Help me understand Coach Josh Heupel...

#51
#51
You and ACvol3 just got stuck in a recursive loop. You're falling down a rat hole, together.

I mean, who's more miserable, the miserable one or the one who pointed out his miserableness or the one who pointed out his miserableness for pointing out their miserableness or the one wh......

Good luck down there. Heh. :)
Lol! You’re right and Welcome to the club.
 
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#53
#53
PS- having known and worked with a lot of South Dakota natives... what we've seen and learned about him publicly is pretty much what I would have expected.
 
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#54
#54
Scissor
He wears a live rattlesnake as a condom.

I once saw him scissor-kick Angela Lansbury.

“Did I ever tell you about the time He showed up at my daughter’s wedding? You know my daughter, she’s a beautiful girl. Well, he shows up and you know he’s a big fella. Well, he’s standing right between me and my daughter at the ceremony. He’s got no right to be there, but he’s drunk and he’s Heupel. Well, long story short, the priest accidentally marries me and Heupel. We spend the weekend in the Poconos — he loved me like I’ve never been loved before.


He once punched a hole in a cow just so he could see who was coming up the road.
Scissor-kick Angela Lansbury? Wow I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Geez good stuff on a Friday morning.
 
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#56
#56
If he gets to 7-9 wins and can sustain it, he'll be the best coach at Tennessee in a long time. Then the question will be whether he can take to the next level.

Even Step 1 would be refreshing! I can't wait to be dissatisfied with only 7-9 wins again!
 
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#57
#57
I can’t say I know that much about him but what I can say he’s probably the best shot we have had in some time to flip the program.
 
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#59
#59
Heupel is a Leach clone-- why run it, when you can throw it. Played under Leach the year before winning the NC at OU. He's an X-O's guy, will coach up 3*'s to play like 5*'s, look at how many former players got drafted this year.
Not disputing the latter part of your post... but I do not see very many similarities between Leach and Heupel from an offensive philosophy standpoint. Leach's pass game has been described as "run to green". Heupel does incorporate more option routes than the previous couple of coaches but has more structure than Leach.

You've been hammered already over the difference in their run games. His O's at UCF avg'd over 200 ypg in each of his 3 years. His O's at Mizzou averaged 193 and 205 ypg in his two seasons there.

At OU, he took over an O not committed to the run. His first season there they avg'd in the 130 ypg range. By the end of his time there, they were averaging over 200 ypg.


I don't think you can call him a run first coach but he definitely places an emphasis on it... It is an afterthought with Leach at best.
 
#61
#61
Those of you in the know, help me understand our coach by making some comparisons with other head coaches (current or former). I don't mean in terms of his W/L record...that would be an easy comparison for someone with the right stats, and it's not what I'm looking for. I mean his personality, his demeanor, his coaching philosophy, his offensive or defensive schemes, his leadership style, etc. Who is most like him? (Probably not just one person.) Is he a "faith and values" guy like Dabo? Is he a motivator of lesser quality players that gets the most out of them like Stoops at Kentucky? Is he energetic and geared toward fast paced offenses like Mike Leach? Is he a great leader with charisma like Matt Campbell? Is he super demanding and gets his whole staff pulling toward the same mission like Saban? Which coaches have aspects of their career that remind you of our guy? And I'll say it again: some of the comparison coaches here might have a much better winning record, but that's NOT what I'm asking. My question is about how the coach tries to execute his job in all facets, not the degree to which he may have had success on the field in comparsion to CJH.

All of the above.
 
#62
#62
Offensive and defensive styles are very similar to Art Briles at Baylor. I actually think he completely overhauled his offense after being fired from Oklahoma and after Briles owned them for a few years. He basically just copied Briles system with a few nuances.They are always in attack mode on both sides of the ball. Super uptempo and will probably be top 5 in plays ran. Defense is a lot of blitzing and attacking. The point is to generate more turnovers since basically offense is so hard to stop in this era, it’s about generating turnovers and negative plays and holding the other team to field goals in the red zone.

I think if there is one word that sums up what Heupel is about or is trying to sell as the identity of the program it would be “Family”. He seems like he might be sort of an introvert and maybe has to put forth some effort to show some personality in his public speaking (just my opinion), but players say he is really genuine and an overall good guy. I’m not sure who I would compare him too, but I would say in regards to being family oriented and having a positive outlook and image it kind of reminds me of Fulmer’s style. We can only hope he can eventually recruit like Fulmer.

Great analysis! Yes, recruit like Fulmer during his younger years, develop / coach during the heat of battle much better than Fulmer, and hire a DC / run the D similar to Dabo. Fulmer wouldn't have lasted any where close to as long as he did had he not had Cutcliffe, Chavis, and was coaching against Saban, Mullen, Smart, Spurrier or Muschamp, Stoops, Franklin, and Pinkle or Odom his entire career. Everyone can say what they want about Chavis. But, that 98 defense was STOUT!!! Of course, a big part of that was BIG AL!!! We the success UT had with Fulmer when Cutcliffe left and came back!!!!!
 
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#64
#64
He is kind of an unknown to Tennessee folk, and to yankee vols as well. I get the distinct impression he is a PLAYERS coach tho. That is what i've taken away as a spectator. The guy is still young enough to relate to players in their world, and has the energy to keep up. He has made it a point to put student athletes (his kids) above all else, and to inject some "fun" into the program as well. it's obvious when it's GO TIME tho, he also has expectations.

I would think this would make him a good recruiter as well.
 
#66
#66
correction: i said "his kids", but i think it's more of a "his guys" situation. he see's himself as one of the team, one of "the guys". Those guys in florida can croot, and have some fun doing it. It will take a season, but give him a year to start crooting. I'm interested in seeing what he can do with those south florida ties.
 
#67
#67
We all want to find a coach who has a great track record to compare him to (well a few probably looked for coaches who suck). However, he seems to do things his own way. That can be good or bad...hopefully he is capable of taking the things he has learned along the way, mixing them into a winning formula. IMO he will...but i have no specific thing i can point to and say, because of this he will be successful. For me its just a gut feeling based on the things ive read about him and his appearances in front of the mic.


He seems to be very very confident and comfortable with who he is and what he does without the bs machismo or braggadacio. The leaders i have been around that i wanted to help be successful were very much that way. It doesnt guarantee that he is the one who turns this thing around....but i like his chances.
I think he will be successful because of his offensive mind. How successful will depend on his recruiting and his defensive hires and how successful the play calling of his DC turn out..
 
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#68
#68
So here's this kid growing up in rural South Dakota (it's all rural, there). He's exceptionally physically gifted, everyone can see that from early on. But he is kept humble by a face that looks like it spent the winter in the root basement with the potatoes. So the kid never becomes arrogant the way other gifted athletes sometimes do.

He has huge successes--like a national championship--tempered by setbacks, like having to change college not once but twice. Reinforces the humility, as well as the importance of family and friends and support structure, the people around you that you care about and who care about you. Faith and devotion and loyalty become his bulwark for withstanding occasional upheaval and disappointment.

Falls in love, gets married, has a family. Best thing in his life. Yeah, I know he's making millions coaching a sport, and for many guys that becomes the definition of their character, but for Josh it's family and faith, and THEN the game. This character aspect alone sets him apart from a lot of his peers in college and the pros. Makes him more even-keeled in hard times.

Late at night, when everyone else is asleep, if you get him to let loose a bit, he might tell you he sometimes feels like he's somehow pulling a fast one on folks. I mean, he does know the sport, and loves having been a quarterback. He loves being able to teach young men what he knows, and helping them improve. But the whole head coaching thing ... Josh in his most honest moments might admit he suffers a bit from Imposter Syndrome (look it up, it's a real thing) when it comes to that. Again, reinforces his humility and reference to powers greater than himself.

Put all that together, and you have a sincere, realistic, caring, motivated, quiet, humble, capable, talented, gifted, unsure, competitive, likeable head coach.

I don't think there's another one like him out there, anywhere. If you look for comparisons, you might keep coming up short.

We wish him the very best of luck, obviously.

Go Vols!
I admire that his family and faith are his first priorities, but I don’t know how that will reconcile with the rigors of this level of job.
 
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#72
#72
Understanding Josh Heupel for Tennessee one word modernization. We are no longer living in the 1990 on offense that is the way I would explain it anyhow.
 
#73
#73
My hope is that, while searching for Rommel, maybe we got Patton
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Not sure if Patton really came up with/said that. However..there is no doubt it's accurate
Pretty sure he did.

But he was clearly trying to channel Napoleon, who famously said, a century earlier, "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!" (Audacity, audacity, always audacity!).

Patton was a fake and an actor in some ways. A helluva fighter, but he could be pretty trite at times, and was often not bright enough to disguise the airs he was putting on.
 
#75
#75
Pretty sure he did.

But he was clearly trying to channel Napoleon, who famously said, "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!" (Audacity, audacity, always audacity!).

Patton was a fake and an actor in some ways. A helluva fighter, but he could be pretty fake at times, and often not bright enough to hide it well.
But he passed the test when it counted. In every major campaign in which they took part, North Africa, Sicily, France, the Bulge, and the push into Germany his armies not only met their assigned tasks but significantly overperformed. Many „brighter“ generals would have loved to say the same.
 
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