach Heupel is an all around really good football coach," added 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."
Cutcliffe was one of the great ones so when he gives that compliment to Heupel, it's almost certainly deserved.
The former Tennessee assistant knows as well as anyone what it takes to be successful in Knoxville, which makes his praise for Heupel even more meaningful.
Year three will be a pivotal season for Heupel and the Vols — they have to prove they have staying power after winning 11 games last season for the first time in two decades. But the more we hear comments like these from Cutcliffe, the more likely it seems that Heupel will take Tennessee to heights the program hasn't seen since Cutcliffe's first stint on Rocky Top.
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Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
