Josh Heupel emerges (old thread)

[OHvol40]

I see people wanna go through old posts. I was not happy with the idea of hiring a coach with a regressing record. I was wrong. It is what it is. Wish I had the gift of hindsight.

Today is your day. I grant you this gift, brother. Do with it what you will.

If you’re looking for the gift of foresight… can’t help there.

 

[ftsandersvol]

That’s the beauty of America. We all have a right to be wrong.

 

[butchna]

It's equally awesome to see all the hindsight soothsayers come in to bash the people that were skeptical of this hire after the fact . Like anyone knew HH was going to come in here and play like Joe Burrow Light .

SOME paced themselves and didn't go all in with the "back here in 3 years" tripe. I don't remember being too excited with the name but I also KNEW that no one KNEW if it would be a disaster...as they claimed in the previous 3 hires. Wait long enough and we'll all be right at the same time concept is lost on the usual suspects.

 

[butchna]

I see people wanna go through old posts. I was not happy with the idea of hiring a coach with a regressing record. I was wrong. It is what it is. Wish I had the gift of hindsight.

I didn't put any stock in that contrived philosophy. Way too short a sample size with no regard for contingent factors.

 

[Boston Vol]

Glad to say that it looks like I was wrong. At the time I didn’t think that it was an awful hire, but it just came across as lazy. My biggest concerns were Heupel’s game management, which wasn’t very good at UCF, his ability to recruit the defensive side of the ball, and what kind of defensive staff he could put together. While I’m still a bit concerned by some game management stuff, he’s clearly improved in that area. Save Willie Martinez, he put together a solid defensive staff and so far, his recruiting has been rather good. I still don’t know if he’s a championship level coach, but even if his ceiling is 9-3/10-2, that should be viewed as a successful hire.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

That’s the beauty of America. We all have a right to be wrong.

And some were quite a bit wronger than others, eh, ftsandersvol?

This thread is from the Bad Old Days, when trolls ruled vn.com. They were rampant. Couldn't start a thread, any thread, without them coming in and making it a misery. They were so loud, and so persistent, that even good Vols fans found themselves going along for the pessimistic ride.

I've no desire to revisit that.

BUT...it is useful to give a few atta-boys out, for folks who kept a level head and positive outlook. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present to you the Five Sages of January 2021:

Not a bad coach.

Actually a pretty good coach.

I would be happy with DW hiring Josh Heupel.

Everybody, well most wanted a proven headcoach...here he is and is a good coach but they'll still complain

I think this would be a great hire. Better than the others they’ve been talking about or to. Josh Heupel - Wikipedia.

I like this hire if true........ Heupel is an offensive coach that has done well at Central Florida and why would he not want to move up and follow his boss to Tennessee?

Go Vols!

 

[orange parmejohn]

You just did. So, yes.

Smarty pants.

 

[Smokey7]

Emerges as what?

 

[Jpcisco]

I think majority of the fan base was "meh" with the hire. Some hated it, very few loved it. Most of us knew the offense would be good, but unsure if that would be enough to win big games in the SEC. I think that's a fair argument and Huepel has proved his system can get it done consistently against SEC competition. Love what Huepel has done to this point, best case scenario considering where we were but I was in the "meh" section when it was announced. I'm all aboard the Huep. train now.

 

[BearCat204]

I dont remember if I posted anything negative back then, but I promise you I was feeling it. I was absolutely and completely wrong about Heupel.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Today is your day. I grant you this gift, brother. Do with it what you will.

If you’re looking for the gift of foresight… can’t help there.

If that fella has anterograde amnesia, you have just played a cruel, cruel trick on him!

 

[bpalmer28]

This didn't age well.

Touché!

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Translation: I'm not big enough to admit when I'm wrong, so I'll just double down.

I can admit he’s better than I expected but the defense is still horrendous and we won’t win any major hardware until that changes.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

“Without Tillman we have no chance to beat Florida to say the least” yeah buddy we don’t care if you are sold or not. But on a serious note I don’t think it’s the whole defense. Just the secondary, and we have a great recruiting class coming in. Hope it improves

Yup I was wrong about the Florida game. Our defense almost threw the game but we won all that matters

 

[Volfan39]

Yup I was wrong about the Florida game. Our defense almost threw the game but we won all that matters

Preach brother. Don’t care how we won just that we did win

 

[bpalmer28]

I can admit he’s better than I expected but the defense is still horrendous and we won’t win any major hardware until that changes.

Major hardware? I just wanted someone to get us back to averaging 9 wins

 

[McDad]

I can admit he’s better than I expected but the defense is still horrendous and we won’t win any major hardware until that changes.

Defense is improving. We weren't winning any major hardware this year anyway .

Try to enjoy this rebuild.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Major hardware? I just wanted someone to get us back to averaging 9 wins

When he wins a SEC east title or SEC title or gets to a major bowl and playoff then it’ll be “he’s only won 1, let’s not get carried away”

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

When he wins a SEC east title or SEC title or gets to a major bowl and playoff then it’ll be “he’s only won 1, let’s not get carried away”

The offense has improved this season. The defense has regressed. Im sorry that bothers me. Im glad we are undefeated but if our offense has a off game we will lose period

 

[Rickyvol77]

The offense has improved this season. The defense has regressed. Im sorry that bothers me. Im glad we are undefeated but if our offense has a off game we will lose period

Maybe. Maybe not since our defense won the game against Pitt when our offense was off

 

[OrangeTsar]

To be fair, its understandable that people were not excited. Every time we thought we had hit bottom over the past 15 years, it seemed like the floor just kept dropping out. When CJH was hired, it was pretty much the lowest we have been. I personally had mentally checked out as a fan during the Pruitt years. I was actually pretty happy about CJH, but I could also see why people might not be.

We had gotten burned multiple times by “Google coaches”. To me, it just sort of felt lazy like White couldn’t get any big names but just sort of settled for the fallback easy call. I will gladly admit I was wrong.

 

[0nelilreb]

To be fair, its understandable that people were not excited. Every time we thought we had hit bottom over the past 15 years, it seemed like the floor just kept dropping out. When CJH was hired, it was pretty much the lowest we have been. I personally had mentally checked out as a fan during the Pruitt years. I was actually pretty happy about CJH, but I could also see why people might not be.

.. Of course it’s fair for everyone to say whatever they said then . That doesn’t mean we can’t poke it with a stick and smile knowing we did pretty dang good this time .

 

[bpalmer28]

The offense has improved this season. The defense has regressed. Im sorry that bothers me. Im glad we are undefeated but if our offense has a off game we will lose period

While this is true, there's still a lot to be excited about and overall we are a better team.

The good news for the defense is the defensive line is playing better than it has in years and our LBs are playing decent despite being less talented than a championship-caliber standard. We've been terrible in the secondary. Hopefully that gets better soon.

But to your point, history indicates that offense won't click for at least one game this season and we'll probably lose as a result. It's happened to almost all the great offenses in recent history. That's why I think we'll finish 9-3.

 

[0nelilreb]

Glad to say that it looks like I was wrong. At the time I didn’t think that it was an awful hire, but it just came across as lazy. My biggest concerns were Heupel’s game management, which wasn’t very good at UCF, his ability to recruit the defensive side of the ball, and what kind of defensive staff he could put together. While I’m still a bit concerned by some game management stuff, he’s clearly improved in that area. Save Willie Martinez, he put together a solid defensive staff and so far, his recruiting has been rather good. I still don’t know if he’s a championship level coach, but even if his ceiling is 9-3/10-2, that should be viewed as a successful hire.

I disagree here . He IS a successful hire already because he was EXACTLY what we needed as a team and a fan base , he breathed life back into a failing program that was shuttering and he did it while under the threat of the NCAA. I don’t think the winning record has as much of an impact as what the man has brought back to our VOLS ,

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

I see people wanna go through old posts. I was not happy with the idea of hiring a coach with a regressing record. I was wrong. It is what it is. Wish I had the gift of hindsight.

As opposed to your gift of foresight? I see negavols wanna $hitpost, but then whimper and sob when quoted back to them later.

Schiano this guy right now. Garbage hire.

Tennessee Football is dead. Fire DW.

I'll take Steele back. I'll take it back. Please not Heupel. Derek Dooley 2.0 .

Wah waah.