Josh Heupel Performance Review

#51
#51
He's been twice as good compared to what he had the decade before him. The next 3 years we will get to see the players he recruited and the culture he built. It feels better than it ever did under Butch who was the last coach we got to see long enough to evaluate at this level.
Agree...continuity matters and think w/ all the sanctions pretty much behind us, think we'll continue our climb...though progrerss may not always be linear.
 
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#54
#54
I'm giving him an A. Still believe he trotted out possibly one of the worst QBs in the SEC in Milton who wouldn't sniff a starting position for any elite program. Maybe that one is on Heupel but he still managed to get 8 wins with him.
 
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#55
#55
B- as of now. The results from a W-L perspective are good but recruiting strategy and portal strategy needs to improve for sustained success. He also needs to do a better job at developing young talent. Scheme wise, he also needs to make some changes, like going under center on 4th and short.
 
#58
#58

Josh Heupel's record after 3 years.​

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Overall: 27 – 12
Home: (18-4)
Away: (9-8) Includes neutral site and bowl games
Ranked: (8-8)
Bowl: (2-1)
2021 – 7-6 (4-4 SEC) Home: (5-3) Away: (2-3) Ranked: (1-3)
2022 – 11-2 (6-2 SEC) Home: (7-0) Away: (4-2) Ranked: (6-1)
2023 – 9-4 (4-4 SEC) Home: (6-1) Away: (3-3) Ranked: (1-4)
Record vs SEC: 14-10
1-0 VS -- Bowling green, Tennessee Tech, South Alabama, Ball State, Akron, UT Martin, Virginia, Austin Peay, UTSA, UConn
Pittsburgh - (1-1)
SEC Opponents
Vanderbilt – (3-0)
Kentucky – (3-0)
Texas A&M – (1-0)
LSU - (1-0)
Missouri – (2-1)
South Carolina – (2-1)
Florida – (1-2)
Alabama – (1-2)
Ole Miss – (0-1)
Georgia – (0-3)
BOWL Opponents
Purdue – (0-1)
Clemson – (1-0)
Iowa - (1-0)

Personally, considering the absolute mess he came in to I still consider this an A+ performance. That Florida record is my only needs improvement comment. As a fan I am still feel very fortunate he is our coach.
100% agree we’re lucky to have him. I’ll go A, taking the + away only because we went back to shotgun on short yardage this year. I love CJH though and am totally on board with him being here a very long time!
 
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#59
#59
Solid B+, Needs more wins against FL, Bama, GA then he gets an A.
Agree we need to get to beating them but when he was hired and then after we lost about every player with a heartbeat if you’d have told me we would beat both Florida and Bama in the first 3 years, not to mention an Orange Bowl win over Clemson to finish 6th in the country, I’d have said you’re nuts. Given what he walked into he’s done an amazing job overall. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect more over the next 3 years, we should. I’d think next 3 we need to be around .500 between Florida, Bama and UGA. That’s massive improvement over 2-7 as we would have to be 4-5 or 5-4. That means you either sweep Florida plus beat Bama or UGA or you win at least 2 against UF and at least 2 against Bama/UGA.
 
#60
#60
I think for a lot of coaches Tennessee has had in the last 15 years, this past year could’ve been a disaster. We lost a lot of talent off of the ‘22 team. 5 NFL players, none whom made it past Day 2 of the draft. It wasn’t great, but Heupel still found a way to win 9 games. If Nico is the guy everyone believes him to be, we will be back on the big stage once again.

I give Heupel an A, thus far. I think he is probably one of the best coaches Tennessee has ever had in terms of X’s and O’s. His scheme is just a nightmare for teams that don’t have elite talent. He also has really taken care of business in home games. Neyland Stadium is definitely regaining its reputation as a daunting task for road teams.
 
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#62
#62
C (Average)
Looks like he js set at QB
Minus Florida, beat the average and bad teams.

Needs to improve on the road.
Recruiting needs work.
Major concerns with offensive line and wr.
Defense is a potential liability that can bite the team in close games next season.
Failed to improve coaching staff in the offseason.
Wow you just seem to think you snap your fingers and these things just happen overnight. The OP just went into where we came from which was the absolute ditch and where we are lucky to be. I encourage you to think about that a little more before your next post. Coach H has my respect. He didn’t have to take this job and it only gets tougher but he wanted it and he’s done a great job in my opinion.
 
#63
#63
I was talking with my financial advisor and was like "man the market sucks." And he showed me that really the market is right on track it just feels like it isnt because 2021 threw it off. Had it not been for 2021, it would have been a steady predictable straight line.

I think we are the same in football. Had we not had 2022, we would still be very on track with a steady progress from 7 wins in year 1 to 9 wins in year 3. We just are let down because 2022 was such an outlier.

I'm still extremely positive in the direction of our program, and glad that we have Heupel. I think we will continue to trend upward. The age of Bama is over. Time for the Vols.
 
#64
#64
The concerns expressed over recruiting are mostly from people who only follow recruiting on the periphery. Not posters who know 247's average player ratings. All things considered, such as scholarship reductions and the cloud of an NCAA investigation into multiple Level 1 violations by the previous staff, Heupel has recruited very well. Too many here are still only focused on the numerical rankings lists. That is so shallow.

Last season's loss to Florida is a valid source of criticism of Heupel, as are the sheer volume of penalties. Especially, pre-snap penalties against the offensive line. There is plenty of room for improvement, but we are lucky to have him.
 
#65
#65
Overall. As for next season, I don't know what to expect. Hoping we will see improvement from last season. I don't expect the Vols to make the playoffs, so I am not going into next season with any unreal expectations.

Besides beating Florida, I would like to see him steal a win on the road or at home against an team he is not favored to beat.
I thought the LSU win was a steal.
 
#67
#67
Heupel and his staff recruited the first two years with their hands tied with NCAA penalties pending. This class is the first one not recruited under that. They didn’t get them all but were in finals with stronger programs in recent years on most of those players. Still best class in 10 yrs.
 
#68
#68
Heupel and his staff recruited the first two years with their hands tied with NCAA penalties pending. This class is the first one not recruited under that. They didn’t get them all but were in finals with stronger programs in recent years on most of those players. Still best class in 10 yrs.
It really is a very good class.
 
#70
#70

Josh Heupel's record after 3 years.​

renderTimingPixel.png

Overall: 27 – 12
Home: (18-4)
Away: (9-8) Includes neutral site and bowl games
Ranked: (8-8)
Bowl: (2-1)
2021 – 7-6 (4-4 SEC) Home: (5-3) Away: (2-3) Ranked: (1-3)
2022 – 11-2 (6-2 SEC) Home: (7-0) Away: (4-2) Ranked: (6-1)
2023 – 9-4 (4-4 SEC) Home: (6-1) Away: (3-3) Ranked: (1-4)
Record vs SEC: 14-10
1-0 VS -- Bowling green, Tennessee Tech, South Alabama, Ball State, Akron, UT Martin, Virginia, Austin Peay, UTSA, UConn
Pittsburgh - (1-1)
SEC Opponents
Vanderbilt – (3-0)
Kentucky – (3-0)
Texas A&M – (1-0)
LSU - (1-0)
Missouri – (2-1)
South Carolina – (2-1)
Florida – (1-2)
Alabama – (1-2)
Ole Miss – (0-1)
Georgia – (0-3)
BOWL Opponents
Purdue – (0-1)
Clemson – (1-0)
Iowa - (1-0)

Personally, considering the absolute mess he came in to I still consider this an A+ performance. That Florida record is my only needs improvement comment. As a fan I am still feel very fortunate he is our coach.
I think his bowl records speak a lot to his performance.. in my mind he is 3-0 that Purdue game was BS and in his 3 years he's been robbed by the refs of at least 3 wins.

I honestly think this year is the gauge of where it's going. I think he is in a situation where it can go quite well or very badly. He is replacing a lot of key weapons on offense and as a whole, this team will be made up of mostly his guys. We will see how well they have been recruited and developed. I think 9 wins is the realistic expectation with 10+ wins overachieving and less than 8 being bad. We have a schedule that could end up very interesting.

vs Chattanooga W
vsNC State #20 Has made some interesting moves in the offseason. Will be a better team than most expect W?
vsKent State W
@Oklahoma #15 Same story as NC state but bigger threat W?
@Arkansas Likely win but they have made some good moves in portal
vsFlorida Can't sleep on these guys W
vsAlabama #4 Total wild card until their coaching situation is closed out tossup?
vsKentucky Will be decent but W
vsMississippi St W
@Georgia #1 L
vsUTEP W
@Vanderbilt W
used too early rankings they have us at #17


I see us as having 5 clear-cut wins. 1 L and between NC State, Oklahoma, Florida, Bama, Arkansas, and Kentucky we find another 4-5 wins. But I think 2 of them catch us. If we can get to 5-0 all bets are off. But something tells me we drop one of those games because of youth. Oklahoma and NC State will test our young secondary and QB. Also, the Arkansas and Kentucky games take on an interesting theme because of Vol transfers. Are Thomas, McCoy and McMurray (plus incoming signees) upgrades over what we lost in the secondary? Will we replace Mincey with an upgrade? Will Nico live up to the hype with a mostly unproven WR/TE corps? Will our RB hold up for the season? Those first 5 games are gonna tell us a lot because if we come out slow it can get ugly. I kinda wish the Bye was after Arkansas instead of before then again it allows us to recalibrate after that
 
#71
#71
Overperformed in 2022, underperformed in 2023. I think most of us will know a lot more this time next year. I would say maybe a B- so far. Still a lot of room for improvement.
 
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#72
#72
Overperformed in 2022, underperformed in 2023. I think most of us will know a lot more this time next year. I would say maybe a B- so far. Still a lot of room for improvement.
The over, under rating is a fans' rating. Not as credible as you might think. Certainly your rating is questionable. Would love to see some real specificity with nuance as to why your rating is B-. Fair?
 
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#74
#74
Solid B

Won't name the pluses, too many.

Weaknesses - recruiting not competitive with the big boys, hiring skills questionable (won't fire anyone to find out)
player development still questionable (db's, ol, lb), transparency lacking
 

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