Heupel is 8-7 against more talented teams

[JohnnyJava]

I find this to be truly remarkable: Heupel has a winning record against teams with more recruited talent than Tennessee has. 8-7 against teams who have more talent according to 247 Sports Team Talent Composite. Keep in mind that the composite ranks teams by who is on the roster, accounting for gains and losses from transfer portal. The following shows the 15 opponents we have faced with more talent and the total number of 4&5 star players for UT vs the opponent:

Year	Opponent	Outcome	# 4&5 stars
2021	Florida	Loss	29 vs 56
2021	Bama	Loss	29 vs 74
2021	Georgia	Loss	29 vs 66
2022	Florida	Win	26 vs 43
2022	LSU	Win	26 vs 38
2022	Bama	Win	26 vs 75
2022	Georgia	Loss	26 vs 68
2022	Clemson	Win	26 vs 51
2023	Florida	Loss	35 vs 43
2023	Texas A&M	Win	35 vs 52
2023	Alabama	Loss	35 vs 74
2023	Georgia	Loss	35 vs 65
2024	Oklahoma	Win	41 vs 57
2024	Florida	Win	41 vs 52
2024	Bama	Win	41 vs 67

Some thoughts:

1) Heupel inherited a historically untalented Tennessee team because of the mental and moral deficiencies of his Gump predecessor.

2) After his initial season, Heupel has gone 8-4 against more talented teams, including some games where the opponent had a nearly 3:1 blue chip advantage.

3) As we overcome NCAA penalties from hiring Fulmer’s biggest mistake, our talent deficit is decreasing.

4) As Tennessee approaches talent parity, WGWTFA!

 

[ButchPlz]

Look at that steady talent increase as well.

 

[McDad]

Look at that steady talent increase as well.

 

[dduncan4163]

Heup is the best Xs and Os coaches we had since Majors. We are luckier than hell to have him

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

A lot of those teams are not/were not more talented than Tennessee.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

I find this to be truly remarkable: Heupel has a winning record against teams with more recruited talent than Tennessee has. 8-7 against teams who have more talent according to 247 Sports Team Talent Composite. Keep in mind that the composite ranks teams by who is on the roster, accounting for gains and losses from transfer portal. The following shows the 15 opponents we have faced with more talent and the total number of 4&5 star players for UT vs the opponent:

Year	Opponent	Outcome	# 4&5 stars
2021	Florida	Loss	29 vs 56
2021	Bama	Loss	29 vs 74
2021	Georgia	Loss	29 vs 66
2022	Florida	Win	26 vs 43
2022	LSU	Win	26 vs 38
2022	Bama	Win	26 vs 75
2022	Georgia	Loss	26 vs 68
2022	Clemson	Win	26 vs 51
2023	Florida	Loss	35 vs 43
2023	Texas A&M	Win	35 vs 52
2023	Alabama	Loss	35 vs 74
2023	Georgia	Loss	35 vs 65
2024	Oklahoma	Win	41 vs 57
2024	Florida	Win	41 vs 52
2024	Bama	Win	41 vs 67

Some thoughts:

1) Heupel inherited a historically untalented Tennessee team because of the mental and moral deficiencies of his Gump predecessor.

2) After his initial season, Heupel has gone 8-4 against more talented teams, including some games where the opponent had a nearly 3:1 blue chip advantage.

3) As we overcome NCAA penalties from hiring Fulmer’s biggest mistake, our talent deficit is decreasing.

4) As Tennessee approaches talent parity, WGWTFA!

I will help the qualification here. Higher ranked players. Talent difference can't be measured until games are played.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Heup is the best Xs and Os coaches we had since Majors. We are luckier than hell to have him

Specifically, Walt Harris was an offensive innovator. Fulmer was a great OC utilizing Harris's offense and making it more efficient. Cutcliffe refined the passing game as a great complimentary match for the running game. Majors is easily the best developer of assistant coaches we ever had, even though many didn't stay too long. All those coaching tree guys said as much.

 

[vavolfan6]

Good findings! While Heupel has his most talented team on paper since he has been here, people forget he is still at a disadvantage. The 2021 class was terrible and 2022 was lacking. The scholarship reductions we had to work with didn't help either. Heupel still has another 2 recruiting classes until he can get a fully talented roster. He will probably have mid to upper 40s of the amount of 4&5 star players next year and in the 50s, where he should be in two years from now.