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Tennessee football: 10 historic coaching hires that resemble Josh Heupel

By Caleb Calhoun

At left University of Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel shakes hands with University of Tennessee athletics director Danny White after being presented a jersey, during a press conference announcing his hiring in the Stokely Family Media Center in Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan.27, 2021.Heupel0127 0123
At left University of Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel shakes hands with University of Tennessee athletics director Danny White after being presented a jersey, during a press conference announcing his hiring in the Stokely Family Media Center in Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan.27, 2021.Heupel0127 0123 /
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University of Texas athletic director and former head coach Darrell Royal relaxes with a guitar at the offices of Tree Publishing Co. Feb. 23, 1979. Royal is in town for a visit to the Nashville Songwriters Award banquet.79then02 039
University of Texas athletic director and former head coach Darrell Royal relaxes with a guitar at the offices of Tree Publishing Co. Feb. 23, 1979. Royal is in town for a visit to the Nashville Songwriters Award banquet.79then02 039 /

851. Pick Analysis. 1957-1976. Darrell Royal. 1. player. Scouting Report. Texas Longhorns

Record at time of hire: 17-13; Record at Texas: 167-47-5

Previous schools:

  • Mississippi State Bulldogs: 1954-1955
  • Washington Huskies: 1956

In terms of direct parallels, Frank Beamer is the most similar to Josh Heupel. However, if you add Tennessee football’s goals and aspirations, Darrell Royal is the guy the Vols would most like to emulate with the hire of Heupel.

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Royal, like Heupel, was hired after his worst season as a head coach. It was also his only season with the Washington Huskies, as he went 5-5 with them in 1956. That was not an improvement from what John Cherberg did the previous year there, going 5-4-1 in 1955.

Before that, though, Royal spent two years with the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and he went 6-4 both years. Well, he followed Murray Warmath, who went 5-4 and 5-2-3 in two years at MSU. Simply put, Royal’s profile was a guy who had equal or lesser success relative to his predecessors.

That combined with his worst season being his most recent one when the Texas Longhorns hired him is enough for us to draw that comparison. However, then there is a schematic factor. Replacing Ed Price as head coach, Royal introduced the fashionable Wishbone offense.

The Wishbone then was as fashionable as the up-tempo quarterback-driven spread offense that Heupel runs is now. It worked like perfection for Royal, as he won 11 Southwest Conference titles and three national titles in 20 years there.

Next. Ranking Vols' 17 conference championship teams in history. dark

Obviously, Tennessee football fans will always like to consider themselves the real UT, and they have good reason to. However, Royal’s success at the other UT is a great, albeit ambitious and maybe unrealistic, model for Heupel. That’s why he tops this list.

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