Paul Finebaum dropped an absolutely terrible take about Josh Heupel and Tennessee following the reported hiring of Jim Knowles
Paul Finebaum couldn’t stop himself from dropping a terrible take about Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols.
The Tennessee Vols are reportedly hiring Jim Knowles as the program’s new defensive coordinator.
Knowles served as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2024. Shortly after the Buckeyes won the national championship last season, Knowles left to take over as the defensive coordinator at Penn State.
Paul Finebaum dropped an absolutely terrible take about Josh Heupel and Tennessee
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, a Tennessee graduate who spends his days baking up fresh hot takes seemingly every hour, managed to drop one of the worst takes you’ll hear all offseason about the Volunteers on Wednesday.
Not long after the news broke that Tennessee plans to hire Knowles, Finebaum praised the move while taking a strange shot at Vols head coach Josh Heupel.
“We’ve had some conversations about Josh Heupel,” said Finebaum on his show. “And I’ve stood up for Josh Heupel and talked about how great he was. I don’t think I can say that anymore. I think Josh Heupel is slipping toward average. Getting Jim Knowles in there, I think, is a big break for him. He needed to shore up the defense, although that’s really what held him up last year (in 2024). The problem has also been…it’s been a myriad of things. The last few years have been painfully disappointing. And I thought the way the season ended with those home losses to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt were pretty atrocious.”
Finebaum doesn’t get it when it comes to Tennessee
That’s one of the silliest takes I’ve seen all year. How can anyone call the last few years at Tennessee “painfully disappointing?”
Finebaum was around for the Vols’ disastrous decade before Heupel arrived — he knows what “painfully disappointing” looks like. From 2008 to 2020, the Vols had eight seasons in which they lost seven games or more.
In five seasons under Heupel, the Vols have won 45 games, made it to the College Football Playoff last season, won three of their last four games against Florida (including a win in the Swamp), and two of their last four games against Alabama. What’s “painfully disappointing” about that?
The 2025 season wasn’t what anyone at Tennessee wanted, but it was also inevitable. The Vols dealt with several major injuries, they had the youngest roster in the SEC, and the starting quarterback left the program a day before the spring game. It was just one of those years. Those happen in sports. Adversity is unavoidable, and the SEC is too competitive to consistently overcome bad luck.
For someone who absolutely loves being one of the faces of college football, Finebaum sure has no problem trashing just about everyone in the sport.
Tennessee Volunteers News
‘I’ve gotten better at it’ – There’s one big concern with Tennessee hiring Jim Knowles as the Vols’ new defensive coordinator
The Tennessee Vols are reportedly on the verge of hiring Jim Knowles as their new defensive coordinator.
