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Tennessee football: Comparing Josh Heupel’s fourth year of career to other Vols head coaches

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 6, 2021; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel motions to his team during the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2021; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel motions to his team during the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /

This past year was Josh Heupel’s first as head coach of Tennessee football, but it was his fourth as a head coach in general. Heupel became the 15th head coach in the history of the program to last at least four years as a head coach, which is something that can’t be said about his direct predecessor, Jeremy Pruitt.

Anyway, you can learn some things about a coach’s fourth year on the job. Obviously, the year it is for them at a particular school counts way more, and Heupel is working with a disadvantage given that last year was his first year at UT. However, experience in general makes you a better coach.

As a result, there’s a lot we can learn about the development of former Vol head coaches when they reached four years leading a program. This post will look at all of the ones who lasted that long. Not all of them were on Rocky Top during this time. Let’s break down how all former Tennessee football head coaches compare in their fourth seasons.

There are 15 Tennessee football Volunteers head coaches who made it to four years leading programs. Here is how their fourth years rank against each other.

Former Tennessee head football coach M.B. Banks, in an undated photo.Img246
Former Tennessee head football coach M.B. Banks, in an undated photo.Img246 /

15. M.B. Banks

1912: Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops

3-6 (2-5 Ohio Athletic Conference)

Just under a decade before his first year as head coach of the Vols, M.B. Banks was in his first year with the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops. Competing in the Ohio Athletic Conference, Banks had coached the Centre Praying Colonels football for three years, going 9-0 his second year and capturing a share of the SIAA title.

Despite three straight winning seasons at the Central University football program, Banks could not represent that success at Ohio Wesleyan. The Syracuse grad lost twice as many games as he won during his only year as head coach of the program.

A year later, though, Banks moved up to coach the Ohio Bobcats, staying in the conference, and he went 22-17-1 in five seasons there, peaking with an 8-1 1915 season. He then went 11-10-1 with the Drake Bulldogs over three seasons before moving over to Tennessee football, where he was head coach from 1921 to 1925 and went 27-15-3.

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