Heupel ranked 4th smartest coaching hire of the last 12 years by the athletic

[Volprofch05]

The 12 smartest college football coaching hires of the past dozen years

4. Josh Heupel, UCF (2018) and Tennessee (2021)

When Scott Frost left UCF for Nebraska following the Knights’ remarkable 13-0 season, the easy thing for AD Danny White (remember that name?) would have been to promote one of his coordinators. Instead, he identified Heupel, then the offensive coordinator for a 7-6 Missouri team, not far removed from being fired by his alma mater, Oklahoma. But Heupel had overseen the nation’s No. 6 yards-per-play offense behind QB Drew Lock and would be walking into a program that created considerable excitement with Frost’s prolific offense.

Heupel led the Knights to their second consecutive undefeated regular season and Fiesta Bowl berth, but the buzz around UCF started to dissipate as it slipped to 10-3 and then 6-4. Still, when White got the Tennessee job in January 2021, he hired Heupel as the Vols’ coach. Less than two years later, he has Tennessee’s long-dormant program No. 3 in the country behind a creative offense modeled after Art Briles’ “veer-and-shoot” schemes from the early 2010s.

Clearly, White knows how to hire coaches.

1. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati (2017)
2. James Franklin, Vanderbilt (2011)
3. David Shaw, Stanford (2011)
4. Josh Heupel, UCF (2018) and Tennessee (2021)
5. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest (2014)
6. Lance Leipold, Buffalo (2015) and Kansas (2021)
7. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (2013)
8. Matt Rhule (2017) and Dave Aranda (2020), Baylor
9. Bill Clark, UAB (2014)
10. Joe Moglia (2012) and Jamey Chadwell (2019), Coastal Carolina
11. Jeff Traylor, UTSA (2020)
12. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (2020)

 

[fossilfiction]

David Shaw seems high. He had some good years, but really nothing since like 2015. Pittman seems a few too low (with limited to go off).

 

[Volprofch05]

David Shaw seems high. He had some good years, but really nothing since like 2015. Pittman seems a few too low (with limited to go off).

Yeah, some of the recent ones may be too soon to make an informed decision

 

[preacherrandy]

The 12 smartest college football coaching hires of the past dozen years



1. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati (2017)
2. James Franklin, Vanderbilt (2011)
3. David Shaw, Stanford (2011)
4. Josh Heupel, UCF (2018) and Tennessee (2021)
5. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest (2014)
6. Lance Leipold, Buffalo (2015) and Kansas (2021)
7. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (2013)
8. Matt Rhule (2017) and Dave Aranda (2020), Baylor
9. Bill Clark, UAB (2014)
10. Joe Moglia (2012) and Jamey Chadwell (2019), Coastal Carolina
11. Jeff Traylor, UTSA (2020)
12. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (2020)

4th smartest hire? Which coach listed above Heupel had their program ranked in the top 3 in their first 20 months of their tenure? Which program had been in the toilet for a decade and a half? Well, not including Vandy.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

The 12 smartest college football coaching hires of the past dozen years



1. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati (2017)
2. James Franklin, Vanderbilt (2011)
3. David Shaw, Stanford (2011)
4. Josh Heupel, UCF (2018) and Tennessee (2021)
5. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest (2014)
6. Lance Leipold, Buffalo (2015) and Kansas (2021)
7. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (2013)
8. Matt Rhule (2017) and Dave Aranda (2020), Baylor
9. Bill Clark, UAB (2014)
10. Joe Moglia (2012) and Jamey Chadwell (2019), Coastal Carolina
11. Jeff Traylor, UTSA (2020)
12. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (2020)

There wwill come a day, and it's not far off, when the guys who wrote this kick themselves for not putting Josh Heupel #1.

I mean, how many national titles do you think Fickell, Franklin and Shaw are going to win in the next 5 years?

Go Vols!

 

[Volprofch05]

I was shocked Mel Tucker wasn't on the list, and Schiano too

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

Yeah, some of the recent ones may be too soon to make an informed decision

Nebraska and Wisconsin will be in a bidding war for Leopold for their next coach.

 

[VolBricks]

Dave Clawson sounds familiar, is he the architect of the Claw-fense that TN had?

 

[Volprofch05]

Dave Clawson sounds familiar, is he the architect of the Claw-fense that TN had?

Yes indeed

 

[WoodsmanVol]

I wonder what Clawson would have been able to achieve had we hired him instead of Lyle Allen.

 

[DonDiego]

I wouldn't take any of the three higher ranked guys ove CJH.

 

[VolBricks]

I will be honest I think the Mark Stoops hire might be better, hear me out. Stoops has taken a doormat basketball school and made the relevant in football with 8-10 win seasons. That was probably just as hard or harder than what Heupel has done taking over what was/is a perennial powerhouse in TN and making it relevant again. Now the job Huepel has done is much "Flashier" because we have beaten 4 top 25 teams and are putting up video game offensive numbers but we all new we just needed the "Right" coach to make this happen.

Edit: I do not think the Stoops hire is better than Heupel, I just think it is better than 7th.

 

[VolArmy74]

White hired two of these guys. He's hopefully around here for the next 20 years.

 

[volzonemat]

Kirby Smart to Georgia was a smart hire (pun intended)