ESPN reporters show just how little they think of Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel in recent poll
Josh Heupel inherited a pretty terrible situation when he accepted the Tennessee Vols head coaching job back in January 2021. Tennessee had recently fired Jeremy Pruitt after internal investigations revealed recruiting violations within the program. The product on the field was also forgettable, with the Vols going 16-19 over his three years (with 11 of […]
Josh Heupel inherited a pretty terrible situation when he accepted the Tennessee Vols head coaching job back in January 2021. Tennessee had recently fired Jeremy Pruitt after internal investigations revealed recruiting violations within the program. The product on the field was also forgettable, with the Vols going 16-19 over his three years (with 11 of those wins later vacated).
All Heupel has done since taking over is help take the Vols, effectively rudderless since Phillip Fulmer was dismissed in 2008, and turn them into an SEC and College Football Playoff contender in just four years. And he's beaten Florida and Alabama multiple times along the way, something that's felt almost impossible over the last decade and a half.
With an Orange Bowl win in his pocket and the school's first ever College Football Playoff appearance also on his resume, along with a pair of 10+ win seasons, things have gone swimmingly so far for Heupel, and the Vols are tiers above where they were before Heupel's arrival.
Still, that's apparently not enough to earn the respect of those who cover college football for ESPN. The four-letter network recently put out a poll among all of their college football reporters ranking the top 10 coaches in the country, and Heupel was nowhere to be found. The rankings, per ESPN, were determined as follows:
We left it up to our college football reporters to interpret the question how they saw fit and to weigh those factors (and any others) in whatever manner they thought made the most sense. We took their rankings, 1 through 10, and awarded points based on their picks — 10 points for first place, 9 points for second place and so on.
Not only did Heupel miss the top ten list, but he barely received any votes at all. He received three votes. That's the same as Lane Kiffin and SMU's Rhett Lashlee. Louisville's Jeff Brohm received six votes.
Heupel's done enough to warrant inclusion on the list, particularly on the back end, where Iowa State's Matt Campbell holds down that spot. However, falling way, way at the back end of "other's receiving votes" is particularly bizarre, given the impact he's had in Knoxville.
Heupel will be facing perhaps his biggest challenge this fall in the wake of Nico Iamaleava's sudden departure and a defense that will be without several impact players who went on to the NFL. If he can guide Tennessee back to playoff contention, perhaps he can finally get the respect he deserves from those in Bristol, Connecticut next year.
‘The ground was shaking the entire game’ —Alabama football players give the ultimate kudos to Tennessee Vol fans
UT fans got some love recently from their most bitter rival
