I have to be honest. I was quite wary of what Tennessee coach Josh Heupel might say when he opened his press conference heading into Oklahoma week.
I was especially concerned when he opened up his press conference like this: “It’s a huge test for us, an opportunity for us to go on the road in a really good environment and at the same time have an opportunity to put our brand in front of the entire country.”
Oh no, was Heupel going to not say the words “Oklahoma” or “Sooner” this week just because of his history there, which includes winning a national championship as the Sooners’ quarterback and being fired as Oklahoma’s co-offensive coordinator. I began to fret for Heupel. I’ve seen this before.
I harkened back to the days in which former Tennessee coach Butch Jones kept referring to Alabama as “The Red Team” before an upcoming game with the Crimson Tide. Bama’s players didn’t like that and beat Jones like he should beat his barber every time he gets his trademark Gomer Pyle haircut. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Heupel may lean on gamesmanship from time to time, but surely he wasn’t going to take it to a whole new silly level. Surely, he wasn’t going to be so premeditated like Pyle, I mean Jones, before such a big game. Surely, Heupel would open up just a bit about Oklahoma despite being a coach that isn’t real fond of sharing information with the media.
When asked about his time at Oklahoma, Heupel said, “It will be unique. I have teammates and friends back there. They’ve hit me up a little bit earlier. It started last week already. It will be unique going back into that stadium. It’s going to be a different viewpoint.
“I’m not sure I have ever spent a day on the opposing sideline inside that stadium, not even for a scrimmage. It’ll be different, but it’s one that I am really looking forward to. There are so many people that have been a huge part of my journey that I get a chance to go back and hopefully get a chance to say ‘Hi’ to a bunch of them. It starts with teammates. It’s coaches that I had. It’s a lot of coaches that I coached with and a lot of personnel that are still there.”
Okay, this is getting better, but Heupel still hasn’t said the word “Oklahoma” and he hasn’t mentioned former Sooner coach Bob Stoops, who ended Heupel’s incredibly successful run in Norman, or current Sooners coach Brent Venables, who he coached with while at Oklahoma. Here we go.
“I thought I handled the first one really well,” Heupel said with a smile after being asked about how comfortable he is being asked about his former employer. “I am good with any question about Oklahoma. The opportunity I got from Bob and (former Oklahoma assistant coach) Mike (Leach) to come there and play, what we were able to build there in a short amount of time as a player, but then also my coaching career.
And how about Venables?
“From the guys that I played for to all the coaches that were there during my career, all of them made a huge impact on me. I wouldn’t be here today at Tennessee if I didn’t have all those experiences. I am tremendously grateful for all those people. Brent (Venables) is somebody that I learned and grew from as a young coach so much, and I have a ton of respect for him.”
“A guy I have so much respect for,” Heupel said. “He has a great family. Somebody that poured into me as a young coach and I learned so much from him. He’s as good as they come when you look at what he’s done historically as a defensive coordinator. A lot of respect and a huge challenge for us this week.”
Kudos to Heupel and the way he handled the questions that were bound to come, that some media were afraid, but compelled, to ask. Heupel even joked that Sooner fans might quieten down when Tennessee has the ball as a sign of gratitude for all that Heupel has done in his tenure for the Sooners.
“It should be a great crowd,” Heupel said. “it’s a passionate fan base. I’m expecting them to be extremely quiet for us out of respect to me and our program, too.”
Hence, the obvious: Heupel is a much better coach than Jones. I was never concerned about that.
