Would Josh Heupel actually leave the Tennessee Vols for the NFL as recently suggested?
The Tennessee Vols are unexpectedly one of the best teams in college football this season. Tennessee has the best offense in the nation, they're undefeated at 8-0, and they control their own destiny in the SEC East. No one thought the Vols would be in this position this fast under Josh Heupel. In fact, plenty […]
The Tennessee Vols are unexpectedly one of the best teams in college football this season.
Tennessee has the best offense in the nation, they're undefeated at 8-0, and they control their own destiny in the SEC East.
No one thought the Vols would be in this position this fast under Josh Heupel. In fact, plenty of folks — myself included — weren't sure if Tennessee would ever be in this position under Heupel (or any coach for that matter).
Life is good for Vols fans.
Which means something bad has to be just around the corner, right?
It seems like every time things start to go well for Tennessee, something happens that brings fans back to earth.
And wouldn't you know that Vols fans were hit with a bucket of cold water on Sunday afternoon thanks to…Tony Romo?
That's right. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback ruined the end of the weekend for Tennessee fans.
During a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, Romo brought up that NFL teams will be looking at Heupel this offseason.
Jim Nantz, his broadcast partner, said "I know you know something" after Romo's comments, which led to some panic among Tennessee fans.
One thing to note is that after that first clip, Romo added "Not saying he's going to go, but I'm just saying they'll be asking if he's wanting to".
The NFL is an offensive league these days, so it's understandable that some teams might be interested in chatting with Heupel.
I think the odds of Heupel going to the NFL, however, are slim.
For starters, his system likely won't translate well to the NFL. Teams can split receivers out wide (the Cincinnati Bengals do this at times), but it's not as effective due to the closer hash marks in the NFL. As a result, you can't create the same spacing in the NFL as you can in college.
It's hard to go with Heupel's tempo in the NFL as well. There are teams that play with tempo, but playing with Heupel's tempo isn't something that happens. It would be hard to get players to buy in and I'm not sure it would be as effective with elite-level NFL athletes on the defensive side of the ball.
We've seen guys with similar spread systems try their hand at the NFL and fail (Chip Kelly, and Urban Meyer most famously). There's too much evidence that the scheme won't work the same in the NFL as it does in college.
Beyond the schematic issues, there's the fact that Heupel just seems like a college coach.
It's evident from Heupel's media sessions that he loves the pageantry and tradition of college football. He loves the passion of the fans, which is much different than the passion of NFL fan bases.
You don't get 101k fans at NFL game standing up for four straight hours. That's something that's unique to the college game. And Heupel seems to thrive on it.
Based on everything we know about Heupel, it doesn't appear that he's a good match for the NFL. And he's a smart guy. I think he knows that. I'm sure he's seen the multitude of college coaches that have gone to the NFL and failed. Meyer, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier — some of the all-time great college head coaches — all failed miserably in the NFL.
Success in the college game for a coach doesn't equate to success in the NFL.
Anything is possible. And I'm sure an NFL team or two will give Heupel a call (maybe just to talk about scheme). But I'd be absolutely shocked if anything came from this Heupel/NFL talk that Romo ignited via his random comments in the fourth quarter of a blowout game.
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
