Grade Heupel & Staff’s performance in 2022

[He_Made_It]

How well did they do through your eyes this regular season?

 

[txbo]

Overachieved…. Like much of his playing and coaching career.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

It's A or A-. The SC game prevented an A+..

 

[volfanhill]

It's A or A-. The SC game prevented an A+..

IMO that's you adjusting expectations as the year went on. All that does is give him watered down credit for the progress shown, which is why you would grade him at A, and cause people to down grade it. If I told you before the year we would go 10-2 and win the games we won but get ass smacked by SC you would have said hell yea. A+++ year

 

[loservol]

B+

Just making the playoffs would of got him an A-.

 

[VolFaninFla]

I voted A+ because of the results given what they had to work with.
Very impressed with the staff and the team who achieved much more than I predicted.
I hope I can say this next year.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

IMO that's you adjusting expectations as the year went on. All that does is give him watered down credit for the progress shown, which is why your expectations, and cause people to down grade it. If I told you before the year we would go 10-2 and win the games we won but get ass snaked by SC you would have said hell yea. A+++ year

I voted A. My expectations for grading wasn't as much Ws and Ls but rather having team prepared as well as winning high leverage situations at end of halves. That happened 11/12 this year...

 

[65YearsAVol]

B+ because we exceeded expectations with a shaky defense.

 

[TNHopeful505]

Yeah, I said A-. Miles further than where we should have been, but no excuse for SC.

 

[CBR07]

A- just because of the Carolina sh.t show

 

[SpookyAction]

We've had 10 wins less that 24 hours, and already sounds like it is expected and business as usual.
"Downgraded for losing to South Carolina."
"Should have had 11 wins. Easy."

This place is funny.

 

[TC 83]

The SC loss was tough— I imagine switching that loss with a game I didn’t feel so confident about like UF, Bama, or LSU, and it does feel better for some reason. Maybe it was giving up 60+ points, maybe it was being a 22.5 point favorite…I don’t know. However, breaking streaks against UF, Bama, and LSU were season highlights and made the year really special. 10-2 seemed like a long shot with this year’s schedule and the talent on the roster. Nobody thought HH could replicate his stats from last year (td/int ratio) and he was on track to blow it out of the water and potentially win the Heisman. So for all of that—I have to go A+.

 

[BreatheUT]

B+ because we exceeded expectations with a shaky defense.
View attachment 518786

Did you really just do this? Lol

 

[PreacherVol2]

I said A. We were #1 in points scored in the SEC, and were #6 in points allowed. Considering where most of us were projecting our season record, I say this staff & team exceeded expectations. I’m very excited about the future! GBO!

 

[65YearsAVol]

Did you really just do this? Lol

Do what?

 

[chattaboogie]

It’s strange to grade because overall he vastly overachieved but the USCjr meltdown is so mind boggling that I dropped it to an A-

 

[VOL_Lyfe]

hmmm......recap....

Beat bammer.

Beat the gaturds.

Beat LSWho...badly...in their pit of a stadium.

Smoked Kensucky and Candy....as is God's Divine Will.

10-2.

NY6 bowl upcoming.

yeah, its been a good year. CJH and staff get an A.

Finest season in a long, long time.

 

[N.ohio vol]

It's A or A-. The SC game prevented an A+..

That's the way I see it. Would of loved going to the sec championship also.

 

[VolBricks]

I said A- because of the defense and the fact that we had the Playoff in our grasp and the coaching staff let the team crap the bed.

 

[DaddyChad]

They overachieved all year honestly. Offense is one of the most prolific and fun offenses in college football. Defense sucked in Carolina but arguably overachieved against the run, possibly overachieved all year. Special teams were shaky at times early but were special in some of the biggest moments. Player development other than secondary has been fairly solid to phenomenal at some positions. Recruiting I think was above average as well given the investigation and other hurdles we had. Landed one of the best QB prospects in a couple of decades and landed some elite dlinemen. Tennessee as a national brand has also overachieved and was featured on prime time Tv several times through the year.

 

[VOLfrombama]

A- just because of the Carolina sh.t show.

 

[brockytop]

A- from me—which is about three grades higher than any other coach since Kiffin.

 

[Gandalf]

IMO that's you adjusting expectations as the year went on. All that does is give him watered down credit for the progress shown, which is why you would grade him at A, and cause people to down grade it. If I told you before the year we would go 10-2 and win the games we won but get ass smacked by SC you would have said hell yea. A+++ year

Because that’s what achievers do - adjust their expectations to rise with their level of success. Winners do not possess a “good enough” mindset.

It’s fine to make a realistic assessment of how things went once you are studying the proverbial tape once the season is finished but WINNERS never settle mid season. They build one win on top of another and use a victory to gain confidence and ambition to greater things than they had first dreamed.

 

[Godfatha]

Huepel A
Offense A
Defense C-

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

Heupel: HC = A- offensive guru = A+ (he took this job when no one else wanted and brought us back to national relevance and the win over Bama is arguably a top 5 moment in this history of this program. The lack of emphasis on DBs in the portal hurt us though, and that falls a little on him)

Golesh: A (best offense in the country speaks for itself, plus he has recruited extremely well. Would’ve liked to see more some zone reads/jet sweeps a more diverse run game though)
Halzle: A- (Hooker played phenomenal this year, but he had a lot of accuracy issues and Milton still has no touch)
Mack: B- (He’s done ok with what he has to work with, but his inability to land elite RBs is concerning)
Pope: A- (Hyatt, Keyton, and Bru were extremely impressive this year, and he’s done a good job recruiting)
Elarbee: B (the OL started off the year well, but they dropped off as the season progressed and they took us out of the Georgia game early. They also don’t seem to be able to get a great run push against good teams)

Offense overall: A-

Banks: C+ (he drew up some phenomenal pressures against Pitt and our defense looked ok at times against Florida and looked phenomenal against LSU and Kentucky. Every other game they were pedestrian though and Georgia, Bama, and South Carolina were embarrassing. Safety play has also been poor)
Garner: A- (he’s done a good job at developing what we have and is doing an even better job recruiting. Our DL play particularly rushing the passer with 4-5 leaves a lot to be desired though)
Ekeler: B+ (pass rush has been weak this year and the only upside to our special teams was punt returns and coverage. Watching us always kickoff short and never let Holiday run it out is frustrating. He has done a good job recruiting though)
Jean-Mary: B (Beasley has played phenomenal this year and has been the most consistent player on our defense. Banks has been solid as well, but our LBs are atrocious at playing the pass. Not sure if it’s talent, coaching, or a combination of both)
Martinez: D- (130 out of 131 in pass defense speaks for itself. If we don’t see improvement after 15 extra bowl practices he has to go)

Defense overall: C+

Overall job: B

We exceeded preseason expectations but fell drastically short of mid season expectations