‘It’s degrading’ – Florida Gators legend made a very strong statement about Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols
The Tennessee Vols won an ugly game against the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station on Saturday.
Back in July, when it was still talking season and every talking head was making predictions and taking strong stances, Florida Gators legend Chris Doering said he thought the Tennessee Vols would take a step back this season.
“I feel like I know nothing more about Tennessee than I did when I walked in the door here (at SEC Media Days),” said Doering. “Tennessee, maybe they’re playing coy or something, but we don’t know who their quarterback is going to be. The receivers have been underwhelming the last few years.
“We know their offensive line is going to be good. DeSean Bishop’s going to be good. I love Jim Knowles. The hire there as the defensive coordinator was the number one hire of the offseason for a coordinator situation. But I don’t know. I think we’re talking about a team that could slide further back from that playoff appearance two years ago.”
Doering, to his credit, has changed his tune on the Vols as the season has played out.
Tennessee is 8-2 after a 22-7 win over Texas A&M in College Station this weekend.
The Vols’ defense continues to be dominant, and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is showing each week that he’s a master at doing what needs to be done that particular week to get a win.
And as a result, Doering thinks Heupel should be considered for coach of the year honors for the job he’s done this season.
“You know what travels? Defense travels,” said Doering on the SEC Network on Saturday night. “The run game travels. We talked about it the last couple weeks — they (Tennessee) know who they are. And you know what? I think Josh Heupel deserves to be the coach of the year with what he’s done and changing the way that he approaches offensive football.
“We use a lot of phrases over and over again, right? One of the phrases that I use a lot is emasculation. It’s degrading. I like how derogatory it is. And this was a degrading win for Tennessee in College Station. They held the ball for over 42 minutes. They ran 30 more offensive plays than Texas A&M did. And you heard Heupel talk about it — holding them to under 200 total yards was straight degradation by the Tennessee Vols.”
Doering has never been shy about being critical of the Vols, which makes his praise of Heupel and Tennessee this season a little more meaningful than praise from other analysts/talking heads.
Most folks had the Vols pegged as an 8-4 or 7-5 team this season. The season isn’t over — 8-4 is still in play with two regular season games remaining — but the fact that Heupel has the Vols in a spot to make the College Football Playoff with two weeks left in November is remarkable.
It’s so remarkable that even Gators legends are giving Heupel his flowers.
