Josh Heupel is making a subtle but important change this offseason that many Tennessee Vols fans won’t even notice

Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is listening to some important offseason advice.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is making a subtle, yet important, change this offseason.

And it’s a change that many fans likely won’t even notice.

Last December, shortly after the Vols ended the regular season with a blowout loss at home to Vanderbilt, I suggested that Heupel needed to learn a lesson from his SEC counterparts and become more vocal with the media.

The idea is that Heupel, who is naturally reserved with the media, needs to be more proactive in controlling the narrative around Tennessee football.

Here’s what I wrote in December: Heupel’s approach, from a pure coaching standpoint, is sound. But it’s not what the current landscape of college football requires. I think being more vocal about Tennessee’s program — from controlling the narrative about the Vols’ offense to politicking for playoff seeding — is an improvement Heupel can make moving forward.

(Plenty of top coaches already take this approach, including Georgia’s Kirby Smart, LSU’s Lane Kiffin, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, etc.)

Josh Heupel is being more vocal so far this offseason

Heupel seems to be taking the advice, as he’s been slightly more vocal this offseason.

For example, Heupel recently gave a rare offseason interview to On3’s Chris Low, where he advocated for a 24-team playoff, reacted to the high expectations of Tennessee fans, and discussed swiping strength coach Derek Owings from Indiana.

Additionally, Heupel, who has typically been very guarded about his offense, participated in a 22-minute film room session with Vol Network host Mike Keith that was posted to Tennessee’s official YouTube channel this week. The film review highlights many of the ways the Vols’ offense has evolved under Heupel in recent years.

Heupel also spoke with VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs this week about the evolution of Tennessee’s offense.

Heupel can still continue to improve his media presence, but this is a good start.

It may seem silly to suggest that this is an important change for Heupel, but I think we’ve seen in recent seasons that being a showman in college football is necessary. The competition for elite talent is as fierce as ever. Coaches have to be large personalities that sell their program — Kirby Smart is a master at doing this without making it seem like he’s trying to be a salesman/showman.

That’s not something that comes naturally to Heupel, but it’s something he’s going to have to get comfortable doing if he’s going to take Tennessee football to the next level.

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