How do we feel about this? USA Today Garbage

[adam.vol]

We didn't have a potential Heisman candidate leading the way last year. He didnt get his thrid loss in the playoffs.

Why say stupid stuff?

We had a potential candidate at QB last year. After the month of October, Aguilar is no longer potentially going to win the award, either. They simply didn’t play well enough to receive it.

It’s not stupid. It’s inconvenient to you because it’s true. Why did you anoint yourself as qualified to label stupidity?

 

[m1al]

He's right about the natives, at least the stupid ones....

 

[Behr]

ok just substitute last year for this year lol. many Vols fans on this board will be VERY satisfied if we finish 9-3 this year having beaten noone of note. just like James Franklin was famous for doing at Penn St.

I will be satisfied if we finish 9-3 THIS year.

I wont be next year BUT until they make me AD I wont do anything about it. What will you do?

 

[JMSqb11]

My point wasn't necessarily that they can't afford it. It just seems like a massive amount of money to go with a coach who hasn't won his conference or reached the conference title game? I thought they basically fired Franklin for not winning the conference or their big games. Heupel is a great coach but unless I'm missing something they would have to pay him close to top 5 money.

I think there is massive confusion. I am very upset with Heupel's performance this year. With that said, this current coaching arms race with the open jobs available are going to make someone like him a hot commodity.

Penn State
Florida
Auburn
LSU

Those 4 programs probably have the same coach or two in their top 5 list. Obviously 4 programs won't be able to land 2 coaches. So what happens if they don't get their top guys, but they just fired a coach to tune of millions.

Specifically Penn State and LSU aren't going to fire Franklin and Kelly just to go out and bet on the likes of Sumrall, Stein, or Golesh types. They are looking for someone to get the program to the next step. Heupel has shown he can do that to a smaller degree from what he walked into to where it is now.

There will be one of those schools that will panic and miss out on the Kiffin or Drinkwitz type of coaches and are just going to make some splash hire that no one saw coming or atleast make some big overboard offer to a coach that would be considered entrenched in their current job.

We have seen this 3 times in the last 15 years:

Bret Bielema to Arkansas (40-13 record / Rose Bowls 4 years prior to taking Arkansas job)
Lincoln Riley to USC (55-10 record / multiple playoffs 5 years prior to taking USC job)
Brian Kelly to LSU (54-9 record 5 years prior to taking LSU job)

All 3 of those hires were out of leftfield and money was big part of it.

What happens when Kiffin decides to stay at Ole Miss and Drink leaves for another school or stays in Mizzou.

Those big 4 programs aren't going to settle and hire those mid major guys. They are going to try a hail mary at someone like Heupel types. It doesn't mean he is looking elsewhere, but if you are Josh Heupel and these 4 programs missed out on Kiffin and their other A Tier guys and they come calling, you have to listen. Could result in getting a new deal at Tennessee or maybe one of those schools offer a crap ton of money.


LSU or Auburn or Penn State getting Heupel on the back of missing out on Kiffin will seem like a great hire over the Golesh, Sumrall, Stein types.

 

[Tenacjim]

Both owned by same people, they co-publish materials by their writers

Exactly. Guess where else this article is published?

Josh Heupel, leave Tennessee and the posse behind. Head to Penn State

Josh Heupel, set your phone to ring. Turn up the volume. If someone calls from Penn State, answer. Leave behind the Tennessee posse.

www.knoxnews.com

 

[Doctrippin]

if he does leave we have no one to blame but ourselves. After a season where our qb left last second and our star defensive backs are injured all season Tennessee fans lost their mind because we missed the playoffs. How quickly we forget how bad we were before Heupel.

As far as Heup at Penn State goes I bet he would do well. The Big Ten is kind of a cake walk other than Ohio State and occasionally Michigan and Penn State. Do you guys ever look at the spreads? Week and and week out Ohio State is favored by multiple Touchdowns. This week they are favored 29.5. Also, no one is playing the type of offense putting up our type of numbers in the Big Ten. I really, really hope he does not leave but could see the temptation. It is a lot easier to make the top three in the Big Ten than the SEC which would guarantee a playoff spot annually.

Yes, I always use OSU as a little sweetner to boost my odds in parlays. College football has those big spread bets every weekend. You string a few together and you can get over 100

 

[sami]

Outside of the Vol fan bubble, that wouldn't be an uncommon view.

40 years ago, perhaps.

 

[sami]

Penn State is literally the most stable big program job opening right now. They don't have the internal issues of LSU or Florida. They don't have a syndrome like Auburn.

The coach who gets that job will walk into a program ready to win right away with a cake walk to 10-2 year at minimum. Tennessee doesn't have that luxury.

Frankin had an anomaly year this year dropping games at UCLA / NW.

If a guaranteed built in minimum 9-10 wins is the only consideration, Penn State is one of the 2-3 best jobs in the country.

 

[Tin Man]

If you're out on Josh Heupel, I'm out on you as a respectable football mind

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

I think there is massive confusion. I am very upset with Heupel's performance this year. With that said, this current coaching arms race with the open jobs available are going to make someone like him a hot commodity.

Penn State
Florida
Auburn
LSU

Those 4 programs probably have the same coach or two in their top 5 list. Obviously 4 programs won't be able to land 2 coaches. So what happens if they don't get their top guys, but they just fired a coach to tune of millions.

Specifically Penn State and LSU aren't going to fire Franklin and Kelly just to go out and bet on the likes of Sumrall, Stein, or Golesh types. They are looking for someone to get the program to the next step. Heupel has shown he can do that to a smaller degree from what he walked into to where it is now.

There will be one of those schools that will panic and miss out on the Kiffin or Drinkwitz type of coaches and are just going to make some splash hire that no one saw coming or atleast make some big overboard offer to a coach that would be considered entrenched in their current job.

We have seen this 3 times in the last 15 years:

Bret Bielema to Arkansas
Lincoln Riley to USC
Brian Kelly to LSU

All 3 of those hires were out of leftfield and money was big part of it.

What happens when Kiffin decides to stay at Ole Miss and Drink leaves for another school or stays in Mizzou.

Those big 4 programs aren't going to settle and hire those mid major guys. They are going to try a hail mary at someone like Heupel types. It doesn't mean he is looking elsewhere, but if you are Josh Heupel and these 4 programs missed out on Kiffin and their other A Tier guys and they come calling, you have to listen. Could result in getting a new deal at Tennessee or maybe one of those schools offer a crap ton of money.


LSU or Auburn or Penn State getting Heupel on the back of missing out on Kiffin will seem like a great hire over the Golesh, Sumrall, Stein types.

If Penn State would like to offer Heupel top 5 money to leave then I agree he'd be a fool to not listen. If offered and he considers leaving, I'm just not sure that Tennessee would pay him top 5 money when they could probably go and get Golesh at a discount and keep the same offensive system in place. Big risk either way.

 

[Tenacjim]

Only a fool pays heed to this fan board to get a feel for what Tennessee fans as a whole think or feel.

Any site infested with trolls, as this place is, can not be trusted to convey the mood of the crowd. A vocal, energetic minority can skew any site. And Lord knows it's happening here.

So if this fella writing the article is a fool, may he get the rewards due to a fool.

Go Vols!

I agree that this view is being presented by a vocal minority but it is not limited to this board. Twitter/X has reams of the same views and other prominent TN fan Forums do as well. There are additional articles like this one popping up. Joe Rexrode wrote one in the Atlantic a couple of days ago (see below but paywalled) actually pulling quotes from fan forums (Volquest and GoVols247, not VN).

Unfortunately, after Lane Kiffin and Greg Schiano, the media revels as painting us as mattress burning, pitchfork carrying psycho hillbillies and the vocal minority gives them plenty of paint to work with….

Message board Monday: Is Josh Heupel losing Tennessee fans?Message board Monday: Is Josh Heupel losing Tennessee fans?

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

That’s usually the first thing I see whenever someone criticizes Heupel: “He made a playoffs”.

Maybe I should have said I don't feel that way. Some do I suppose. Still, making the playoffs last year having to adapt the offensive scheme to fit the QB was a healthy accomplishment

 

[JMSqb11]

If Penn State would like to offer Heupel top 5 money to leave then I agree he'd be a fool to not listen. If offered and he considers leaving, I'm just not sure that Tennessee would pay him top 5 money when they could probably go and get Golesh at a discount and keep the same offensive system in place. Big risk either way.

Alex Golesh would be a train wreck here with the current program level / expectations. You don't replace Heupel with someone who has zero experience coaching / running a program with high expectations.

Golesh and Sumrall and Stein types are perfect for a rebuild like Heupel had in 2021 where there is no expectations and you can go balls to wall the first year or two.

Heupel right now is comparable to Mark Richt. Always going to be competitive and win a lot of games each year, but couldn't get over the hump. Kirby did that.

You aren't hiring Golesh to follow Heupel with the expectation of elevating the program to the next level. You hire him to maintain at best.


That's why I think some of these schools are going to panic if Kiffin stays in Oxford and Drink at Mizzou and throw stupid money at other coaches who are currently viewed to not be moving. The top tier guys won't be available and they have to avoid settling with a mid major guy. This is why I hate missing the playoffs. Because the minute you are out of the playoffs, you get thrown on a list of coaches with not much going on in December and can reach out to.

Like if you aim for Kiffin and miss and hire a Heupel and get to avoid a Golesh, Stein, Sumrall type, that was a very successful coaching search. And I don't think it is limited to Heupel. I think Matt Campbell would be viewed the same to a lesser degree. He's topped out in Ames.

 

[adam.vol]

Penn State is literally the most stable big program job opening right now. They don't have the internal issues of LSU or Florida. They don't have a syndrome like Auburn.

The coach who gets that job will walk into a program ready to win right away with a cake walk to 10-2 year at minimum. Tennessee doesn't have that luxury.

Frankin had an anomaly year this year dropping games at UCLA / NW.

I think Penn State, among other big name B1G programs, are used to coasting between rivalry games.

UCLA had a little more talent than they were showing off and caught Penn State with their pants down. Franklin took the wrong week off and things spiraled from there.

 

[MemphisVolFan1978]

Exactly. Guess where else this article is published?

Josh Heupel, leave Tennessee and the posse behind. Head to Penn State

Josh Heupel, set your phone to ring. Turn up the volume. If someone calls from Penn State, answer. Leave behind the Tennessee posse.

www.knoxnews.com

I don’t live in Knoxville so I don’t know how many people read the Knoxville News Sentinel, but I have to imagine there are a lot of people over there that are not happy with this being published in the local paper.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

I don’t live in Knoxville so I don’t know how many people read the Knoxville News Sentinel, but I have to imagine there are a lot of people over there that are not happy with this being published in the local paper.

KNS has been dog$hit for years.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Josh Heupel, leave Tennessee and the posse behind. Head to Penn State

Josh Heupel, set your phone to ring. Turn up the volume. If someone calls from Penn State, answer. Leave behind the Tennessee posse.

www.usatoday.com

Never thought I’d read this nonsense. It’s been a tough year but are we really at risk of running off our coach for one subprime season?

I wouldn't really put much credence into this nonsense. One national guy years back thought we should have been happy with Schiano as HC.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

Alex Golesh would be a train wreck here with the current program level / expectations. You don't replace Heupel with someone who has zero experience coaching / running a program with high expectations.

Golesh and Sumrall and Stein types are perfect for a rebuild like Heupel had in 2021 where there is no expectations and you can go balls to wall the first year or two.

Heupel right now is comparable to Mark Richt. Always going to be competitive and win a lot of games each year, but couldn't get over the hump. Kirby did that.

You aren't hiring Golesh to follow Heupel with the expectation of elevating the program to the next level. You hire him to maintain at best.


That's why I think some of these schools are going to panic if Kiffin stays in Oxford and Drink at Mizzou and throw stupid money at other coaches who are currently viewed to not be moving. The top tier guys won't be available and they have to avoid settling with a mid major guy. This is why I hate missing the playoffs. Because the minute you are out of the playoffs, you get thrown on a list of coaches with not much going on in December and can reach out to.

Like if you aim for Kiffin and miss and hire a Heupel and get to avoid a Golesh, Stein, Sumrall type, that was a very successful coaching search. And I don't think it is limited to Heupel. I think Matt Campbell would be viewed the same to a lesser degree. He's topped out in Ames.

It's always a risk hiring a new coach but big programs have taken chances on great coordinators in the past and it worked out. Lanning at Oregon, Kirby at Georgia, Sark at Texas, to name a few. Not saying Golesh wouldn't be a gamble but unlike those mentioned above, he's at least been at Tennessee running the offense at a high level and knows the expectations. Not to mention he now has head coaching experience. It's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

 

[UTFanForLife]

That’s 2 or fewer losses 25% of the time.

Heupel is currently sitting at 20%. One 11-2 season out of five years.

I mean that is correct, but Penn St was also 45-21 in the first 5 of those 12 years. We would have to lose 3 out of 5 to match that. Either way, gonna see 7 more years of Huepel if we follow Penn St.

 

[cgrish]

Click bait material. Only the junior high posters on this site or the people who write letters to newspaper in crayon want CJH removed.

His agent behind this for more money and larger payout

 

[Tnphil]

He forgot a big piece of the puzzle...In the Big 10 you best play defense, something Heupel is lacking of.

 

[thegeneralneyland]

Penn State fired their coach after 3 losses. We celebrated 3 losses last year.

No, he was fired because of this. James Franklin's record at Penn State against top-25 teams is 17-26. This record includes a 4-21 record against top-10 ranked opponents and a 1-18 record against top-10 Big Ten teams.

 

[deatojl]

Penn State fired their coach after 3 losses. We celebrated 3 losses last year.

A little bit misleading as our third loss last year was in a playoff game while their third loss this year was also their third consecutive loss during the regular season with the las two coming against unranked opponents. Also, the circumstances for the two coaches leading up to those three losses are vastly different.

 

[JMSqb11]

It's always a risk hiring a new coach but big programs have taken chances on great coordinators in the past and it worked out. Lanning at Oregon, Kirby at Georgia, Sark at Texas, to name a few. Not saying Golesh wouldn't be a gamble but unlike those mentioned above, he's at least been at Tennessee running the offense at a high level and knows the expectations. Not to mention he now has head coaching experience. It's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Lanning, Kirby, Sark all came from national title winning programs. Like sure the Saban tree isn't always a sure thing, but there is difference in those guys vs Golesh.

 

[deatojl]

Lanning, Kirby, Sark all came from national title winning programs. Like sure the Saban tree isn't always a sure thing, but there is difference in those guys vs Golesh.

Sark isn't from the Saban coaching tree, he rehabbed under Saban after being a head coach at two P4 programs. He and Kiffin had similar paths. Dan Lanning was a grad assistant for one year under Saban, which was his fourth school to coach for.