If Tennessee has to replace head football coach Josh Heupel in the near future, fans shouldn’t be concerned. That certainly hasn’t been the case in recent history.
The Vols largely had to scramble to replace earlier football coaches, such as Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt when those coaches either left Tennessee on their own accord or were fired. Even Heupel was thought to be a bit of a reach when he was brought in from Central Florida.
Despite what Tennessee administrators may have said at the time, Heupel wasn’t the first choice even if he ends up being the right choice. Several coaches were reportedly candidates before Heupel got in the mix. Some would have made more sense considering they either had more success or had success at a higher level than UCF, where Heupel was an impressive 28-8.
Credit Heupel for raising the expectation of success at Tennessee. In four seasons, he has gone 37-15 (20-12 in the SEC), made postseason play in each season, played in two New Year’s Day bowl games and made the College Football Playoff last season. That’s far better than Pruitt, who went 5-19 and a woeful 2-16 in the SEC.
Barring something unforeseen, Heupel is likely to leave Tennessee’s program in far better shape than Pruitt, who left the Vols embroiled in an NCAA scandal. That was part of the reason Tennessee had to settle for Heupel.
The topic of replacing Heupel comes up for one main reason: Heupel may soon receive other job offers if he continues to have success at Tennessee. Given his tie as a quarterback and coach at Oklahoma, it would be no surprise if the Sooners came calling at some point despite the unpleasant end to his coaching tenure in Norman. Heupel was fired following the 2014 season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator.
So just who could Tennessee get if that scenario played out? Most anyone. Certainly, there are a few top coaches who could be unapproachable given their ties to their current school, such as Georgia coach Kirby Smart or Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Smart played at Georgia and Day was a longtime Buckeye assistant coach before rising to the head coaching position.
Tennessee was in a similar position following the 2009 season when the Vols had to replace former head coach Phillip Fulmer, who was fired following that season. The Vols tabbed Lane Kiffin to replace Fulmer and made the move, beating out Washington, which was also pursuing Kiffin.
Alabama is a prime example of a program that can call the shots. The Crimson Tide quickly targeted their current head coach, Kalen DeBoer, when Nick Saban decided to retire. There was nothing Washington could do to retain DeBoer when the Crimson Tide came calling.
Oregon’s Dan Lanning could be the next hot coaching candidate if he’s at all unsatisfied with the current state of the Ducks or if he sees greener pastures elsewhere. Could Tennessee land him if they tabbed him as its next head coach? The Vols would stand a much better chance than they did in previous years.
All this is a credit to Heupel and athletic director Danny White. They’ve built Tennessee’s program to a respectable level. The ideal situation is for Heupel to win multiple championships at Tennessee and never want to leave. However, if that’s not the case, the Vols have options.
