Oklahoma reporter: Josh Heupel has unique Michael Jordan quality

Few competitors in today's sports world possess the elite qualities that Michael Jordan is known for as an athlete. According to one Oklahoma reporter, Josh Heupel has brought one of those elite qualities to Tennessee as the Vols' head coach. 

John Hoover, who has covered Oklahoma sports for decades, told David Hookstead that Heupel takes things personally as Jordan did throughout his NBA career in the 1980s and 1990s. 

"[Heupel] doesn't wear [his emotions] on his sleeve," Hoover said on Off the Hook. He doesn't externalize it and go around tooting his own horn or saying that nobody believed in us, everybody counted us out. He might bring that up once in a while, but I don't think he flies that flag, so to speak." 

It seems like the team has adapted the identity of the head coach on Rocky Top. The Vols are playing like they are taking things personally this year. They have dominated every season game so far, blowing out Chattanooga, NC State, and Kent State. 

If there's any game Heupel is going to take personally, it's Tennessee's upcoming game against Oklahoma. Heupel was fired as the Sooners' offensive coordinator in 2014, and while he hasn't talked about it much prior to this week, it has likely been a driving force in getting him to this point in his career. 

This is a trait only shared by the best of the best. Whether it's coaches or athletes, they are all competitors, and they all want to win at the highest level. It seems like Heupel has an elite culture in the Tennessee locker room right now, with players bought in across the board and taking things personally, just like their head coach.

Heupel will look to continue coaching with a chip on his shoulder as he makes his long-anticipated return to Norman, Oklahoma, where he won the 2000 National Championship with the Sooners and coached alonside long-time head coach Bob Stoops before being fired in 2014. Tennessee and Oklahoma are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 PM ET on ABC.