Sad news:Josh Heupel Tennessee volunteers head coach announce departure saying ” I’m keen to leave regarding….
He’s just doing an amazing job, changing the culture of our program, really, from Day 1,” White said. “It’s such a positive culture day in and day out, the team leadership is at, I think, an all-time high and I think we’re way ahead of schedule.”
The former UCF head coach quieted the critics last year when Tennessee jumped out to an 8-0 record before losing at No. 1 Georgia. The Vols wound up 11-2 last year, rolling past Clemson behind the arm of Orlando product Joe Milton in the Orange Bowl.
Heupel brought a different offense to Vols Nation, centering things around the passing game, and the fans have loved it.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White summed it up best on the sidelines Saturday night during the second half of the Vols’ battle with the Florida Gators.
When asked how things were going at Tennessee since leaving UCF nearly three years ago, and hiring away head coach Josh Heupel, White said, “Everything has been going great … well, except for this,” as he pointed to the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Yes, the tors ruined the return to Florida for White and third-year head coach Heupel, who has had the No. 11 Vols (2-1) rolling since last season. They were not rolling Saturday night, however, losing to Florida 29-16. It was the first time UF (2-1) had defeated a ranked opponent at home since beating Auburn in 2018.
Heupel was not happy after the game, lamenting about numerous pre-snap penalties and self-inflicted mistakes.
“Hats off to and give credit to Florida. They did a good job, but we gotta be a lot better. We need to be cleaner,” Heupel said. “Extremely disappointing start the the football game. … not very good in any sense of the way.”
Other than Saturday night, White has been quite pleased with what his head football coach has accomplished in Knoxville.
“He’s just doing an amazing job, changing the culture of our program, really, from Day 1,” White said. “It’s such a positive culture day in and day out, the team leadership is at, I think, an all-time high and I think we’re way ahead of schedule.”
The former UCF head coach quieted the critics last year when Tennessee jumped out to an 8-0 record before losing at No. 1 Georgia. The Vols wound up 11-2 last year, rolling past Clemson behind the arm of Orlando product Joe Milton in the Orange Bowl.
Heupel brought a different offense to Vols Nation, centering things around the passing game, and the fans have loved it.
“It’s a fun style of play, obviously. Offense sells tickets, and certainly, fans see that our players enjoy playing for [Heupel],” White said.
Heupel wasn’t looking to laud his offense Saturday night, nor was he thrilled with the defense.
“We didn’t play as clean as we need to, as well as we need to … in a lot of ways,” Heupel said.
Several pre-snap penalties had Tennessee working behind the chains for most of the first half, and after jumping out to a 7-0 lead on the first drive, the Vols’ offense stalled out.
“At the end of the day, nobody was doing what they needed to at the level that they needed to,” Heupel said. “That can be run game, protection, can be quarterback play, can be wide receiver play … That’s how it looked the way it did after the first drop.
“It starts with me and our coaching staff, too. We’re in it together.”
The defense also had issues. The Vols could not stop Florida. In the first half alone, the Gators converted on 7 of 8 third-down situations. They slowed Florida a bit in the second half, but the damage had been done.
“Yeah, we didn’t get off the field. We had them in some third-and-long situations and applied some pressure on the quarterback, but we didn’t match out on some things,” Heupel said. “We’ve gotta be better … gotta get off the field.
“[Tackling] was not very good in the first half. Here’s part of the problem … you can look at tackling and not getting off the field on third down, defensively, and offensively you can look at pre-snap penalties and lack of efficiency and all of it.”
The slow walk off the field wasn’t exactly what Heupel had in mind in his return to Florida, but he knows it will be right back to the film room come Sunday.
“They are capable, absolutely … but we gotta be better,”Heupel said. “We gotta go back to work to grow.”
