DALLAS, Texas – Tennessee’s trip to Oklahoma in September won’t just be about the Vols and Sooners. UT head coach Josh Heupel will surely come up a time or two in pregame banter.
Why? Heupel is one of the most successful Sooners in program history. That’s not forgotten just because he was fired as an assistant coach following the 2014 season. As a quarterback, Heupel led Oklahoma to a national championship in 2000. Those emotions still reside in the Sooner State.
“I’ve been in Norman twice in recent weeks,” SEC Network/ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said. “His name comes up just sitting around. The people out there, they really have tremendous respect for him.”
Finebaum maintained that any issue that Heupel might have with his former employers lies at the feet of former head coach Mike Stoops, who fired Heupel.
“It’s not really an Oklahoma issue,” Finebaum said. “It’s a Bob Stoops issue.”
Whatever the issue is, Tennessee fans want it to be prevalent and continue. With things going so swimmingly in Knoxville, no one wants to replace Heupel if Oklahoma ever did come calling, which would probably mean Stoops was no longer associated with the program. However, Heupel may be forever married to Tennessee no matter what happens in Norman.
“I agree,” Finebaum said when asked if he believed that Heupel thought Tennessee was a destination job. “He’s got a really fantastic boss (athletic director Danny White).”
Then, there’s the issue of the unknown. Even if Stoops were to disassociate himself with Oklahoma, Heupel surely couldn’t feel as comfortable with any other athletic administration as he does Tennessee, which has provided him with the support he needs to build a championship program.
“I think Heupel would probably be very hesitant to go out there with somebody who won’t be there to be with him,” Finebaum said referring to the current administration at Oklahoma. “I think that’s the most important thing a coach wants. It’s not how much money am I going to make, because they all make an absurd amount of money. It isn’t ‘it’s’ Tennessee versus Oklahoma. Is one better than the other? They’re both at the top of the heap. It’s ‘Who do I trust?’
“I think considering Danny White hired Josh twice now, that’s who we trust”
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