Just how impressive is Josh Heupel?

[bamacpa]

It should be noted Heupel was without what was thought to be their best receiver, Tillman.

 

[Bama_N_Va]

Yeah, but Pruitt couldn't do it with his recruits . . .

Thats because he could not get 'just' the right mix of mustard, McD's cash bags, and donuts. I think Josh hit the right combo this year!!

 

[deliveryman35]

Say what you will about him, but the guy has had success against us and Saban. I believe that Heupel was also the OC at OU when they beat us in the 2014 sugar bowl.

 

[FF4bama]

Imagine, Huepel goes to OU. Then in a couple of years, when OU is in the SEC, they go to Knoxville and hang a hundred on the Vols.

And behold, on that day it will snow golf balls and rain mustard bottles in Knoxville.

 

[SkullDuckery]

Tenn is this year's LSU 2019. When their 25 year old QB leaves this year, they will have to start over and when other schools coming to poach their coaches they will be mediocre again. just wait and watch.

LSU had a frat boy as head coach and the offensive coordinators were the reason why they went undefeated, along with great talent.
UT’s offensive genius is the head coach, so I don’t see them crashing when Hooker or any coordinators leave.

 

[bat123]

So impressed that I believe once OU dumps Brent Venebles, Heupel will be their next coach.

In the case that does not happen, he's not going to like the rematch.

Oh you can' bet Bama will be ready in Title Town next year

 

[92tide]

im so old, i remember when kevin sumlin was considered an offensive genius

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Oh you can' bet Bama will be ready in Title Town next year

IIFf Heupel is still there.... NFL might call

 

[teamplayer]

I have to say that he has been very impressive. They were in full on dumpster fire mode less than two years ago, and they are now in the top 5 and in serious contention for championships. I don't know how anyone wouldn't be impressed by that. However, I now hope we start another 15 year winning streak over them.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

So impressed that I believe once OU dumps Brent Venebles, Heupel will be their next coach.

In the case that does not happen, he's not going to like the rematch.

I dunno, from what I've heard, Bob Stoops still has a lot of sway with the OU administration. Stoops and Heupel do not like each other. I'd be surprised if he wound up in Norman.

 

[B1GTide]

I dunno, from what I've heard, Bob Stoops still has a lot of sway with the OU administration. Stoops and Heupel do not like each other. I'd be surprised if he wound up in Norman.

Did not know that.

 

[BuckeyeInSeattle]

Did not know that.

My understanding is that Heupel was (maybe still is?) pretty bitter about being fired. He wanted to install an Air Raid offense, and Stoops wouldn't allow him to. So he was the OC, but he was running a ground-game based system that he didn't have previous experience with, and didn't fully believe in. The offense struggled, and he was fired. So far, maybe understandable.

However, Stoops hired Lincoln Riley to replace Heupel, and immediately let Riley install an offense that was very similar to what Heupel wanted. He (obviously) had great success with it, and got tons of accolades. I have been told by Sooner fans that Heupel was upset as much by the fact that his successor was allowed to run the offense that Heupel himself was an expert in and had advocated for, as he was for the fact that he had been fired in the first place.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I hesitate to label any of these guys "geniuses". They are simply smart enough to take advantage of the rules favoring offensive football. Mostly these guys like Heupel just run fast paced plays to tire out the defense and keep the referees out of place and out of breath to call penalties.

I long for the days of pick plays being the worst offensive foul not called.

 

[twofbyc]

I’m throwing this out there - how many times have you seen teams with average or above average talent, who also just happen to have a 24 or 25 year old QB, do well? Chris Weinke comes to mind but I know there are one or two others ( I remember a fifth year senior at Penn State). Hooker is older than Mac, Jalen and Tua. It matters.

 

[twofbyc]

12-1, 10-3 and 6-4 at UCF. He has to have a super talent (or 25 year old) at QB. He supposedly has one coming in but we’ll see how well he does his first year.

 

[Power Eye]

IMO, TN just gave Day the game plan to beat Alabama. OSU has better WRs and a far better QB. So, Alabama needs to fix the pass rush or this will happen again.

I'll give you the better receivers (not named HIatt) but I take exception to the "far better QB" comment. This isn't a knock on Stroud, but I think Hooker will be looked at quite favorably come the April draft, and he's probably a win over GA from locking up the Heisman. Albeit, a hefty task.

Regarding Heupel, I like him, and I wish him well in the SEC East. Before Fulmer, the rivalry was not a bitter hate fest, not like Auburn. I for one hope it goes back to that. I hope we beat them every time we play them, but I think as long as Heupel is at UT, then they will provide a challenge ever year.

 

[B1GTide]

I'll give you the better receivers (not named HIatt) but I take exception to the "far better QB" comment. This isn't a knock on Stroud, but I think Hooker will be looked at quite favorably come the April draft, and he's probably a win over GA from locking up the Heisman. Albeit, a hefty task.

Regarding Heupel, I like him, and I wish him well in the SEC East. Before Fulmer, the rivalry was not a bitter hate fest, not like Auburn. I for one hope it goes back to that. I hope we beat them every time we play them, but I think as long as Heupel is at UT, then they will provide a challenge ever year.

We will see.

I expect Stroud to be taken in the top 2 players of the draft. Beating Alabama made Hooker look better than he has been throughout his career. He is not that good.

 

[twofbyc]

I'll give you the better receivers (not named HIatt) but I take exception to the "far better QB" comment. This isn't a knock on Stroud, but I think Hooker will be looked at quite favorably come the April draft, and he's probably a win over GA from locking up the Heisman. Albeit, a hefty task.

Regarding Heupel, I like him, and I wish him well in the SEC East. Before Fulmer, the rivalry was not a bitter hate fest, not like Auburn. I for one hope it goes back to that. I hope we beat them every time we play them, but I think as long as Heupel is at UT, then they will provide a challenge ever year.

Don’t know how old you are but the puke have ALWAYS been a hated rival, more so that the Barn and for longer.
Back in Bear’s early days, the games with the puke were much more hotly contested than the Barn games. Tennessee was rival #1 by far until Dye came along, but Barn didn’t equal the puke when it came to hatred until Tubby showed up.
Nowadays too many younger fans and players don’t remember the rivalry- beating them 14 or 15 times in a row made people numb.
I hope Saturday was a shot of adrenaline, especially for the players.

 

[CoachJeff]

I'll give you the better receivers (not named HIatt) but I take exception to the "far better QB" comment. This isn't a knock on Stroud, but I think Hooker will be looked at quite favorably come the April draft, and he's probably a win over GA from locking up the Heisman. Albeit, a hefty task.

Regarding Heupel, I like him, and I wish him well in the SEC East. Before Fulmer, the rivalry was not a bitter hate fest, not like Auburn. I for one hope it goes back to that. I hope we beat them every time we play them, but I think as long as Heupel is at UT, then they will provide a challenge ever year.

Stroud is better than Hooker. I don't think it's super close. Bryce is better than Stroud, I don't think that's close either.

Hooker will turn 25 the week of the national championship game. Bryce and CJ just turned 21 recently. That makes a big difference. Hooker is older than about 1/3 of all NFL starters. He's older than Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Tua, Jalen Hurts, Davis Mills, and Kenny Pickett. A couple of those guys are in their 3rd year in the NFL!

Hooker is a game manager. He's a big play game manager but he's not asked to do nearly as much as Bryce Young or even CJ Stroud. He does a great job of executing Heupel's offense. He doesn't make bad decisions. But he's not making a bunch of reads and throwing into tight windows. Every TD he threw against Bama was a play action with no pressure where he threw to his first read. Every throw was to a wide open Hyatt. It wasn't until the 5th TD pass that a DB was within 3 yards of Hyatt. He rarely has to make off schedule passes.

I do not expect Hooker to play in the NFL. He may make a roster but unless there are a lot of injuries ahead of him I don't expect him to ever play any meaningful snaps. He's not even on the level of Josh Dobbs.

 

[BigAlinKnoxville]

Don’t know how old you are but the puke have ALWAYS been a hated rival, more so that the Barn and for longer.
Back in Bear’s early days, the games with the puke were much more hotly contested than the Barn games. Tennessee was rival #1 by far until Dye came along, but Barn didn’t equal the puke when it came to hatred until Tubby showed up.
Nowadays too many younger fans and players don’t remember the rivalry- beating them 14 or 15 times in a row made people numb.
I hope Saturday was a shot of adrenaline, especially for the players.

Also remember that we didn't play Auburn in ANY sport for about fifty years because the hatred was so strong. We went back to playing them in the 1950's. During that 50-year period, the rivalry between us and the Vols grew more intense.