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Tennessee football vs. Ole Miss: 10 keys to the game for Vols and Rebels

By Caleb Calhoun

Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Footballs lay on the field before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Footballs lay on the field before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 2, 2021; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel reacts during the first half against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel reacts during the first half against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports /

9. Connections between Josh Heupel and Jeff Lebby

Familiarity between staff members is always a big deal when it comes to coaching, and Josh Heupel and Jeff Lebby are more familiar with each other than most. The two actually go back to time spent with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Heupel was a graduate assistant at OU in 2004 and a quarterbacks coach there in 2006, a time in which Lebby was a student assistant. They reunited in 2018, when Heupel took over as head coach of the UCF Knights and brought Lebby aboard to be a quarterbacks coach. He was actually named as a guy Tennessee football should hire to be Jeremy Pruitt’s offensive coordinator.

In 2019, Lebby added offensive coordinator to his title, and then he went to Ole Miss to join Lane Kiffin’s staff in 2020. As a result, these two coaches have similar offensive styles and are familiar with what each other runs. That could make for an interesting chess match.

Speaking of coaching familiarity, Kiffin formerly being at UT is not a key outside of the crowd noise. He has coached twice in Knoxville since then, both as offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and none of the players are old enough to have any feelings about his departure. Heupel and Lebby make for the bigger on-field key.

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