I love, love, love Heupel, BUT

[jeffreync]

I really do think Heupel is an excellent coach, and I enjoy the hell out of the teams he's been putting out there. From an entertainment/fan perspective, as well as the type of humans it seems he's recruiting. Seems like a fun culture, and one that the fans can get behind. BUT, sometimes the stuff he does is mind boggling to me. And, the worst part of it is he always seems to double down on these decisions. I'm hoping it's just his way of answering a media question. I'm currently referring to the clock management at the end of the game Saturday. CLEARLY, that was a blunder. Now a lot of people will criticize the move to run the clock down initially to 45 seconds. I'm actually with Heup at this point. This was, in my opinion, the winningest time management strategy to deploy. (would gladly debate that as well) The blunder was not using the two timeouts. We could have easily got 2/3 more plays to get the yardage needed had we just called the timeouts when we should have. After the game, when asked, Heup just said something about well we already had the play called. Well that might have been your reasoning that led to a follied conclusion, but the lack of acknowledgment is bewildering sometimes to me. Hit me up Heupel if you need an onfield guy help you with some clock management! I'm cheap! The end of the first half was also botched imo.

 

[volfanhill]

I really do think Heupel is an excellent coach, and I enjoy the hell out of the teams he's been putting out there. From an entertainment/fan perspective, as well as the type of humans it seems he's recruiting. Seems like a fun culture, and one that the fans can get behind. BUT, sometimes the stuff he does is mind boggling to me. And, the worst part of it is he always seems to double down on these decisions. I'm hoping it's just his way of answering a media question. I'm currently referring to the clock management at the end of the game Saturday. CLEARLY, that was a blunder. Now a lot of people will criticize the move to run the clock down initially to 45 seconds. I'm actually with Heup at this point. This was, in my opinion, the winningest time management strategy to deploy. (would gladly debate that as well) The blunder was not using the two timeouts. We could have easily got 2/3 more plays to get the yardage needed had we just called the timeouts when we should have. After the game, when asked, Heup just said something about well we already had the play called. Well that might have been your reasoning that led to a follied conclusion, but the lack of acknowledgment is bewildering sometimes to me. Hit me up Heupel if you need an onfield guy help you with some clock management! I'm cheap! The end of the first half was also botched imo.

What if he was dead set on them not got getting the ball
Back? He's not going to publicly say "don't trust the D"

 

[PastorVolFan]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

 

[207 others]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

I dont mind it makes him look somewhat rugged and the backwards hat is even cool too I wouldn't want a preppy guy as a coach

 

[UTKalum23]

The comment about his image on the sideline… I could care less. Just win baby. I don’t care what a winning football coach looks like.

As far as clock management goes… yes he’s made some frustrating decisions. When it comes to Mississippi State specifically though, we were obviously wearing them down in the fourth quarter going into overtime. We pushed the ball to the State 44 yd line on the final drive of the fourth. Yes calling the timeouts gives you the opportunity for the popular field goal try. But, if you send it to overtime, you get the ball at the 25 yd line when our offensive line was already getting massive push off the ball. The 1-play touchdown drive illustrated this in OT.
From that perspective it would appear his play-calling was actually too risky. Aguilar put tha ball in harms way at the end of the fourth.

I’m not a coach, nor an expert. Just some fan observations.

 

[vol_sec]

Lebby ran three pass plays under 2 mins and gave it right back to UT. Heupal decided that UT would either score or go into overtime with that intentional clock management, no giving it back to State. That decision cost him in the end by not enough time for the fg, but if they didn’t make the first down, it could have easily the other way as well. If they were behind, he would have done it differently.

 

[Eastknox865]

Just like we've seen the offense grow I fully expect Hype to grow as a decision maker

 

[CNCVol88]

I really do think Heupel is an excellent coach, and I enjoy the hell out of the teams he's been putting out there. From an entertainment/fan perspective, as well as the type of humans it seems he's recruiting. Seems like a fun culture, and one that the fans can get behind. BUT, sometimes the stuff he does is mind boggling to me. And, the worst part of it is he always seems to double down on these decisions. I'm hoping it's just his way of answering a media question. I'm currently referring to the clock management at the end of the game Saturday. CLEARLY, that was a blunder. Now a lot of people will criticize the move to run the clock down initially to 45 seconds. I'm actually with Heup at this point. This was, in my opinion, the winningest time management strategy to deploy. (would gladly debate that as well) The blunder was not using the two timeouts. We could have easily got 2/3 more plays to get the yardage needed had we just called the timeouts when we should have. After the game, when asked, Heup just said something about well we already had the play called. Well that might have been your reasoning that led to a follied conclusion, but the lack of acknowledgment is bewildering sometimes to me. Hit me up Heupel if you need an onfield guy help you with some clock management! I'm cheap! The end of the first half was also botched imo.

I disagree. I don't think it was a blunder. I think it was a calculated decision and one that paid off.

 

[CNCVol88]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

He's part of the Mike Leach tree. I don't care what he looks like. He could be in a hot dog suit talking about Harry Potter activists....as long as he's winning.

 

[WeeohdeeWood]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

 

[ZZ13]

He had a plan to win the game after it was tied, and he executed it and it was successful. End of story.

 

[Oldvoldad]

I really do think Heupel is an excellent coach, and I enjoy the hell out of the teams he's been putting out there. From an entertainment/fan perspective, as well as the type of humans it seems he's recruiting. Seems like a fun culture, and one that the fans can get behind. BUT, sometimes the stuff he does is mind boggling to me. And, the worst part of it is he always seems to double down on these decisions. I'm hoping it's just his way of answering a media question. I'm currently referring to the clock management at the end of the game Saturday. CLEARLY, that was a blunder. Now a lot of people will criticize the move to run the clock down initially to 45 seconds. I'm actually with Heup at this point. This was, in my opinion, the winningest time management strategy to deploy. (would gladly debate that as well) The blunder was not using the two timeouts. We could have easily got 2/3 more plays to get the yardage needed had we just called the timeouts when we should have. After the game, when asked, Heup just said something about well we already had the play called. Well that might have been your reasoning that led to a follied conclusion, but the lack of acknowledgment is bewildering sometimes to me. Hit me up Heupel if you need an onfield guy help you with some clock management! I'm cheap! The end of the first half was also botched imo.

Only gripe I have with Heupel and this staff is

1) Why are you so against playing your freshmen that you recruited and are paying? We abandoned 12 personnel because our backup TE was out. Finally went to it in OT and got the easy TD.

2) Why did you change punt returners for you first SEC road game?

3) Why do you continue to play your least talented LB?

 

[terraceparkvol]

Only gripe I have with Heupel and this staff is

1) Why are you so against playing your freshmen that you recruited and are paying? We abandoned 12 personnel because our backup TE was out. Finally went to it in OT and got the easy TD.

1. I think we also used 12 personnel for the Joey TD rushing TD in the 4th with #3 again making a key block. So two of our three offensive TD's were 12 personnel with JVD doing his job very well. Future is bright at TE.

2) Why did you change punt returners for you first SEC road game?

2. Not sure exactly but Boo has had a few bobbles as punt returner in games this year and who knows how he's performed in practice. Staley obviously didn't have a good game securing the ball as punt returner.

3) Why do you continue to play your least talented LB?

 

[JMSqb11]

What if he was dead set on them not got getting the ball
Back? He's not going to publicly say "don't trust the D"

I think he was in that camp, but after seeing him on the sideline, he looked so uncomfortable at the start of that drive.

"We need to score a TD because I don't trust Gilbert at the buzzer, but we can't afford a punt and have to depend on the defense to take us to OT".... He truly like he was doing the button meme where there were no good decisions to make, only bad ones.

I don't get this because we have a stud QB and stud receivers. This isn't like the first few games into his Tennessee career where he is trying to feel out his team.


Heupel went like 25-30 yards in 18 seconds with Hooker and Co in 22 vs Bama. But for some reason with Aguilar and Brazzell and Matthews, we must take a defensive position in these situations. I don't get it. I think our QB and Receivers are just as good talent wise and scheme wise as Hooker with Tillman and Hyatt.

Heupel is still a young coach so hopefully these are just growing pains. But in back to back SEC games, he has been awful managing games in big spots.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Damn, man, I just had a good idea.

Let's criticize our head coach for winning a football game.

He probably made 150 or so split-second decisions over that 4-hour game. If it were an exam, he'd probably have gotten a 97% or 98% score.

But you wanna agonize over one of the very few things he didn't get right. In a game we won.

Come on, man.

To balance this out, since you love-love-love him, you need to start another 49 threads each dedicated to one of the decisions he absolutely nailed. Then it will be balanced.

Go Vols!

 

[Vol8188]

I really do think Heupel is an excellent coach, and I enjoy the hell out of the teams he's been putting out there. From an entertainment/fan perspective, as well as the type of humans it seems he's recruiting. Seems like a fun culture, and one that the fans can get behind. BUT, sometimes the stuff he does is mind boggling to me. And, the worst part of it is he always seems to double down on these decisions. I'm hoping it's just his way of answering a media question. I'm currently referring to the clock management at the end of the game Saturday. CLEARLY, that was a blunder. Now a lot of people will criticize the move to run the clock down initially to 45 seconds. I'm actually with Heup at this point. This was, in my opinion, the winningest time management strategy to deploy. (would gladly debate that as well) The blunder was not using the two timeouts. We could have easily got 2/3 more plays to get the yardage needed had we just called the timeouts when we should have. After the game, when asked, Heup just said something about well we already had the play called. Well that might have been your reasoning that led to a follied conclusion, but the lack of acknowledgment is bewildering sometimes to me. Hit me up Heupel if you need an onfield guy help you with some clock management! I'm cheap! The end of the first half was also botched imo.

When should have he called a timeout and didn’t?

 

[JMSqb11]

Damn, man, I just had a good idea.

Let's criticize our head coach for winning a football game.

He probably made 150 or so split-second decisions over that 4-hour game. If it were an exam, he'd probably have gotten a 97% or 98% score.

But you wanna agonize over one of the very few things he didn't get right. In a game we won.

Come on, man.

To balance this out, since you love-love-love him, you need to start another 49 threads each dedicated to one of the decisions he absolutely nailed. Then it will be balanced.

Go Vols!

You can have a great game for 59 minutes and still having a losing grade with just 1 minute of game time. The Georgia game showed that. Luckily we squeaked out a win in Starkville.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

You can have a great game for 59 minutes and still having a losing grade with just 1 minute of game time. The Georgia game showed that. Luckily we squeaked out a win in Starkville.

The final seconds of the UGa game wasn't about key coaching decisions. It was about execution by the lads. We don't get a pre-snap penalty, and the FG attempt is easier. We don't miss the FG -- well within the kicker's range -- and we win the game. Simple.

The last 45 seconds of regulation in the Miss St was about coaching choices. And I don't disagree, Heupel could've done that smarter. But it's certainly not worth a whole new thread, or continuing to focus on given that his other 149 or so decisions got us to a W.

Go Vols!

 

[LadyVolette]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

I disagree, I think he is just really into his job and how he looks is not as important to him..plus he wants to be comfortable and move around and pace At least he reps the orange.. remember Pruitt with no orange in sight in the beginning until people started complaining? And Dooley orange pants? It could be much, much worse

 

[Starchief13VFL]

I love CJH. I have no problem running out the clock to keep it away from opponent. It would seem to me that you should get to decent FG range first, then bleed clock.

 

[jp1]

Only gripe I have with Heupel and this staff is

1) Why are you so against playing your freshmen that you recruited and are paying? We abandoned 12 personnel because our backup TE was out. Finally went to it in OT and got the easy TD.

2) Why did you change punt returners for you first SEC road game?

3) Why do you continue to play your least talented LB?

2) While I agree that Boo is the more dynamic returner, Staley actually fielded the first punt of the season, and has been back there numerous times.

 

[1morevol]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

If it it is "really petty", why bring it up?

 

[Behr]

The last 45 seconds of regulation in the Miss St was about coaching choices. And I don't disagree, Heupel could've done that smarter. But it's certainly not worth a whole new thread, or continuing to focus on given that his other 149 or so decisions got us to a W.

Go Vols!

Lol. Its mind boggling it has to be explained.

 

[EZE]

It’s always easy to second-guess in hindsight, folks.

I look at it like this. On a day when we had some whopper mistakes, were facing a very game opponent in their house and had some very substantial officiating head-scratchers…he found a way to win the day.

When you take a test, you don’t have to get every problem right to get an A. And the clock management at the end was a missed opportunity. But, we scored over 40 points…again…and won the game. A highly competitive conference game on the road. I’ll take it.

 

[Big Orange Captain]

Don't disagree...some definite head-scratcher decisions...

And...this one I'll admit is really petty...but geez, I kinda wish he cared more about his appearance on the sideline. The slobb-ish look seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. He looks like a Dad on vacation at the beach who decided not to shave for a week.
(Admittedly not the most important thing, but that job deserves a little more image effort, IMO)

Heup needs to shave and lose some weight. Look at him in college at OU and what he looks like now like a totally different person. Yea i get it people age significantly from 22 to 47 but he could tidy himself up a little bit.