Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel hasn’t been very good in situational moments this season.

Heupel’s clock management at the end of the Mississippi State game cost the Vols a chance to win in regulation (UT was fortunate to win the game in overtime). Then there was his questionable strategy before halftime against Alabama (which resulted in a game-changing pick six for the Crimson Tide).

Plenty of coaches (in the college game and in the NFL) botch end of game and end of half situations, so I’m not trying to suggest that Heupel is significantly worse than the majority of coaches in this area.

There are two moments from this season, however, that Heupel completely botched — mistakes that are simply inexcusable for a college head coach — that suggest a change in the play-calling process is needed on Rocky Top.

Josh Heupel’s made two big mistakes this season that prove he needs to give up play-calling duties

The first situational moment that Heupel messed up that’s inexcusable came in the second half of the Vols’ loss to Alabama.

With 3:16 remaining in the fourth quarter against the Crimson Tide, and Tennessee trailing by 17, Heupel went for it on fourth down from the Alabama 16-yard line instead of kicking a 33-yard field goal to make it a two-possession game.

Tennessee probably wasn’t going to win that game even if the lead was cut to two possessions. But Heupel’s decision to not kick the field goal effectively ended the game despite time remaining on the clock.

Heupel’s answer about not kicking the field goal was nonsensical at best.

“You’re just in a position where you’re close to the end zone,” said Heupel after the loss to Alabama. “So ultimately, [we] went with that.”

In that moment, it felt like Heupel focused more on play-calling than the situation the Vols were facing.

On Saturday, in the loss to Oklahoma, Heupel had another completely inexcusable moment that negatively impacted the way the end of the game played out for the Vols.

With Tennessee trailing by nine points, Vols running back DeSean Bishop picked up a first down at the Oklahoma 20-yard line with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter.

At that point, time was the Vols’ most valuable asset. Tennessee, however, inexplicably ran only one play before the clock stopped for the two minute timeout.

The reason is because the Vols were slow to snap the ball following Bishop’s first down conversion. Tennessee didn’t snap the ball until there was 2:17 left on the game clock — 29 valuable seconds ran off the clock between between plays.

And that’s not the worst part.

Once the ball was finally snapped, Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar was quickly flushed from the pocket. Aguilar picked up five yards and ran out of bounds with 2:08 left on the game clock.

Once the ball was set, the game clock restarted (due to a rule change in 2008, the clock restarts once the ball is set when a runner goes out of bounds before the final two minutes of either half).

Heupel shouted at the officials while pointing at the scoreboard when the clock restarted. It appeared that he was questioning why the clock didn’t stop.

Once the clock stopped for the two minute timeout, Heupel was seen talking to officials. It looked like the officials explained to Heupel that the clock restarts once the ball is set. Heupel then quickly dropped his argument.

I don’t know how this happens in an SEC game.

For starters, Aguilar should be coached to throw the ball away in that situation. Once he was flushed from the pocket, he needs to throw it away (after getting outside of the tackle box). That’s the only way to stop the clock in that situation.

Secondly, Heupel appeared to be completely lost in that situation. He lost track of the rule, and he didn’t do a good job of saving as much time as possible.

I think two things are clear after seeing that sequence at the end of the Oklahoma game — the Vols need to practice two minute situations more often, and Heupel has too much on his plate as a play caller.

I said after last season that it’s time for Heupel to give up play calling duties. It’s just too much for a head coach to manage calling plays and being the head coach on game days. It’s been 12 years since a head coach who called his own plays won a national championship (Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013). With more and more coaches giving up play calling, that seems like a trend that’s likely to continue.

Heupel is a smart guy. I like him a lot as a head coach. I think he’s about the right stuff, and I absolutely think he’s the right guy to lead Tennessee’s football program. But right now, it feels like he’s stretched too thin as a coach. I think that’s why the Vols have struggled in two minute situations this season. And it may be why Tennessee has struggled with the little details this season in general (continually running the ball against Oklahoma when going tempo after picking up a first down on Saturday night, for example, resulted in bunch of unfavorable second-and-longs…it felt like the play calling was rushed at times).

I don’t know Tennessee’s exact play calling set up, but it certainly appears that Heupel is much more involved in the process than he was when Alex Golesh served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Tennessee operated cleaner offensively those two seasons than they have the last three seasons.

Heupel’s a great play caller, and I think he’s a really good head coach. But he can’t do it all. It’s time for Heupel to hand the play call sheet to someone else (whether that’s offensive coordinator Joey Halzle or whoever can be trusted to do the job). Otherwise, I think we’ll continue to see the Volunteers struggle in late game situations.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Josh Heupel appeared to forget an important rule during loss to Oklahoma and it was a really bad look for Tennessee’s head coach.

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