Josh says, "How you like me now?"

[VFL-82-JP]

Heh, check out some of these first-year head coach rankings a year and a half ago:

Athlon Sports put Heupel in the #9 spot, behind champions such as their #8 choice Blake Anderson (Utah State, in the Mtn West conference, went 6-7 this year) ... #6 Will Hall (Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, 7-6) ... #3 Bryan Harsin (formerly Auburn, didn't last long, ouch) ... and Athlon's #2 hire of that season, Clark Lea (Vandy). Who was their #1? Steve Sarkisian of 8-5 Texas.

Josh says, "How you like me now, Athlon?" Ranking college football’s new head coaches for 2021

Not to be outdone, 247 Sports picked their favorite hires of that season, as well, with Josh again at #9, below #8 Butch Jones (lol yep) ... #7 Shane Beamer ... #4 Clark Lea (there's Vandy again...did the Commodores pay sports writers for the hype?) ... and #3 Bryan Harsin (I think they were just copying off of Athlon's paper for some of these). Again, Sarkisian at Texas was the top pick.

Josh grins and says, "How you like me now, 247?" Ranking the first-year head coaches heading into the 2021 season

A year later, just before this past season, Bill Bender of The Sporting News ranked all 130 FBS coaches. He put Josh at #27. Which, given our 7-6 season in 2021, may not seem horrendously wrong of the writer, except for some of the folks he put above Josh. Like: #22 Mel Tucker (Michigan State, 5-7) ... #20 Matt Campbell (Iowa State, 4-8) ... #16 Lane Kiffin ... #14 Mark Stoops ... #11 Mario Cristobal (Miami, 5-7) ... #5 Luke Fickell ... and hilariously as it turns out, #2 Dabo Swinney.

None of that last group are horrible choices for a top 25 list, but there aren't 10 coaches in America doing better than Josh Heupel, esp. given where he started. There might not be 5 doing better than Josh. Ranking college football coaches 1-131 for 2022 season

This just goes to show, most of the sports writers out there, they don't know football any better than a lot of us fans. It may be entertaining, reading what they write, but it is rarely educational or insightful.

So how you like him now, Vol Nation?

Go Vols!

 

[VOLfrombama]

I really don’t want anyone else to coach the Vols atp. I’m ready to see what the next chapter holds.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

Be careful, don't want to create a Karendemic of crying over going back to past predictions.

 

[OffTackleVol]

Heh, check out some of these first-year head coach rankings a year and a half ago:

Athlon Sports put Heupel in the #9 spot, behind champions such as their #8 choice Blake Anderson (Utah State, in the Mtn West conference, went 6-7 this year) ... #6 Will Hall (Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, 7-6) ... #3 Bryan Harsin (formerly Auburn, didn't last long, ouch) ... and Athlon's #2 hire of that season, Clark Lea (Vandy). Who was their #1? Steve Sarkisian of 8-5 Texas.

Josh says, "How you like me now, Athlon?" Ranking college football’s new head coaches for 2021

Not to be outdone, 247 Sports picked their favorite hires of that season, as well, with Josh again at #9, below #8 Butch Jones (lol yep) ... #7 Shane Beamer ... #4 Clark Lea (there's Vandy again...did the Commodores pay sports writers for the hype?) ... and #3 Bryan Harsin (I think they were just copying off of Athlon's paper for some of these). Again, Sarkisian at Texas was the top pick.

Josh grins and says, "How you like me now, 247?" Ranking the first-year head coaches heading into the 2021 season

A year later, just before this past season, Bill Bender of The Sporting News ranked all 130 FBS coaches. He put Josh at #27. Which, given our 7-6 season in 2021, may not seem horrendously wrong of the writer, except for some of the folks he put above Josh. Like: #22 Mel Tucker (Michigan State, 5-7) ... #20 Matt Campbell (Iowa State, 4-8) ... #16 Lane Kiffin ... #14 Mark Stoops ... #11 Mario Cristobal (Miami, 5-7) ... #5 Luke Fickell ... and hilariously as it turns out, #2 Dabo Swinney.

None of that last group are horrible choices for a top 25 list, but there aren't 10 coaches in America doing better than Josh Heupel, esp. given where he started. There might not be 5 doing better than Josh. Ranking college football coaches 1-131 for 2022 season

This just goes to show, most of the sports writers out there, they don't know football any better than a lot of us fans. It may be entertaining, reading what they write, but it is rarely educational or insightful.

So how you like him now, Vol Nation?

Go Vols!

Wouldn't trade him for nobody...............and I mean nobody.

 

[Hacksaw]

Heh, check out some of these first-year head coach rankings a year and a half ago:

Athlon Sports put Heupel in the #9 spot, behind champions such as their #8 choice Blake Anderson (Utah State, in the Mtn West conference, went 6-7 this year) ... #6 Will Hall (Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, 7-6) ... #3 Bryan Harsin (formerly Auburn, didn't last long, ouch) ... and Athlon's #2 hire of that season, Clark Lea (Vandy). Who was their #1? Steve Sarkisian of 8-5 Texas.

Josh says, "How you like me now, Athlon?" Ranking college football’s new head coaches for 2021

Not to be outdone, 247 Sports picked their favorite hires of that season, as well, with Josh again at #9, below #8 Butch Jones (lol yep) ... #7 Shane Beamer ... #4 Clark Lea (there's Vandy again...did the Commodores pay sports writers for the hype?) ... and #3 Bryan Harsin (I think they were just copying off of Athlon's paper for some of these). Again, Sarkisian at Texas was the top pick.

Josh grins and says, "How you like me now, 247?" Ranking the first-year head coaches heading into the 2021 season

A year later, just before this past season, Bill Bender of The Sporting News ranked all 130 FBS coaches. He put Josh at #27. Which, given our 7-6 season in 2021, may not seem horrendously wrong of the writer, except for some of the folks he put above Josh. Like: #22 Mel Tucker (Michigan State, 5-7) ... #20 Matt Campbell (Iowa State, 4-8) ... #16 Lane Kiffin ... #14 Mark Stoops ... #11 Mario Cristobal (Miami, 5-7) ... #5 Luke Fickell ... and hilariously as it turns out, #2 Dabo Swinney.

None of that last group are horrible choices for a top 25 list, but there aren't 10 coaches in America doing better than Josh Heupel, esp. given where he started. There might not be 5 doing better than Josh. Ranking college football coaches 1-131 for 2022 season

This just goes to show, most of the sports writers out there, they don't know football any better than a lot of us fans. It may be entertaining, reading what they write, but it is rarely educational or insightful.

So how you like him now, Vol Nation?

Go Vols!

Nice way to put all that together. It really makes the point.

 

[HollowaytoSeivers]

Be careful, don't want to create a Karendemic of crying over going back to past predictions.

I've got to remember that one.....a Karendemic.

 

[markus]

What????

 

[knox73]

Josh came in with a plan and confidence and proceeded to do exactly what he aimed for. You never know in coaching hires and most proven coaches were gun shy of Tennessee for valid reasons. Josh knew Danny White and I bet Randy Boyd sealed the deal. Now no one wants to play the Vols - including Saban and Kirby. I did not realize Matt Campbell went 4-8 - he could have had any job in recent years. Congratulations to everyone involved with UT football as to quote a very wise man and best coach in the nation :The Best is Yet to Come!!!

 

[JRich]

Damn these guys and their inability to see the future.

 

[VolInNW]

Sports writers are basically fans who have all day to watch and read about sports. I’d say that 80-90% of sports fans could do that job at least as well as the majority of writers out there. There are a few exceptionally good sports media folks, but by and large they simply have a bigger information set than the average fan, but no better crystal ball.

Be careful, don't want to create a Karendemic of crying over going back to past predictions.

That really got under your saddle, didn’t it? Rent free, baby. Rent free!!!

 

[WillisWG]

hindsight is 20/20, foresight not so much

 

[ATCVolinmn]

Wouldn't trade him for nobody...............and I mean nobody.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Damn these guys and their inability to see the future.

Honestly, it doesn't take a crystal ball to guess that the Vandy coach (to use just one glaring example) isn't going to have enough success to warrant a #2 or #4 spot.

There's a difference between being Nostradamus and avoiding being Nostradumbass. They didn't avoid the latter.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Why was everyone so high on Clark Lea? Don't get me wrong, he seems like he might be good by Vandy standards, but also seems weird that his hire got rated above Heupel's.

I was 100% right on Harsin, though. I said he'd flop at Auburn. That hire never made any sense. He's spent almost his entire life and career in the Pacific NW; had no SEC ties. And he coached at a place (Boise State) where almost literally every coach in the past several decades has been successful.

Of course, I'm happy we got the right guy, too. I liked Heupel immediately, but also years of BVS required me to stay cautious till he proved himself more.

 

[DaddyChad]

To be fair Mel Tucker was paid like he was higher than the number 22 coach in the land. I think some of the rankings were more a bet against Tennessee than Heupel. A lot harder to have success here than some programs.

 

[VFFL@THE BEACH]

Heh, check out some of these first-year head coach rankings a year and a half ago:

Athlon Sports put Heupel in the #9 spot, behind champions such as their #8 choice Blake Anderson (Utah State, in the Mtn West conference, went 6-7 this year) ... #6 Will Hall (Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, 7-6) ... #3 Bryan Harsin (formerly Auburn, didn't last long, ouch) ... and Athlon's #2 hire of that season, Clark Lea (Vandy). Who was their #1? Steve Sarkisian of 8-5 Texas.

Josh says, "How you like me now, Athlon?" Ranking college football’s new head coaches for 2021

Not to be outdone, 247 Sports picked their favorite hires of that season, as well, with Josh again at #9, below #8 Butch Jones (lol yep) ... #7 Shane Beamer ... #4 Clark Lea (there's Vandy again...did the Commodores pay sports writers for the hype?) ... and #3 Bryan Harsin (I think they were just copying off of Athlon's paper for some of these). Again, Sarkisian at Texas was the top pick.

Josh grins and says, "How you like me now, 247?" Ranking the first-year head coaches heading into the 2021 season

A year later, just before this past season, Bill Bender of The Sporting News ranked all 130 FBS coaches. He put Josh at #27. Which, given our 7-6 season in 2021, may not seem horrendously wrong of the writer, except for some of the folks he put above Josh. Like: #22 Mel Tucker (Michigan State, 5-7) ... #20 Matt Campbell (Iowa State, 4-8) ... #16 Lane Kiffin ... #14 Mark Stoops ... #11 Mario Cristobal (Miami, 5-7) ... #5 Luke Fickell ... and hilariously as it turns out, #2 Dabo Swinney.

None of that last group are horrible choices for a top 25 list, but there aren't 10 coaches in America doing better than Josh Heupel, esp. given where he started. There might not be 5 doing better than Josh. Ranking college football coaches 1-131 for 2022 season

This just goes to show, most of the sports writers out there, they don't know football any better than a lot of us fans. It may be entertaining, reading what they write, but it is rarely educational or insightful.

So how you like him now, Vol Nation?

Go Vols!

As usual, great post and thanks for doing the legwork.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

That really got under your saddle, didn’t it? Rent free, baby. Rent free!!!

You'll know for sure when I create a new thread for the sole purpose of crying more.

 

[onevol74]

To be fair Mel Tucker was paid like he was higher than the number 22 coach in the land. I think some of the rankings were more a bet against Tennessee than Heupel. A lot harder to have success here than some programs.

I agree with your last statement not because of the competition or geographic location. But as a fan of more than 50 years I have came to the conclusion that it is harder here because of the negative attitudes that I have witnessed around this program on several levels.

 

[livefaith]

Those ranking should be evidence enough for us to see that journalists have ZERO clue what they are talking about. Their ratings are as accurate as the posters on VolNation concerning matters they understand not.

 

[Seattle Hillbilly]

Heh, check out some of these first-year head coach rankings a year and a half ago:

Athlon Sports put Heupel in the #9 spot, behind champions such as their #8 choice Blake Anderson (Utah State, in the Mtn West conference, went 6-7 this year) ... #6 Will Hall (Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, 7-6) ... #3 Bryan Harsin (formerly Auburn, didn't last long, ouch) ... and Athlon's #2 hire of that season, Clark Lea (Vandy). Who was their #1? Steve Sarkisian of 8-5 Texas.

Josh says, "How you like me now, Athlon?" Ranking college football’s new head coaches for 2021

Not to be outdone, 247 Sports picked their favorite hires of that season, as well, with Josh again at #9, below #8 Butch Jones (lol yep) ... #7 Shane Beamer ... #4 Clark Lea (there's Vandy again...did the Commodores pay sports writers for the hype?) ... and #3 Bryan Harsin (I think they were just copying off of Athlon's paper for some of these). Again, Sarkisian at Texas was the top pick.

Josh grins and says, "How you like me now, 247?" Ranking the first-year head coaches heading into the 2021 season

A year later, just before this past season, Bill Bender of The Sporting News ranked all 130 FBS coaches. He put Josh at #27. Which, given our 7-6 season in 2021, may not seem horrendously wrong of the writer, except for some of the folks he put above Josh. Like: #22 Mel Tucker (Michigan State, 5-7) ... #20 Matt Campbell (Iowa State, 4-8) ... #16 Lane Kiffin ... #14 Mark Stoops ... #11 Mario Cristobal (Miami, 5-7) ... #5 Luke Fickell ... and hilariously as it turns out, #2 Dabo Swinney.

None of that last group are horrible choices for a top 25 list, but there aren't 10 coaches in America doing better than Josh Heupel, esp. given where he started. There might not be 5 doing better than Josh. Ranking college football coaches 1-131 for 2022 season

This just goes to show, most of the sports writers out there, they don't know football any better than a lot of us fans. It may be entertaining, reading what they write, but it is rarely educational or insightful.

So how you like him now, Vol Nation?

Go Vols!

JP bringing the goods once again.

 

[Ratvol]

There's a difference between being Nostradamus and avoiding being Nostradumbass.

Nostradumbass is my ex-brother in-law.

Go VOLS

 

[Vol737]

After wandering the college football desert for the past decade plus, God finally smiled on the VOLS and we caught lightning in a bottle. GBO!

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

I agree with your last statement not because of the competition or geographic location. But as a fan of more than 50 years I have came to the conclusion that it is harder here because of the negative attitudes that I have witnessed around this program on several levels.

Agreed. Some folks wear their pessimism like a badge of honor and it is as infectious as a virus.

 

[Jaxon_Vol2017]

Be careful, don't want to create a Karendemic of crying over going back to past predictions.

As long as he doesn't bump 35 different threads we'll be fine.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

As long as he doesn't bump 35 different threads we'll be fine.

You should talk to the manager about it.