One of the best things about the college football world that the political world could take notes from is the access to coaches programs gave their fans. It has created a sense of trust that, even if you don’t think the coach is up to snuff, you don’t question his motives. Tennessee football is bringing that to an end.
In an age of increased ticket prices to support NIL payments, corporatizing a sport that everybody falls in love with, the Vols are making things worse by getting rid of two key programs hosted by The Vol Network. As Mike Keith replaces Bob Kesling to be UT’s play-by-play announcer, “Vol Calls” and “The Josh Heupel Show” are coming to an end.
They claim this is about replacing it with more programming for fans, including a segment in which fans can submit their questions via social media. Don’t buy it. This is a way for the Tennessee football head coach to run from questions and pressure that the public may put on him.
You may not like all the callers on “Vol Calls,” which UT has hosted since 1989 and involves fans calling into the radio show once a week during the season to speak to the coach. However, fans keep this program afloat. They have a right to ask whatever question they want at certain points, without any filter.
Let’s be honest. The reason behind this is that in the NIL age, Heupel doesn’t want to be asked about roster management. He also doesn’t want a situation similar to Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, who lashed out at a fan criticizing him two years ago for the state of the program during a show with a similar format.
Swinney was right to criticize that fan for losing all perspective and to defend the program he built. However, that fan was perfectly within his right to ask such a question. If coaches can’t handle the pressure from fans calling in once a week, how can they handle the pressure on Saturdays?
“The Josh Heupel Show” is not as much about being accountable to fans, but it still added value. Coaches’ shows force coaches to recap every play in a game and explain the decisions they made each time. They are bedrocks of SEC programs, and UT ditching it is a bad idea.
By the way, this won’t do Heupel any favors. Without him explaining certain questions, criticism will only grow. That’s how it always happens. Public figures need to learn that going into hostile territory is one of the smartest things to do, as it can alleviate many concerns about them if they are doing a good job.
Instead, Heupel is running, the same way Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt ran in 2019 when they canceled the Big Orange Caravan. Sure, he can answer questions on social media, but we all know those will be filtered. You can’t filter callers as well. As a result, Tennessee football fans just lost a bit more access to the program. They shouldn’t stand for it.
