The College Football Playoff era has given Josh Heupel a rare opportunity to lead multiple programs to New Year's Six Bowl appearances. Josh Heupel has earned bowl bids in all five years he has been a head coach and has finished in the top 10 nationally in scoring and total offense every time. Josh Heupel, son of a successful head coach, has devoted the majority of his time to the game throughout his entire life, and has excelled both as a player and as a coach at the highest levels of the game.
As a coach and player, Mr. Josh Heupel has won eight conference championships, coached 18 bowl games, and developed two Heisman Trophy winners in addition to five top-five Heisman finishers over the course of his 44-year career. Over his 44-year career, Mr. Josh Heupel has achieved several noteworthy accomplishments, including coaching and playing in multiple national championship games. In terms of NFL Draft picks made in the last three drafts combined, Josh Heupel ranks among the top 10 among head coaches in terms of number of picks produced. In the 2023 season, he will be in charge of the Tennessee Volunteers for the third time, his sixth as head coach.
Josh Heupel's sport coat pays homage to Johnny Majors on Vol Walk as part of an homage to Johnny Majors
In preparation for Tennessee's game against Pitt at Neyland Stadium in the Johnny Majors Classic, there was no doubt that Josh Heupel's Vol Walk wardrobe was yet another nod to Johnny Majors as he prepared for the team's game against Pitt. The Vol Walk wardrobe was just one of many nods to Johnny Majors that Josh Heupel displayed as he walked the Vol Walk in honor of the Johnny Majors Classic before the UT Vols kicked off their home opener against Pitt at Neyland Stadium. While he was leading the Vols, Majors wore a similar sport coat to the one that the Tennessee head coach wore during his time leading the team.
Before Tennessee kicked off against Pitt in the Johnny Majors Classic at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Josh Heupel wore a Vol Walk wardrobe in an homage to Johnny Majors. It was yet another tribute to Johnny Majors before Tennessee took on Pitt in the Johnny Majors Classic. In the same way that Majors coached the Vols during his time as head coach of the program, the first-year coach wore a sport coat that was similar to Majors'.
Brief background information
There is much more to Josh Heupel's backstory than that, though. As a freshman, Josh Heupel attended Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where he began his college career. In order to play for Bob Stoops and Mike Leach at the University of Oklahoma, he decided to transfer from the University of Southern Mississippi to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he received a scholarship offer from Utah State, before deciding to join Bob Stoops and Mike Leach at the University of Oklahoma. Josh Heupel spent a brief time in the NFL after his NFL career ended before he entered the coaching world.
Josh Heupel was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in business marketing in 2001, Josh Heupel pursued his career in business marketing. In addition to Josh Heupel, he has two children, one daughter, Hannah, who is seven, and one son, Jace, who is five.
Josh Heupel File
A brief history of Josh Heupel's coaching career can be found below:
In 2015, he served as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Utah State University
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners during the 2011-14 season
Oklahoma - Quarterbacks for the 2006-10 season
Tight ends for the 2005 Arizona Cardinals
Graduate Assistant for the University of Oklahoma in 2004
Josh Heupel Bowl Games:
It was Oklahoma (12) that won the Russell Athletic in 2014, the Suger Bowl in 2014, the Cotton Bowl in 2013, the Insight Bowl in 2011, the Fiesta Bowl in 2011, the Sun Bowl in 2009, the BCS Championship in 2009, the Fiesta Bowl in 2008, the Fiesta Bowl in 2007, the Holiday Bowl in 2005, the Orange Bowl in 2005, the Sugar Bowl in 2004, and the Cotton Bowl in 2013.
Josh Heupel National Championship Games:
There are three different programs in Oklahoma (3): Orange in 2009; Orange in 2005; and Sugar in 2004.
Championships of the conference:
Among Oklahoma's Big 12 teams, the following six have won in 2012, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2004.
The following are some of Josh Heupel's playing experiences:
Quarterback for Weber State in 1997
Quarterback at Snow College in 1998
Oklahoma - Quarterback during the 1999-2000 season
The education of Josh Heupel is as follows:
Business Marketing in Oklahoma in 2001
Family of Josh Heupel: Dawn Heupel - wife; Hannah Heupel - daughter; Jace Heupel - son
Turnaround in Tennessee
Josh Heupel instilled a strong culture that was built on trust, accountability, and relationships as he took over a program that was coming off of a season in which the team finished 3-7 and lost several key players before he arrived. The culture he instilled within the program was built on trust, accountability, and relationships. In addition to those pillars, he combined them with the nation's top offense and a defense that was attacking as well.
The remarkable revival Josh Heupel of the Volunteers has resulted in the program's first New Year's Six berth in the era of College Football Playoff games, the first number six ranking in the program's history after his first year as head coach, and a 20-9 overall record during his tenure. This is the most wins a head coach from UT has achieved in the first 26 games of his career, and it ranks third nationally among head coaches in the FBS during the same time period. This is the second time in a row that Tennessee has exceeded their preseason SEC predicted order of finish.
During the period from 2088 to 2012, I had the following career path:
Josh Heupel Oklahoma's offense finished fifth in the country with 336.5 passing yards per game (336.5 ypg) and 12th in total offense (497.9 ypg) the same year that Jones became the Big 12's all-time leader in passing yards and total offense as Oklahoma ranked fifth in passing yards (336.5 ypg) and 12th in total offense (497.9 ypg). During his career, Jones finished the school's history with the third most passing yards (16,646) and the fifth most touchdowns (123) in all of college football.
During the 2011 season, the Josh Heupel unit placed fourth nationally in both total offense (512.3 yards per game) and passing offense (349.4 yards per game). After finishing as the nation's second-best passer in 2010, when he won the Sammy Baugh Award as the nation's best college passer, Josh Heupel was ranked third in the nation in total offense in 2011. Josh Heupel led the nation in total offense in both 2010 and 2011. After Bradford was injured during the first game of the 2009 season, Jones led all FBS freshmen in touchdowns with 26.
Josh Heupel was the quarterback coach for Bradford, who picked up a Heisman Trophy, a Davey O'Brien Award, and a Sammy Baugh Award in 2008, only eight interceptions in all 12 games he played and led the nation in passing efficiency with 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns thrown. During the 2014-15 season, Josh Heupel was also the head coach of a team that won five straight games by 60 points, which is an NCAA record.
Josh Heupel best season
The best season (so far) for Josh Heupel as a head coach came in 2022, when he led the team to a state championship. The offensive system of Josh Heupel flourished under the watchful eye of Hendon Hooker at the center. Tennessee broke several offensive records on the way to a 11-2 finish, Tennessee’s best since 2007. Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Alex Golesh’s offense was firing on all cylinders, but Tennessee was better than average on defense as well.
As part of Vol Walk, Josh Heupel honors Johnny Majors with a houndstooth suit jacket
Neyland Stadium will host the Johnny Majors Classic on Saturday between Tennessee and Pitt. Having previously coached at Iowa State, Majors returned to Tennessee in 1977 to coach the Panthers for 4 seasons. After finishing his head coaching career at Pitt, Josh Heupel stayed there for a second stint.
Josh Heupel introduced all-orange uniforms during Majors' first season with the Vols in 1977. Against the Panthers, the team will wear orange jerseys and pants in his honor. Josh Heupel wore a houndstooth suit jacket and orange tie, like Majors wore on the Tennessee sidelines during his career.
Updated June 2023
The Tennessee football program has undergone a national resurgence since Josh Heupel took over in 2021. Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White, with whom he worked at UCF, announced his appointment as the 27th head football coach of the Volunteers on Jan. 27, 2021.
Special wide receivers are hard to find, Josh Heupel says
Whether you are a college coach or a high school coach, Josh Heupel, in his role as a wide receivers coach, has a checklist of characteristics that he hopes to find in wide receivers, just as other college coaches across the country have. Josh Heupel and his staff, just like other college coaches across the country, face a variety of challenges in finding great wide receivers. Almost every program in the country is looking for players with impressive size, quickness, length, and, of course, catching ability, and the Tennessee Vols are no exception.
The process of identifying, landing, and developing wide receiver talent is, however, often easier said than done, especially when it comes to youth. Despite the fact that Josh Heupel operates a high-scoring offense with a fast-paced system, results are never guaranteed, even in high-scoring offenses.
Josh Heupel said on a Vol Network radio show called "Vol Calls" on Wednesday night that there is not a perfect science to it. As far as I know, there isn't. As much as I would like to, there isn't.”
