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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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COLUMBIA, MO – OCTOBER 21: Josh Heupel offensive coordinator coach for the Missouri Tigers watches players during warm up prior to a game against the Idaho Vandals at Memorial Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MO – OCTOBER 21: Josh Heupel offensive coordinator coach for the Missouri Tigers watches players during warm up prior to a game against the Idaho Vandals at Memorial Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

. Tigers . 2. team. 822. . 2017: OC/QB Coach

7-6 (4-4)

Three years after his firing, this was his resurrection. Josh Heupel spend 2015 with the Utah State Aggies, and then he joined Barry Odom’s new staff with the Missouri Tigers. At the time, the player protests the year before and Gary Patterson’s resignation signaled a program falling apart.

In 2016, Mizzou went 4-8. Hidden in that record was Heupel’s new offense, though, as he was averaging 31.8 points per game and over 500 yards of offense per game with Drew Lock at quarterback. it was clear something special was happening under the radar, and this season, Heupel’s second at Mizzou, would be the year he exploded.

The Tigers fell to a 1-5 start, and all hope seemed lost again. However, they had an easy finish to the year, and they reeled off six straight wins in which they scored 45 or more points each time. Included in that streak was a blowout 50-17 win over Tennessee football, which resulted in Butch Jones’ firing the next day.

Mizzou finished the year averaging 37.5 points per game and over 503 yards of offense. Heupel’s reputation had a dramatic turnaround, and this coaching job earned him his first head coaching job with the UCF Knights. Again ironically, Mizzou replaced him with former Tennessee football head coach Derek Dooley a year later.

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