USA Today ranks Josh Heupel as #17 in top 25 of coaches

#52
#52
EZE said:
These days, $$$ is the most important part of recruitment and retention. Ohio State paid more than anybody last year.

So…what happened? Their Coach who was branded as not being a very good coach and on the hot seat? He magically turned great.

If you are insinuating that Heupel is a bad coach, we can agree to disagree right here.
Click to expand...
That not very good coach is 2nd only to Knute Rockne in career winning percentage. Whoever branded him as a bad coach is an idiot.

Heupel is not a bad coach. He isn’t elite though and isn’t in the same class as a Kirby, a Day, etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IUGradVol, 89 VOLS grad and VolInNW
#53
#53
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
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.
Click to expand...
To be fair it’s happened every time one of Brian Kelly’s team reached a meaningful game and I never said anything about Heupel’s ranking. I think 17 is probably lower than I would have him, but I never said Kelly is bad. I think this season is huge for him. He’s kind of on the hot seat for someone who is getting as much praise as he has. If you want to give him his flowers for an SEC title game appearance (which we would’ve been in under the current format)and Jayden Daniels getting a Heisman that’s fine. However, expectations are incredibly high given his paycheck, especially when a savant like Kelly has failed to reach the CFP at LSU and the previous 3 coaches all won titles. 2 of them, not exactly thought of as the highest IQ coaches. I’m not saying Kelly bad, Heupel good, I’m saying that Heupel is at the beginning of a career and you’re coming across as already deciding that the final chapter is being written about how his coaching career will go.
 
#54
#54
SpookyAction said:
My mental ranking puts Heupel at #10. Just seems right. Heupel will be below Franklin on these lists until UT goes to the Finals or very close.
I think Heupel has a lot of upside and has not shown all he will do at Knoxville.
I hope one of our QBs can really open up the playbook.
Click to expand...
Hoping for a exceptional QB to make the offense work again is part of the problem.

The offense and genius behind it are supposed to drive the QB to greatness and beyond.

And this offense has been in survival mode since Halzle has taken over at OC. Hopefully Aguilar with Litrell will bring some spark.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NEO, SpookyAction, IndianaVol and 1 other person
#55
#55
LittleVol said:
Hoping for a exceptional QB to make the offense work again is part of the problem.

The offense and genius behind it are supposed to drive the QB to greatness and beyond.

And this offense has been in survival mode since Halzle has taken over at OC. Hopefully Aguilar with Litrell will bring some spark.
Click to expand...
Don't know if it's coaching or Joe and Nico's inability to process things quickly enough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 89 VOLS grad
#57
#57
Terrible list.

James Franklin is 3-17 against top 10 teams. Huepel is 3-6. Huepel also has the 4th most wins vs ranked opponents over the last 3 seasons, just behind UGA, Bama, and Texas.

Kirk Ferentz has won anything of note in 20 years. The game has passed him by.

Brohm, Klieman. Cignetti, Whillingham and Campbell? Give me a break. Shane Beamer has a better argument for being higher than any of them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mpfvol, 89 VOLS grad and sonofUT62
#58
#58
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
That not very good coach is 2nd only to Knute Rockne in career winning percentage. Whoever branded him as a bad coach is an idiot.

Heupel is not a bad coach. He isn’t elite though and isn’t in the same class as a Kirby, a Day, etc.
Click to expand...

Not yet, but he’s young. And he took over a much more difficult situation and still dealing with scholarship reductions.

He already has two exceptional seasons, and at least last year took an excellent coaching job due to lackluster QB play.

I wouldn’t bet against him.
 
#59
#59
Guys, Heupel 'really opened up his playbook' in 2022. Hooker did a very good job executing it. DCs studied it, and have developed ways to limit it. Heupel has not changed his system in response.

For those of you that think there is a Magical Volume II of Heupel's playbook, As a friend I would tell you to prepare yourself that there is no Volume II. I think the article absolutely nailed it when it stated that Heupel has a high ceiling, and he may have hit it. Thats the way I have felt about halfway through 2023 and all of last season. Don't get me wrong, he is a very good coach and his ceiling includes a playoff berth. That ain't shabby. And compared to Pruitt, Jones, Dooley, etc it is a quantum leap forward.

But for those expecting that Magical Volume II, or that Heupel is somehow going to shift to legendary status in recruiting and player development, I believe you will be disappointed. Heupel is about where he is capable, a top 20 program that makes the playoffs every 3-4 years. And he seems comfortable there. I sense no urgency from him to improve.

And frankly, that is where Tennessee is as a program now. And that's not half bad.

But it isn't elite, either.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sonofUT62
#60
#60
Friend of mine read this article and asked me "Is Heupel the Rick Barnes of football?", and honestly I couldn't answer no.
It's like Gandalf said early in this thread, you don't know until you win a Natty.

If CJH keeps on giving us 9 to 11 win seasons, he may very well prove out to be a Rick Barnes or Mark Richt where he just can't quite grab that brass ring and for right now, I'm okay with that.

There TWO MOST IMPORTANT things this program needed after the Pruitt / Fulmer debacle:
1) Learn how to win again...box checked
2) Become stable...box checked
 
  • Like
Reactions: ArdentVol
#61
#61
He
sami said:
James Franklin at #5 automatically makes the list a joke. So piling up wins against awful schedules but losing virtually every big game you ever coached is the ticket to the top 5 of CFB coaches? If that is the case, the quality of coaching today is in big trouble.
Click to expand...
made a career out of beating Tennessee when we were at our weakest. He's bee riding that high every since.
 
#62
#62
Deboer at #8? He took a Washington team to the NC game because they threaded the proverbial needle in a weak conference to get there and was destroyed. Then he took one of the most storied programs in FB history and turned them into Texas A&M in 1 year.
Brian Kelley at #10? Perineal underperformer. And we beat the will to live out of them with CJH in the only heads up matchup.
My God, the entire list from 8-16 is trash. Kiffin has ran UT and USC into the ground and not been able to make Ol Miss the contender that the sports media world keeps insisting that it is. These coaches are at team that never stood a shot at a NC and they won't leave them for bigger schools. They know that they do good with what they have but no one expects much out of them. This list is absolute tripe click bait.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sami
#63
#63
RDU VOL#14 said:
To be fair it’s happened every time one of Brian Kelly’s team reached a meaningful game and I never said anything about Heupel’s ranking. I think 17 is probably lower than I would have him, but I never said Kelly is bad. I think this season is huge for him. He’s kind of on the hot seat for someone who is getting as much praise as he has. If you want to give him his flowers for an SEC title game appearance (which we would’ve been in under the current format)and Jayden Daniels getting a Heisman that’s fine. However, expectations are incredibly high given his paycheck, especially when a savant like Kelly has failed to reach the CFP at LSU and the previous 3 coaches all won titles. 2 of them, not exactly thought of as the highest IQ coaches. I’m not saying Kelly bad, Heupel good, I’m saying that Heupel is at the beginning of a career and you’re coming across as already deciding that the final chapter is being written about how his coaching career will go.
Click to expand...
This season is probably pretty big for Kelly at LSU. They probably won’t be content with 9-3 again. However, I think Kelly’s resume is that of a top 10 coach in the sport as it currently stands. He’s not a likable guy but he can coach.

Heupel has been a head coach for seven years now. The guy doesn’t fire coaches, recruiting hasn’t really changed much from day 1 to now, even with some of his successes presumably making this a more attractive school than it was when he came here. His baby, the offense, has regressed. I think it’s fair to say he probably is who he is at this point. And that’s a guy who can run a top 15 program, which is a far cry from the three jokers who preceded him. Given enough time he is capable of being viewed as a consensus top 10 coach, but he hasn’t shown that yet. There is no shame in being top 15.

The one caveat is if he hits on a QB that he recruited. That might elevate him to another level, especially if it’s a guy who plays 3 years. But he missed on Nico and Joe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpookyAction and TheGoodStuff
#64
#64
EZE said:
Not yet, but he’s young. And he took over a much more difficult situation and still dealing with scholarship reductions.

He already has two exceptional seasons, and at least last year took an excellent coaching job due to lackluster QB play.

I wouldn’t bet against him.
Click to expand...
The scholarship reductions really don’t amount to a hill of beans, especially these days. I wouldn’t say he has two “exceptional” seasons. I’m not sure I’d say he has even one exceptional season. Those South Carolina and Arkansas losses make it hard to say 2022 and 2024 were exceptional. Some exceptional moments mixed in there, no doubt.

As far as betting against him, it depends on the bet. If it’s him becoming a championship coach, I’d bet against that. If it’s him being here 15 years and winning 140-150 games, I could see that happening.
 
#65
#65
Remy said:
You say that like it’s a bad thing. If that’s what it takes then that’s what it takes. If we refuse to run with big dogs then we need to stay on the porch and eat granny’s hush puppies.
Click to expand...

I didnt say it was good or bad. The article is about the best coaches, not who has the most money to throw at recruits.
 
#66
#66
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
The scholarship reductions really don’t amount to a hill of beans, especially these days. I wouldn’t say he has two “exceptional” seasons. I’m not sure I’d say he has even one exceptional season. Those South Carolina and Arkansas losses make it hard to say 2022 and 2024 were exceptional. Some exceptional moments mixed in there, no doubt.

As far as betting against him, it depends on the bet. If it’s him becoming a championship coach, I’d bet against that. If it’s him being here 15 years and winning 140-150 games, I could see that happening.
Click to expand...

Winning a national championship.
 
#68
#68
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
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.

So far, he has shown a higher ceiling than Heupel.
Click to expand...
Heupel beat him head to head at his house with much less talent. Right now Heupel is better than Kelly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deatojl and BernardKingGOAT
#69
#69
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
This season is probably pretty big for Kelly at LSU. They probably won’t be content with 9-3 again. However, I think Kelly’s resume is that of a top 10 coach in the sport as it currently stands. He’s not a likable guy but he can coach.

Heupel has been a head coach for seven years now. The guy doesn’t fire coaches, recruiting hasn’t really changed much from day 1 to now, even with some of his successes presumably making this a more attractive school than it was when he came here. His baby, the offense, has regressed. I think it’s fair to say he probably is who he is at this point. And that’s a guy who can run a top 15 program, which is a far cry from the three jokers who preceded him. Given enough time he is capable of being viewed as a consensus top 10 coach, but he hasn’t shown that yet. There is no shame in being top 15.

The one caveat is if he hits on a QB that he recruited. That might elevate him to another level, especially if it’s a guy who plays 3 years. But he missed on Nico and Joe.
Click to expand...
I think in terms of resume where things currently stand I do believe Kelly is a top 10 coach, but I think this is where I have a disconnect w/ the list as well. Is it based on resume or who the better coach is right now? If anyone actually wants Kirk Ferentz ahead of Heupel I find that to be laughable. If it’s based on resume and longevity that’s one thing, but then how do they have Kiffin at 9 when he hasn’t won any sort of championship or made a CFP game? I guess it’s list season and anyone that employs Dan Wolken as one of its lead writers should be considered kind of crazy.
 
#71
#71
RDU VOL#14 said:
I think in terms of resume where things currently stand I do believe Kelly is a top 10 coach, but I think this is where I have a disconnect w/ the list as well. Is it based on resume or who the better coach is right now? If anyone actually wants Kirk Ferentz ahead of Heupel I find that to be laughable. If it’s based on resume and longevity that’s one thing, but then how do they have Kiffin at 9 when he hasn’t won any sort of championship or made a CFP game? I guess it’s list season and anyone that employs Dan Wolken as one of its lead writers should be considered kind of crazy.
Click to expand...
Ferentz is a head scratcher to me. Not sure how or why he would be that high, aside from just having been there forever.
 
#73
#73
I see him as a 20-25 type coach. He's got a gimmick system that works for a period of time, but has no staying power. There's an expiration date for every head coach. I think Heupel is nearing his. Two...perhaps 3 and Heupel is toast.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top