Reasons to think Coach Josh Heupel will move us forward

[VOLnMiami]

Well since the dislike Pruitt thread was an active thread let's try this one.

1. Can coach up a QB, having played the position and rather good at it, so he knows how to prepare a QB.
2. His offense scores a lot of points
3. I'm lost after that unless you factor in he's not Butch or Pruitt.

Thoughts?

I like him better than the other bozo's we have hired for sure...AD White put his rear end on the line with this hire so I hope he does well...But you know a lot of our fans, first loss and the hounds of hell will start howling...He's doomed before his first game....I think he'll do good and build something acceptable but I am not expecting the world and everything in it.

 

[kbear01]

Well since the dislike Pruitt thread was an active thread let's try this one.

1. Can coach up a QB, having played the position and rather good at it, so he knows how to prepare a QB.
2. His offense scores a lot of points
3. I'm lost after that unless you factor in he's not Butch or Pruitt.

Thoughts?

4. He's not Dooley

 

[vegasvolfan]

Well since the dislike Pruitt thread was an active thread let's try this one.

1. Can coach up a QB, having played the position and rather good at it, so he knows how to prepare a QB.
2. His offense scores a lot of points
3. I'm lost after that unless you factor in he's not Butch or Pruitt.

Thoughts?

He and his staff are good at coaching up players. They put 5 players from UCF into the NFL, one was a WO transfer from WKU, two were two stars, another was a 3 star and the top recruit was a 4 star.

He hired a ton of experience AT the position these coaches are coaching at with slight exception to Banks and Mack, but both have ample experience and are surrounded by these coaches who also have experience coaching their position. In essence, no one is really moving up here.

Tons of synergy among coaches and between the HC and AD.

He is smart, likable and a good communicator as is his entire staff.

He actually hired a decent S&C coach with NFL experience.

He is starting out with some solid weapons and is somehow doing pretty well in recruiting while facing sanctions.

 

[jim pique]

If/when things get tough for our qb,Heupel can rely on his actual experiences as a qb and not blow his trumpet.SDS repliers say that Heupel doesn't know what he's doing and with the regressioning record from his first to third year at UCF,he is a lousy coach.As in the movie"Major League" Lou Brown said,"Let's give them a good turd sandwich to eat".Go Vols and the hell with the rest of them!

 

[kbear01]

1. At UCF and Missouri, he was successful at coaching up QB's.
2. At UCF, and Missouri, his offenses shredded defenses for huge numbers.
3. He inherited a 13-0 team, and it gradually fell off to 7-4, over three years.
4. The offensive numbers and great QB play, remained consistent.

 

[kbear01]

CJH will not bring us back... build a roster. That’s his job. Winning games doesn’t matter tbh.. He’s gone in 4 years. Hopefully the roster is deep when he leaves

So he's a placeholder, and a recruiter. Brought here to simply replenish the talent level, back to what? Who is he holding the spot for? Don't effing say Jon Gruden.
Plus, if you ain't winning, people will not come to UT.

 

[orange_glory]

But can he recruit well enough to stay within shouting distance of Florida, Bama and Georgia? So far it appears he can’t

I think if we win the games we are supposed to win and be competitive in the ones we are not with occasional upset somewhere the recruiting will pick up. He has a couple of SEC coaches now to help.

 

[BLUTickbusdriver]

Well guys I think it’s simple really. We haven’t had a good coaching/AD combo since coach Cutt left Fulmers staff and then Dickey retired. We’ve been wallowing around at the bottom since then (in most all our sports) bc our Chancellors and ADs were terrible and hired terrible coaching staffs. Nothing is confirmed yet, but this change in coaching and in the Administration will be in my humble opinion profound...we win 7-8 this year! GBO!

 

[The Original Fade]

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Looking at 2020, UCF went 6-4, and averaged 48.5 PPG against teams without a winning record, and against teams with a winning record, they averaged 32.5 PPG. Back in 2018, they managed 45 PPG against teams without a winning record, and 41 PPG against teams with a winning record.

So yeah, Heupel's offense is pretty consistent when facing off against bad teams, that's what I've been saying, but as he gets farther into his own recruiting cycles, the offensive production starts dropping off against teams with winning records.

You‘re using a lot of words to say what is true about every coach in every sport.....they do better against weaker teams and worse against better teams. Who does this standard not apply to??

 

[VolinMC]

For me it's because he is our coach till he proves he cant do it. Gotta hope he does well cause this coaching search crap is getting old and tiresome.

 

[BeardedVol]

Everyone seems to have the same taking points among his detractors.

The record did diminish last year. He had 10 players opt out, and lost 3 regular games by a total of 7 points. One of those was to a Cincinnati team that should’ve beaten Georgia.

Unlike most of our former coaches he didn’t make excuses. So far, he isn’t doing that here either.

Unlike out former coaches, he's yet to coach a single down at UT, and some on here are already spewing nonsense about how we are going to hit 9 wins, and how Heupel is going to be a top SEC coach in no time.

All this, without him coaching, one single down of football yet at UT.

 

[golfballs]

Random luck. Eventually we’ll get it, right?

 

[volsknx]

Well since the dislike Pruitt thread was an active thread let's try this one.

1. Can coach up a QB, having played the position and rather good at it, so he knows how to prepare a QB.
2. His offense scores a lot of points
3. I'm lost after that unless you factor in he's not Butch or Pruitt.

Thoughts?

OP, I understand the thread. However, the last coach was a defensive coach similar in manner to the one we have now.

1. Defense could not stope even Ga State or even a slant pattern so, that’s not saying much.

2. And 3. See above.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Counterpoints:

1. Outside of the QB position, his recruiting was "meh" at best at UC, with his teams decreasing in production the more Scott Frost's recruits exited the program.
2. His offense scores a lot of points, on bad and mediocre teams, and is relatively average against good teams with winning records.
3. He might be Butch, depending on whether or not he is capable of seeing the flaws in his system and adjusting it or not.

Dude

Everyone knows you hate the hire...

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

But can he recruit well enough to stay within shouting distance of Florida, Bama and Georgia? So far it appears he can’t

Seriously???

Not even one full recruiting cycle under his belt and this is the spin.

Wtf?

 

[RockyTopTexas]

So he's a placeholder, and a recruiter. Brought here to simply replenish the talent level, back to what? Who is he holding the spot for? Don't effing say Jon Gruden.
Plus, if you ain't winning, people will not come to UT.

Have we been winning ??

 

[JoAllan]

It's not about hanging onto anything, it's just the reality of his record, and his recruiting, and every single team had to deal with covid issues, it's moot. It's not a guarantee of failure in the SEC, but I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of wailing on the forums this fall when UT fails to hang 40 points on any team outside of Tennessee Tech.

On the latter part your probably correct; however most of those simply aren’t seeing “reality” right now.

Most of last season, offensively Tennessee couldn’t hang 20 on most teams.......no real reason to “expect” Tennessee to suddenly be an offensive juggernaut.

It “could” happen.......heck I hope it does.....but we shouldn’t “expect” it.

On a more positive note.......and just my opinion, but I think Tennessee was a much better team last year that what they produced.......I feel they were simply Pruitcapped.

I also believe this teams production will be dramatically better simply because Pruitt is gone.

Don’t get me wrong......many players are gone, and there are questions everywhere. However I firmly believe Pruitt was so bad things will be greatly improved.....regardless.....simply because he is gone.

could be wrong......hope I’m not.

 

[BeardedVol]

Dude

Everyone knows you hate the hire...

Lol, so it's "hate" to be honest about his record, and not proclaim him the second coming of Neyland before he's coached a single down of football at UT?

 

[UTK]

1. Proven track record of developing QBs and having elite offenses.

2. Culture seems to be flipping for the better, but let's see how it does when the losing begins.

Those are really the only two things right now. He will have to overachieve these first couple years so he can get some quality recruits in here. He has to prove he can do less with more before there's any chance of getting this program rolling.

 

[butchna]

Lol, so it's "hate" to be honest about his record, and not proclaim him the second coming of Neyland before he's coached a single down of football at UT?

I don’t want to go back to the single wing, one platoon football and white cornerbacks.

 

[onevol74]

But can he recruit well enough to stay within shouting distance of Florida, Bama and Georgia? So far it appears he can’t

If you are talking about stars, I think he will win without them. He recruits players that fit his system and develops them.

 

[Volatility]

I don’t know if he’s the right guy, but I am glad he’s a pass oriented coach and not stuck in the 1990’s with a run-first offense. The game has changed, we need someone who can keep up with the times.

 

[ursaminotaur]

There is a clear enough data pattern to determine that CJH is going to do fine. He won't be a disaster. He might be decent. Maybe even better. Clearly, we're going to have to wait and see. But there is cause for cautious optimism.

 

[JoAllan]

Pruitt is gone........that’s reason enough for me.

His offense was hideous........and personally I didn’t think his defense was very good either (at Tennessee anyway).

 

[UGADawg4Life]

Counterpoints:
2. His offense scores a lot of points, on bad and mediocre teams, and is relatively average against good teams with winning records.

Interesting point. CJH has faced 4 P5 teams and is 2-2 as a HC. The results are:

2019
vs Stanford (W) 45-14
vs LSU (L) 32-40

2020
vs Stanford (W) 45-27
vs Pitt (L) 34-35

Right now I don't think there's anyone who can accurately predict how CJH will do in the SEC. And I don't think years 1-3 at UT will be much of an indication of what kind of HC he might become. My best guess is that he's a Mark Richt type who will need to learn to hire a great defensive coordinator and allow that guy to run the defense. But those guys are few and far between lately and usually end up in the HC carousel. Banks might be the guy but recruiting players at UT will be challenging for a couple of years.