One way to look at the current situation (Eating Crow about Heupel)

[ConantheVolbarian]

I was just thinking about the 2016 Georgia game. We edged out a solid Georgia team with Jennings' miraculous catch at the end in our best year (until now) since 2007. That was Kirby Smart's first year in Athens. Fast forward a year and Georgia spanked us at our place and went from being a very middle of the road SEC team to a playoff contender just like that. Kirby Smart was able to do that in under two years and is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in college football right now because of that impressive feat. The amazing thing is Heupel has done the same thing at Tennessee when he started from a way lower point than Smart and had way less talent to work with. Tennessee also had a way worse culture and was more used to losing than Georgia was when Smart took over. What am I saying? What Heupel and his staff have accomplished in such a short time is amazing. And I have to admit that I was not excited when he was hired. I thought the optics of us taking a coach from the same school we got our AD from were terrible. But it turned out to be the best choice we could have made because Heupel is definitely in the top 5 best coaches coaching in college football right now. I know the smart Georgia fans already know this and they are already worried about our trip to Athens in November. Gentlemen, it feels dam good to be a Tennessee Volunteer again.

 

[esarmstrong]

Kirby Smart inherited a young but talented Georgia team that was poised for success and was loaded at QB. Josh Heupel inherited a team decimated by transfers and had to cobble together a roster from the transfer portal just to have enough players to compete in his first year. What Heupel did was nothing short of miraculous last year.