USA Today ranks Josh Heupel as #17 in top 25 of coaches

#1
Gandalf

Gandalf

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#1
I would have said more like #10-13 but ok. But its what they said here that makes it more spicy.

If Tennessee didn't hit rock bottom after firing Jeremy Pruitt amid an NCAA investigation, it at least could reach down and touch the bottom. Then Josh Heupel arrived and pulled the Vols out of peril. He’s beaten Alabama twice. He jolted Tennessee’s offense to life with his warp-speed system. In a sign of coaching growth, he made the playoff by building a good defense. He’s a coach with a high floor, even if he might be nearing his ceiling.

College football's top 25 coaches: Kirby Smart, Ryan Day lead list ruled by Big Ten

I guess nobody can coach a natty till they do, eh?

Ill pull up a chair while you guys discuss. :D
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#3
#3
Gandalf said:
I would have said more like #10-13 but ok. But its what they said here that makes it more spicy.

If Tennessee didn't hit rock bottom after firing Jeremy Pruitt amid an NCAA investigation, it at least could reach down and touch the bottom. Then Josh Heupel arrived and pulled the Vols out of peril. He’s beaten Alabama twice. He jolted Tennessee’s offense to life with his warp-speed system. In a sign of coaching growth, he made the playoff by building a good defense. He’s a coach with a high floor, even if he might be nearing his ceiling.

College football's top 25 coaches: Kirby Smart, Ryan Day lead list ruled by Big Ten

I guess nobody can coach a natty till they do, eh?

Ill pull up a chair while you guys discuss. :D
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It’s absurd. Possibly to the point of click bait.
 
#7
#7
I’m sorry I do not consider Ryan Day that good of a coach. There is zero way in hell that team should’ve lost two games last year. Sadly these lists will reflect which teams can spend the most instead of coaching ability going forwards in a lot of cases.
 
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#9
Objectively who on that list would you say is better than Heupel? Don’t be a Fing idiot either, there’s zero way Jimmy Franks or Day are winning as many games here as Heupel has. Kirby probably better, probably the gold standard at this point. Dabo? Ain’t no way in hell I’m taking him. DeBoer seems like a square peg in a round hole at Bama. Freeman I think is really good and I hate Notre dame but it’s so early in his coaching career.
 
#11
#11
DaddyChad said:
I’m sorry I do not consider Ryan Day that good of a coach. There is zero way in hell that team should’ve lost two games last year. Sadly these lists will reflect which teams can spend the most instead of coaching ability going forwards in a lot of cases.
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He coached circles around Heupel and Banks in December.
 
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#12
#12
DaddyChad said:
Objectively who on that list would you say is better than Heupel? Don’t be a Fing idiot either, there’s zero way Jimmy Franks or Day are winning as many games here as Heupel has. Kirby probably better, probably the gold standard at this point. Dabo? Ain’t no way in hell I’m taking him. DeBoer seems like a square peg in a round hole at Bama. Freeman I think is really good and I hate Notre dame but it’s so early in his coaching career.
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James Franklin won 25 games in three years at Vanderbilt. That’s unheard of. Ryan Day is second only to Knute Rockne in career winning percentage and just beat the brakes off Heupel in our last game. Dabo built a program that won two national championships. DeBoer was in a national championship game just 16 months ago. Freeman just coached in the national championship. All of those guys are more accomplished than Heupel.

You concede that Kirby, who has embarrassed Heupel every time they have played, is “probably” better than Heupel and appear to be unwilling to acknowledge anyone else as better than Heupel, no matter how much more accomplished they may be. In reality there are only three coaches on this list ahead of Heupel who I would say are definitely worse than Heupel and probably only three more who I think you can make an argument for Heupel over if you are going based on accomplishments.
 
#14
#14
My mental ranking puts Heupel at #10. Just seems right. Heupel will be below Franklin on these lists until UT goes to the Finals or very close.
I think Heupel has a lot of upside and has not shown all he will do at Knoxville.
I hope one of our QBs can really open up the playbook.
 
#15
#15
Brian Kelly at #10 is the one that caused me to raise an eyebrow.

Kind of disingenuous to discuss "ceilings" with Heupel with bringing that up with BK-who has won nothing of merit in close to two decades as a P4 equivalent coach.

I would add that at last check, Heupel hasn't killed anyone either-although he did cut Dorkwitzs throat a few years ago by throwing when we were way up lol.
 
#18
#18
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
James Franklin won 25 games in three years at Vanderbilt. That’s unheard of. Ryan Day is second only to Knute Rockne in career winning percentage and just beat the brakes off Heupel in our last game. Dabo built a program that won two national championships. DeBoer was in a national championship game just 16 months ago. Freeman just coached in the national championship. All of those guys are more accomplished than Heupel.

You concede that Kirby, who has embarrassed Heupel every time they have played, is “probably” better than Heupel and appear to be unwilling to acknowledge anyone else as better than Heupel, no matter how much more accomplished they may be. In reality there are only three coaches on this list ahead of Heupel who I would say are definitely worse than Heupel and probably only three more who I think you can make an argument for Heupel over if you are going based on accomplishments.
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Being more accomplished on its own does not mean you are a better coach. It may be true, but it doesn't give the whole story. The path to accomplishments may or may not be easier from the position some of those coaches are in.

James Franklin has a 13-27 (.325) record against AP top 25 teams while at Penn State. Josh Heupel is 10-10 (.500) at Tennessee. Notre Dame had a great run in the playoffs last season, but let's not forget Marcus Freeman has dropped games to to the likes of NIU and Marshall in his short three year tenure as HC. Deboar also, while having success in the Pac 12, still has a lot to prove. Losing to 6-6 teams like Vandy and Oklahoma and missing the playoffs with a program inherited from Nick Saban isn't necessarily a result expected of a top 10 coach.
 
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#19
#19
IUGradVol said:
Heupel is definitely ranked too low on this list. Needs to cut out losses like Arkansas though…
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It's his recruiting. I keep harping on it, I know, but the reason coaches like Ryan Day and James Franklin are ranked ahead of Huepel is because they out recruit him and recruiting IS a big part of a college coach's portfolio. The article is right, Huepel has a high floor but if his recruiting doesn't pickup in a significant way, he's pushing up against his ceiling.
 
#21
#21
sonofUT62 said:
No he coached circles around them 12 months before that when he hired a professional offensive coordinator to coach against college kids. He understands this is a multi million dollar business and acts accordingly.
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Not to mention the $25 million roster.
 
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#22
#22
sami said:
Not to mention the $25 million roster.
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You say that like it’s a bad thing. If that’s what it takes then that’s what it takes. If we refuse to run with big dogs then we need to stay on the porch and eat granny’s hush puppies.
 
#23
#23
I can make an argument of some in top 10 however biggest problem i have is the names between Heupel and top 10. No way they should be above them. There is a Bid 10 bias.
 
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