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Tennessee football: Analyzing Josh Heupel’s second year in last five roles

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue
Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue /
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4 Nov 2000: Quarterback Josh Heupel #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks on from the sidelines during the game against the Baylor Bears at the Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Sooners defeated the Bears 56-7.Mandatory Credit: Ronald Martinez /Allsport
4 Nov 2000: Quarterback Josh Heupel #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks on from the sidelines during the game against the Baylor Bears at the Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Sooners defeated the Bears 56-7.Mandatory Credit: Ronald Martinez /Allsport /

Second seasons can make or break a head coach. As Josh Heupel enters Year Two leading Tennessee football, there are plenty of second seasons he’s had in different roles he’d like to replicate. In fact, second seasons in some cases have made Heupel’s whole career dating back to his playing days.

Heupel won a national championship his second year playing quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. He got his first head coaching job after his second year as offensive coordinator at one spot. Already, that’s a pretty good track record. What about the rest of his coaching career?

Since hanging up his cleats, Heupel has had a second year at five different places before taking over Tennessee football. This post will look at each of those seasons, how his teams fared and how he specifically fared. We’ll start with his first second year in a role and work our way up from there, so let’s go ahead and dive in.

team. 815. . 2004: Grad assistant. . Sooners . 5

12-1 (8-0); Big 12 Champion; No. 3 AP and Coaches

After a two-year stint in the pros with the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers, Josh Heupel returned to coach under Bob Stoops as a 25-year-old graduate assistant in 2003. With Heupel’s national championship quarterback on the staff, his current quarterback at the time, Jason White, went on to win the Heisman Trophy.

White led OU to a perfect 12-0 regular season record, looking like the greatest team of all time, before losing their final two games, including the national title to the LSU Tigers. In 2004, they were looking to get back to the title. With White and freshman Adrian Peterson, they did just that.

OU went 12-0, actually winning the Big 12 this year, and got a chance to play the 11-0 USC Trojans. The Auburn Tigers were also 12-0, but OU got the nod because Auburn, ironically, struggled with Tennessee football in the SEC Championship game. Despite getting back to the game, OU was blown out even worse, losing 55-19.

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