Brian Kelly has won a ton of games. He made a 4 team playoff. He made the national championship game when there was no playoff. He made a SEC championship game. He found and developed a Heisman winner. He had a G5 team that went 13-0 under him before he left before the bowl game.
remind me how Kelly did against UT on his way to that SEC championship game? The only reason they made it was because the SEC still had divisions. without divisions, taking the two best teams, we would have been there not LSU.
He’s been coaching since the early 90’s. He’s had a lot more opportunity, and I’d say that Heupel has had much more success earlier in his career than Kelly. Under the current format we would’ve been in that title game, given that we went into Baton Rouge and boat raced them w/ all of that NFL talent they had on that roster .
To be honest, with the exception of Smart, there's nobody in the SEC that I'd rather have over Coach Heupel.I would have said more like #10-13 but ok. But its what they said here that makes it more spicy.
If Tennessee didn't hit rock bottom after firing Jeremy Pruitt amid an NCAA investigation, it at least could reach down and touch the bottom. Then Josh Heupel arrived and pulled the Vols out of peril. He’s beaten Alabama twice. He jolted Tennessee’s offense to life with his warp-speed system. In a sign of coaching growth, he made the playoff by building a good defense. He’s a coach with a high floor, even if he might be nearing his ceiling.
College football's top 25 coaches: Kirby Smart, Ryan Day lead list ruled by Big Ten
I guess nobody can coach a natty till they do, eh?
Ill pull up a chair while you guys discuss.
Okay, how did Tennessee do that year against Shane Beamer? Is he better than Heupel? What about Sam Pittman?
He made a SEC Championship game in year 1. All Heupel had to do to make one in year 4 was beat a 6-6 Arkansas team. Couldn’t do it. Yet if it were Kelly who missed out on a SEC Championship game because 6-6 Pig Sooie spanked him, I doubt you’d be clamoring to speak of how successful he is.
I didn’t argue that. Kelly has been a head coach since 1991. Heupel’s first year was 2018. Of course he’s had more accomplishments. I was saying Heupel has accomplished more at a faster pace after taking over a complete disaster in 2021. One thing you can’t convince me of, is that Kelly could’ve come here and turned it around quicker or better than Heupel .
He’s at LSU. You fall out of bed and you have 80% of your recruiting done. I don’t think too highly of him either. I think he’s a very good coach, but he’s always talked about like he’s some elite guy. He’s not.
You’ve seemed ok to speculate which way our program is headed currently, just after making the CFP. He did make the title game in year 3 and anyone with half a brain of football knowledge knew that the game was over after the first drive. Hell, Notre Dame players interviewed since then have said they knew that the game was over in the tunnel before the game.
Okay, how long did it take anyone with a brain to know when our playoff game was over? Nothing you are saying equates to “Heupel good, Kelly bad.” I think when everything is said and done, Heupel’s career will resemble Kelly’s. Which isn’t a bad thing at all, but the idea that Heupel is disrespected by these rankings while Kelly sucks and is way overrated is unbelievably obtuse.
