If you have done something before, you can always do it again. What Josh Heupel did upon coming to Tennessee from UCF was magical. He had the Vols back in and around the top 25 almost immediately. A few years later, he had his team qualifying for the first 12-team College Football Playoff. Although last season had its challenges, Heupel may be able to reinvent himself like he did half a decade ago...
Auburn head coach Alex Golesh recounted his come-up under Heupel when talking to Cole Cubelic.
"When Heup hired me at UCF, it was really unique. They were really good on offense, but they were really, really bad at situational football. Really bad on third down. Really bad in the red zone. Scored a bunch of points and had a bunch of explosives, and ran the ball efficiently, but situationally were really bad."
Golesh explained what Heupel asked of him when he came aboard as a member of his UCF staff.
"And that was one thing that Heup said, "My challenge to you is to get us really good on third down, get us really good in the red zone, and don't mess with a whole lot else, and we're gonna take the next step.' Well, COVID happens, and it gave us an opportunity for Heup and I to spend every living moment for four months together."
COVID allowed the two coaches to come together and see football through their respective lenses.
"One, [it] let me learn how he saw it because he's really innovative and unique in how he sees the game. Very much through a quarterback lens. I still very much see the game through a defensive lens. And honestly, meshed it in a lot of unique ways, and we had time. I think if we just went through normal spring ball and normal summer, I don't know that it would have meshed the way it did."
Golesh then talked about how Heupel adequately prepared him for his football life over in the SEC.
"We get done with that year and we go to Tennessee. And Heup's biggest thing was, 'Hey, everything we've just done. If we don't change, we're gonna get like, blown up.' And I'm like, 'What do you mean?' He's like, "One, we don't have better players than everybody now. Two, they have corners that can play press man every snap ... Oh, and by the way, like, flip some games on. These pass rushers are unlike anything you've ever seen in your life.'"
How glowingly Golesh spoke about Heupel in his conversation with Cubelic leads us to believe in him.
"We go to Tennessee and Heup's biggest thing was, 'Hey, if everything we've just done... if we don't change, we're going to get blown up."
— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) May 19, 2026
Alex Golesh discussed joining Josh Heupel at UCF in 2020 and the transition to UT in 2021.
Good stuff w/ @colecubelic (full episode below) pic.twitter.com/MSacvIw00p
It might not seem like much, but Golesh's praise of Heupel suggests Tennessee will turn the corner.
Alex Golesh gasses up Josh Heupel, to maybe go make the playoff again
For as great of a start as Heupel had to his Tennessee tenure, college football remains every bit a 'What have you done for me lately?' sport. The Vols may have made the playoff two years ago, but last year's team struggled mightily going up against notable adversaries in the SEC. There has been some discussion about the nuances and intricacies, or lack thereof, regarding Heupel's Tennessee offense.
What Golesh was really trying to say here is Heupel made sure that his first Tennessee staff was ready to hit the ground running. The Vols were not a good team in the final stages of Jeremy Pruitt's meager tenure. Almost immediately upon arrival, Tennessee was finally playing up to its former standard of excellence, albeit under a new coach. There has been some regression, but not a ton...
Overall, Golesh seems to be of the belief that Heupel has it in him to reinvent himself at least one more time. College football is an ever-changing sport. Adapt or die. He kept harping on how innovative Heupel was coming up from UCF and how unique his play-calling could be. Now is the time for Heupel to find some of that special sauce again to reignite a fire in an offense that as gone stale.
While saying Tennessee is surely going to be a playoff team this year is a bit much, Heupel usually does get the most out of his quarterbacks. Why would he not? He was a darn good one during his playing career and in his coaching career up to this point! What is paramount for the Vols is to have something in the chamber waiting to be fired off whenever they take on a rival in a high-stakes game.
At this time, Vols fans better hope Heupel can develop the second pitch like Golesh believes he can.
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