VFJ’s Thoughts On Josh Heupel

[midnight orange]

I wasn’t upset at the hire, but I wasn’t jumping for joy. I was fully aware that Heupel’s record at UCF wouldn’t have sloped downward had Dillon Gabriel not been injured. I think they were 5-1 before he got hurt and then lost the next 5 or something like that.

I thought it was probably the absolute best hire we could make at that specific point in time. After Pruitt, I didn’t think anyone would touch us with a 10 foot pole.

At the same time, I wasn’t pumped up about it for the same reason… because Heupel was the best we could do.

Looking back on it, it was foolish. Bama moved mountains to hire Saban, but he was a mercenary at that point. All the fawning over Gruden (I’m as guilty as the next guy) was ridiculous.

Good coaches are good coaches. Look at UGA. Richt and Smart had no HC experience when they were hired. Auburn hired Malzahn from Tulsa (though he had the ties to the school from his time with Chizik). Urban had been at Utah when Florida hired him (and before they joined a P-5 conference).

It just shows that you don’t need to pull a USC/Lincoln Riley to come out on top. For boosters at schools like Texas and LSU, it’s about ego. They think it’s a win to steal a big name coach, but big name coaches come with egos and baggage from their previous success. They aren’t open to adapting to their new environment.

You are going to strike out occasionally with an up and comer. Butch is a prime example (Hamilton should’ve been canned the moment he even suggested Dooley over Sumlin or leaving Cutcliffe out because of staffing demands- Dooley had nothing on his resume to say he had what it took to coach here). Many traditional powers have made boneheaded moves like it (look at Bama pre-Saban) and come out on top. Hopefully it’s a lesson we’ve all learned.

I agree with the post except that Dooley did have a resume and it wasn’t good. His hiring was a total head scratcher.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

True, but I'm not gonna judge. I plainly remember just about everyone upset over the hire, including myself. Glad we were overreacting, so far it's been the best thing to happen in 20 years.

No, Joe, I think you remember "just about everyone upset" because you were upset.

Everyone would’ve rather had Venables.

No, Tim, not everyone. Not even close to everyone.

We like to see most folks around us as being like us. We want that to be true. That skews our view.

I was neither upset nor excited, but rather supportive of our AD and university in their decision. And I remember quite a few other people who chose that path as well.

For sure, the disparaging and dismayed reactions outnumbered the supportive ones. For sure. You were in the majority. But it wasn't anywhere close to "just about everyone."

Go Vols!

 

[Aesius]

I think some of the complaints UCF fans have about Heupel can be true and also no longer applicable/relevant due to him having better talent for his scheme and also simply getting better as a head coach.

 

[GameTime]

I had seen parts of some UCF games while channel hoping during the days of the Pruitt debacle....Their offense was exciting to watch, while ours under Pruitt was as boring as watching paint dry.

When he was announced as our coach, I remembered what a terror UCF was on offense, and begin to hope once again...

I haven' been disappointed...

 

[davethevol]

I think some of the complaints UCF fans have about Heupel can be true and also no longer applicable/relevant due to him having better talent for his scheme and also simply getting better as a head coach.

He’s clearly learning what is working and what isn’t. He’s learned to slow down the offense at times to give the defense a rest and to make the tempo unpredictable to the other team. Heupel is proving to be a great coach, and if he can keep recruiting well and building the roster, this guy will get us back to being a contender for championships.

 

[ptcarter]

I'm enjoying the hell out of them. How bout you

Nice Bump Duncan!! GO VOLS

 

[Aesius]

He’s clearly learning what is working and what isn’t. He’s learned to slow down the offense at times to give the defense a rest and to make the tempo unpredictable to the other team. Heupel is proving to be a great coach, and if he can keep recruiting well and building the roster, this guy will get us back to being a contender for championships.

Yep. He does not seem stubborn or 100% married to a certain philosophy, which is HUGE because so many coaches are and it ends up being their downfall.

 

[vols 30]

I’ll just come out with it....

I didn’t expect Danny White to make this kind of hire when talking about wanting to compete for Championships.

Personally, there was several other coaches I would picked over Heupel but since we’re stuck with him now, might as well try to find some positives:

• Seems to be a decent offensive mind which is important in today’s football.

• Talked about wanting to build a winning culture and have fun with it.

• He’s willing to take on the NCAA sanctions that’s fixing to come down on this program.

Again, I don’t see this hire working out 3 years from now. I’m sure he’s a great dude that’s going to do his best but I believe this job is going to be too big for him.

Danny White could have done a better job imo but it is what it is.

Can't believe you call out nega Vols all the time but posted this. I don't care when it was posted. Talk about being hypocritical

 

[TAF]

 

[Doberman]

Man, we should resurrect some of the Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt threads so everyone can get a good kick to the nuts.

The new coach nut hangers finally got one right, and they HAVE to let everyone know about it. Just don’t bring up any threads before 2021.

 

[calban]

Can't believe you call out nega Vols all the time but posted this. I don't care when it was posted. Talk about being hypocritical

Nailed it

 

[MemphisVol77]

Man, we should resurrect some of the Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt threads so everyone can get a good kick to the nuts.

 

[volbound1700]

I started feeling good about the hire after the first summer (prior to first season) because he seemed to be saying the right things and instilling the right culture. The 7-6 record last year was a major coup.

I think we finally found a coach. I bought into Butch Jones and for a small stint into Pruitt. Never understood the Dooley hire and frankly wasn't that big a fan of Kiffin hire as well (I felt like we should have landed a home run after Fulmer and did NOT).

 

[clarencepeabody]

I wonder what UCF is thinking this morning about coach Heup.
Oh wait, I'm sure they feel the same way,

We should send them a gift basket

 

[VolFanNC09]

He’s clearly learning what is working and what isn’t. He’s learned to slow down the offense at times to give the defense a rest and to make the tempo unpredictable to the other team. Heupel is proving to be a great coach, and if he can keep recruiting well and building the roster, this guy will get us back to being a contender for championships.

The most interesting stat to me yesterday was time of possession. Ours was 30:24 and LSU was 29:36. He certainly started slowing it down in the second half and that last drive of ours was beautiful.

 

[clarencepeabody]

No, Joe, I think you remember "just about everyone upset" because you were upset.

No, Tim, not everyone. Not even close to everyone.

We like to see most folks around us as being like us. We want that to be true. That skews our view.

I was neither upset nor excited, but rather supportive of our AD and university in their decision. And I remember quite a few other people who chose that path as well.

For sure, the disparaging and dismayed reactions outnumbered the supportive ones. For sure. You were in the majority. But it wasn't anywhere close to "just about everyone."

Go Vols!

This. There are two types of people on here:

Those who react emotionally, and speak in definitives, and claim to “know” things they don’t know…

And those who don’t.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Well..., since the thread is back here, my thoughts were as follows.

I wasn't sure of Dan White, and thought we should have not passed up another chance to hire, David Blackburn. When Dan man settled on Heupel, I thought, darn it, he's keeping us at the FCS level. Though I sucked it up because I'm a Vols fan first and foremost, I remained internally disappointed, right up until the Missouri, iirc. After that, I began to let myself believe we were a real SEC team again, and was all Heup, Heup, hooray.

 

[JMSqb11]

I wasn’t upset at the hire, but I wasn’t jumping for joy. I was fully aware that Heupel’s record at UCF wouldn’t have sloped downward had Dillon Gabriel not been injured. I think they were 5-1 before he got hurt and then lost the next 5 or something like that.

I thought it was probably the absolute best hire we could make at that specific point in time. After Pruitt, I didn’t think anyone would touch us with a 10 foot pole.

At the same time, I wasn’t pumped up about it for the same reason… because Heupel was the best we could do.

Looking back on it, it was foolish. Bama moved mountains to hire Saban, but he was a mercenary at that point. All the fawning over Gruden (I’m as guilty as the next guy) was ridiculous.

Good coaches are good coaches. Look at UGA. Richt and Smart had no HC experience when they were hired. Auburn hired Malzahn from Tulsa (though he had the ties to the school from his time with Chizik). Urban had been at Utah when Florida hired him (and before they joined a P-5 conference).

It just shows that you don’t need to pull a USC/Lincoln Riley to come out on top. For boosters at schools like Texas and LSU, it’s about ego. They think it’s a win to steal a big name coach, but big name coaches come with egos and baggage from their previous success. They aren’t open to adapting to their new environment.

You are going to strike out occasionally with an up and comer. Butch is a prime example (Hamilton should’ve been canned the moment he even suggested Dooley over Sumlin or leaving Cutcliffe out because of staffing demands- Dooley had nothing on his resume to say he had what it took to coach here). Many traditional powers have made boneheaded moves like it (look at Bama pre-Saban) and come out on top. Hopefully it’s a lesson we’ve all learned.

The crazy thing with Dooley year 3 is we likely win 9-10 games had he just paid whatever to keep Wilcox on staff which prevents him overhauling his entire defensive scheme in a hot seat year.

Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Mizzou,Miss State, and Vandy that year were all losses due to defense not making any stops. We legit only lost to Bama from a pure ass kicking perspective.

Now it would have all likely been forfeited due to Bray and other player infractions with money but it’s wild how close Dooley was to absolutely breaking out of his career suckery had he found a way to keep Wilcox on the staff and take a somewhat upperclassmen heavy defense into a 3rd year.

 

[zjcvols]

The crazy thing with Dooley year 3 is we likely win 9-10 games had he just paid whatever to keep Wilcox on staff which prevents him overhauling his entire defensive scheme in a hot seat year.

Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Mizzou,Miss State, and Vandy that year were all losses due to defense not making any stops. We legit only lost to Bama from a pure ass kicking perspective.

Now it would have all likely been forfeited due to Bray and other player infractions with money but it’s wild how close Dooley was to absolutely breaking out of his career suckery had he found a way to keep Wilcox on the staff and take a somewhat upperclassmen heavy defense into a 3rd year.

That’s a great hypothetical but Justin Wilcox was gone. He missed the west coast and he didn’t want on Dooley’s sinking ship anymore. Money wasn’t the reason Wilcox left. He was leaving Tennessee no matter what.

 

[vols 30]

Well..., since the thread is back here, my thoughts were as follows.

I wasn't sure of Dan White, and thought we should have not passed up another chance to hire, David Blackburn. When Dan man settled on Heupel, I thought, darn it, he's keeping us at the FCS level. Though I sucked it up because I'm a Vols fan first and foremost, I remained internally disappointed, right up until the Missouri, iirc. After that, I began to let myself believe we were a real SEC team again, and was all Heup, Heup, hooray.

Don't call me out for being a nega again. I thought CJH was a good hire from the beginning.

Your post and the OP goes to show everyone that there's some nega in all of us.

I've criticized Milton, which you've called me out for, but you doubted DW and thought we settled for CJH. Welcome to Nega land!!!

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Don't call me out for being a nega again. I thought CJH was a good hire from the beginning.
Your post and the OP goes to show everyone that there's some nega in all of us.
I've criticized Milton, which you've called me out for, but you doubted DW and though we settled for CJH. Welcome to Nega land!!!

Yeah, but unlike you, I didn't blare my doubts about the hires on VN. As my post stated, I kept my concerns internal. And I don't consistently put down our team and players like you negavols. You're right that we all have some nega (this makes me snicker, you speculate as to why) in all of us. It being none of us are perfect. But for those who just time and again criticize our team and players as if it is their life's mission, that's a different breed. They can't help it, poor things. See, a negavol's gonna negavol.

 

[vols 30]

Yeah, but unlike you, I didn't blare my doubts about the hires on VN. As my post stated, I kept my concerns internal. And I don't consistently put down our team and players like you negavols. You're right that we all have some nega (this makes me snicker, you speculate as to why) in all of us. It being none of us are perfect. But for those who just time and again criticize our team and players as if it is their life's mission, that's a different breed. They can't help it, poor things. See, a negavol's gonna negavol.

You did blare your doubts on the hire. They're in this thread.

Your living in a fantasy land if you think I'm consistently posting negative stuff. Really, how many posters are meeting your criteria of Being a negavol? I can't think of anyone. Maybe there's 2 or 3 out there? Maybe in the RF?

 

[WoodsmanVol]

You did blare your doubts on the hire. They're in this thread.
Your living in a fantasy land if you think I'm consistently posting negative stuff. Really, how many posters are meeting your criteria of Being a negavol? I can't think of anyone. Maybe there's 2 or 3 out there? Maybe in the RF?

And you're just hunting for something to nitpick and argue about. Look, if i hurt your feelings so bad you have to get licensed to argument hunt, and go on a WoodsmanVol safari, fence me off (put me on ignore) because like some others on this board, I'm going to call out negavols from time to time. It isn't due to hating on you creatures, but due to my abundance of love for the team I cheer for. And I ain't never going to apologize for that. So you can either eat the bacon bits flavored hominy grits, chicken giblets, with a side of vinegar splashed turnip greens or leave the table. I don't care what you self-absorbed city-slickers negavols think.

 

[vols 30]

And you're just hunting for something to nitpick and argue about. Look, if i hurt your feelings so bad you have to get licensed to argument hunt, and go on a WoodsmanVol safari, fence me off (put me on ignore) because like some others on this board, I'm going to call out negavols from time to time. It isn't due to hating on you creatures, but due to my abundance of love for the team I cheer for. And I ain't never going to apologize for that. So you can either eat the bacon bits flavored hominy grits, chicken giblets, with a side of vinegar splashed turnip greens or leave the table. I don't care what you self-absorbed city-slickers negavols think.

But you were negative yourself about DW and the hiring of CJH. A nega vol calling out other Nega Vols. I wouldn't call me out anymore because I'm just going to call you back out on your stance of the CJH hiring

 

[WoodsmanVol]

But you were negative yourself about DW and the hiring of CJH. A nega vol calling out other Nega Vols. I wouldn't call me out anymore because I'm just going to call you back out on your stance of the CJH hiring

Still nitpick hunting, I see. By all means, continue.